Do hermits live in the Caymans?

This one does!

I've been on island 1 month on Friday and apart from the odd Skype call, FB picture and the load of postcards I've sent, I've been pretty quiet. In fact I’ve shied away from any contact with home.

After a 37 hour flight from India, being sick for 3 days with Noro-virus, frantic packing and a 12 hour flight here, I was exhausted when I finally arrived. With just 2 days to recover I was thrown straight into work on the Monday morning. Barely conscious I was introduced to so many people. I had difficulty remembering my own name let alone all the people I would be working with over the coming months.

In India I had spent time surrounded by such beautiful souls. I was calm, happy, and appreciative of my life. There was a feeling of serenity within me. However, the effects of India didn’t last long; these feelings soon disappeared and the Type A, stressed, anxious and impatient girl from London returned.

Getting set up and established here was incredibly difficult. To start with, I needed a Cayman telephone number. FLOW (mobile service provider) didn’t have any handsets on the island so I had to wait, and wait and wait a little more. The island may be small but without the trusty tube (I never thought I’d say it but I am reminiscing about the underground) I needed some wheels so went and got a rental car (I've not had a car for 5 years, but this was an automatic so no drama APART FROM THE PRICE - $399 for 1 week!) Then it came to opening a bank. Despite documentaries stating that in Cayman it’s so easy to hide money, for a normal government employee wanting to open a standard bank account, it was near impossible! They basically wanted DNA proof that I was who I said I was and of course they needed an address!?!?! Finding a place of my own wasn’t even worth considering. I needed somewhere and it needed to be ASAP so for now I’m sharing.

I’m going to start by getting the negatives out of the way because it was my intention to not communicate with you guys until I was a little happier and positive about my life out here, not blabber on about what’s getting me down.

• My class is...well...I'm getting to know them and them me. Let's just say I really miss my French bubas. I was so incredibly lucky to have them and I was part of a family at LPEBL. Not just with the staff but also with the children and parents.
• People will be thinking it’s all sand and sun here. It's not. I work and I work long hours each day.
• There doesn’t seem to be any sense of ECO living here. No recycling! Cars and roads EVERYWHERE (no pavements so no walking!) Plastic and polystyrene cups, plates, cutlery EVERYWHERE! Fast food and soda EVERYWHERE!
• Everything is SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. After 3 weeks of opening my account I finally received my bank card.

In summary, it's a massive culture shock and it's going to take some time to get used to. But after today I'm willing to give it a go.

• I've found a beautiful little studio; BLISS YOGA that has great Bikram classes. It's not quite Ashtanga but it works up a sweat, challenges me with the balancing poses and helps to strengthen my back.
• On the side of the road in East End (where I work) there are a couple of road side shacks that sell fresh fruit and coconuts. Oh how I’ve missed coconut water; it was like my holy drink in India.

• My 30 minute commute is alongside the ocean. I drive toward the sun rising in the morning and toward the sun setting on my way home. 
• Sundays mean REST. All shops, banks, supermarkets are closed on a Sunday. Just how it was back in the days of Woolworths.
• We get a lot of Public holidays. Every month there is at least one; Hero’s Day, Discovery Day, Queen's Birthday, Constitution Day.
• Things may be slow and at times very frustrating here but people will go out of their way to help you. And they are very very polite “Good morning Mamm, Yes Mamm, you have a good day Mamm.” I am still having difficulty understanding the accent but that's just about adjusting.

Then there was today - the turning point. In Lower Valley the 49th Annual Agricultural Show took place. It wasn't quite the West Mid Show but there was a sense of community which made me feel like I was back home in Shropshire.

Like everything in Cayman, I’m slowly coming around to the fact that this will be my home. 

One week later in in my new car driving to yoga and then the most appropriate of songs comes on...

I think i'll take the advice of Mr Gallagar :)