Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for opening up to Banana Adventures, my new blog! When thinking of how to record this amazing experience I’ve been blessed to have through my job, I’ve decided to keep a blog. I wrote monthly emails when I lived/studied in Spain back in 2007/2008, and those went over well with family and friends, so now that blogging is ‘in,’ I’m going to start one. If nothing else, this will be a great way for me to always have a record of my experiences. If you were trekking with me through my Spain emails (and if you know me), I tend to write (and talk) a lot... My intention is to keep y’all interested and maybe even entertained and inspired by some great stories and cultural experiences.
So, many of you know, but I’d better back up a bit and explain just what I’m doing in the Caribbean. “What happened to Dallas?” “I thought you were from the North?” “Your Facebook says you live in Florida?” Well, people, 14 months ago in December 2009 I graduated from college and took a job in Dallas, TX, selling and merchandising power tools for Milwaukee Tool. I would buzz around Home Depots in the Dallas area and set up displays, build relationships with store personnel, and attempt to sell power tools and their accessories that I hadn’t a clue about (I was hired in this job for my degree and ability to speak Spanish- NOT for my expertise of power tools. Heck, I didn’t know what a drill bit was when I was hired…boy have I come a long way!). So, after 10 months of Home Depots and establishing myself with great friends and community in Dallas (I absolutely loved Texas), I was given the opportunity to be promoted onto the Milwaukee Tool Caribbean Sales Team. It was a hard decision, but I took the position; after all, what an honor to be one of 4 on the sales team traveling the Caribbean selling tools! So, to clarify, I LIVE in Florida and I WORK in the Caribbean. Milwaukee Tool didn’t want me to live abroad on an island (it’s expensive for an American company to move an American employee abroad because of visa expenses, etc.), so they said to live in south Florida. I live in Plantation, a small city that’s about 10 minutes outside of Ft. Lauderdale and 30 minutes from Miami. I am in Florida at ‘home’ 2-3 days/week, and then I travel to islands 4-5 days/week. The Caribbean is split into three for Milwaukee Tool, so my third of the islands consist of: St. Maarten, the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix), the British Virgin Islands (Antigua, Tortola), Turks & Caicos, St. Kitts and the Windward Islands (Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, Anguila, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Vincent, Martinique). So far, I’ve been to St. Maarten, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, Turks & Caicos, St. Lucia, Tortola, Antigua, Anguilla, and St. Kitts, and they are BEAUTIFUL…talk about God’s creation at its finest!!
St. Maarten was my first trip out on 11.30.10. I’d never been to the Caribbean before, so getting off of the airplane to mountains, palm trees and feeling a warm 75 degrees with an ocean breeze on my face was pretty awesome. St. Maarten has a split personality because it has a French side and a Dutch side. Both sides speak English, as well as the native country languages. On one side prostitution is legal and on the other chicken fights are legal. The Netherlands and France each owned their half of the island until recently – October- when St. Maarten gained its independence. From hardware store owners to the cleaning personnel in the hotels, they’re such an optimistic people.
A HUGE HUGE portion of this job is logistics. Prior to leaving the states, you book flights, the hotel, car rental, and make sure they’re all coordinated to flow. And then sometimes you arrive on islands and you can’t rent a car under age 25 (I’m 23). One of the perks is the frequent flyer miles, hotel points, and rental car rewards I can accumulate and use for personal time. It takes a little research to make sure you’re at a safe hotel with some sort of internet (for work emails, presentations, etc.), and hopefully nearby parking and maybe a gym. Then there’s setting up appointments, just as with any sales job, calling hardware accounts (Ace Hardwares and True Values) to schedule appointments and slowly but surely build relationships. My first experience with “island time” came when making my first phone calls to set up appointments to meet my new customers. It was the same conversation over and over again. “Hi my name is Anna Linskens …blablabla…I’ll be on your island next week…could I set up a day to meet with you…?” And the answer was always “Sure, just stop by whenever.” Or when they requested a day, they just said “anytime after 10am.” This provided an awkward conversation with my manager on the first day when he asked me what time we had appointments, and I said we didn’t have any appointments. I definitely had him wondering if he’d hired a Lazy Lucy who had failed her first, basic task in the position. Cultural difference lesson: they’re more laid-back on island time, and as long as they’re going to be physically present on the island when I am, it’s okay to just drop in. Yah mon, no need for appointments, mon.
So, we get off the plane in St. Maarten and get our rental car. This is where you understand different countries have different standards of cleanliness, size, etiquette, etc. The ‘intermediate-sized car’ we had reserved would have been considered a compact car in the U.S., and it was pretty run-down, with one door unable to lock. It ran, though, and was fairly clean, so we were good to go. St. Maarten is 40-square-miles, and there is one main road, 2 lanes, that wrap around the island. It was 2 lean lanes with no fancy cement curbs. There really aren’t stop lights, and people just let everyone in and out. When in a car, you beep lightly to let someone in, beep to say thank you if someone lets you in, beep to let someone know you’re reversing out of a small parking lot onto the road, and of course you beep if you’re frustrated or if you know someone in the oncoming car. Needless to say driving is slow but happy (never exceeding 40 mph), and you can’t help but join in the beeping norms of St. Maarten driving. Also, there aren’t any road signs. NONE! Half of the battle on the first trip to St. Maarten was finding our way around because the roads all have names on the map, and of course these hardware stores have addresses, but no one goes by them. Once I asked the hotel receptionist how to get to a certain place, and she explained it like this (no joke): “go up the hill and go straight passed the construction. Drive about 5 min. and when you get to the Wendy’s take a right. Drive for about 15 minutes, you’ll go by Buddha Café, Save-a-Lot, there’s a few bends in the road, and then after the 7th stoplight there will be an uphill road you take on the right. It’s up there on the left.” WHAT?!? But, she was right. Now you all know how to get to East End Lumber on St. Thomas from the Marriott J.
FOOD! I’m very fortunate because since I’m traveling for work, all of my expenses are paid by the wonderful Corporate Travel Visa in my wallet. That includes food. When this hit me at first, I was in panic mode because I realized 5 days/wk, 3 times/day, I would be eating out. All of this restaurant food would be paid for, but then would the company pay for my triple bypass when my heart stops beating from eating out too much and weighing 450 pounds? Well, like anything in life, it takes self-discipline and good habits. The food has been amazing, and my diet is much more healthy than it was for the past year living in Dallas (but oh, how I miss Tex-Mex and BBQ!). I’ve been eating a lot of salads, fresh fruit, and SEAFOOD! I love seafood, and my horizon of it has expanded immensely. Also, it’s harder to find than in the states, but I get excited when a place has chocolate milk. With traveling and eating out, I don’t feel I get the necessary milk a Wisconsinite is supposed to have. Sometimes I’ll be at dinner and they ask if I want a Rum Punch or a Pina Colada, and you should see their faces when I say “Actually, do you have chocolate milk?” I’m like a kid.
Moving on to a little bit about the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI): the USVI consist of St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix. I’ve been there twice (I hit all 3 islands in one trip) and always stay on the biggest island, St. Thomas. The USVI is still a part of the United States. Don’t quote me on these details, but residents here are considered US citizens, they have some limited representation in the Senate up in D.C., they pay taxes but cannot vote. I’ve met a lot of locals and transplants from the continental 48 who just wanted to live in warmth on an island but not in a foreign country, so the USVI was their answer. They drive on the left side of the road here, but on the same side of the car as we do. So, it’s not TOO confusing, except for making a right turn at an intersection. Only twice on my 2 trips here did my manager, in the passenger seat, have to say “left side, Anna.” Haha. St. Thomas is the biggest of the 3 USVI as well as the most touristy. It was ruled by the Danish for centuries and you can see that by some street names, old red roofs, and remains of old forts. There’s tons of snorkeling, scuba-diving, surfing, and sailing opportunities around the island. I have 4 accounts (small hardware stores) on St. Thomas that I call on, so that takes 1-2 days, depending on my tasks for the visit. Then, St. John is only a 20-minute ferry ride away, so I just do a day-trip there, hopping on a ferry that takes your car across. St. John is a tiny island of only 6000 people, and 2/3 of the island is national park. It’s a lot more quaint and is known for its hiking trails. According to Jim, the manager of St. John’s Hardware, rarely is anyone actually born on St. John. There is only one small hospital that doesn’t specialize in OB/GYN, so I guess when you feel you’re gonna have that baby, you’d be wise to catch the next ferry to St. Thomas. Jim was proud to say he gave birth to both of his children in their St. John home. All high school students need to ferry across to St. Thomas to go to school as well. The third and final USVI is St. Croix. St. Croix is my favorite USVI. It is a 90-minute ferry ride away, and we (my manager and I) were advised by locals NOT to take the 90-minute seasick ride. So, we took a small plane instead. It is super cool! This plane seats about 15 people including the 2 pilots, and to make an announcement the pilot turns around in his seat and shouts “buckle up, we’re gonna take off!” It’s an 18-minute plane ride, and is super neat to fly lower to the ground in such a little aircraft. The island of St. Croix has a Midwest-feel to it, with farm fields and lots of trees other than palm trees. It has 2 main cities with only smaller, modest hotels. It, too, has a lot of remembrance of its Danish heritage in the main city of Christiansted. The biggest of the 3 hardware stores there is Gallows Bay Hardware. This is where you meet Jarred. Jarred is the purchasing manager at Gallows Bay Hardware, and a transplant from the continental 48. He was an army brat who moved around during his childhood, but for some awesome reason, he has been a GREEN BAY PACKER fan all of his life! When he found out I was from Green Bay, he told me he’s a loyal fan who sits on his couch in his Crucian (of St. Croix) home every weekend to watch Aaron Rodgers and the gang. He also mentioned that he’d proudly wear a cheesehead around the island if he had one. Well it was perfect timing because the next week was Christmas and I was flying home to Green Bay. The first thing I did when I got home on 12/23 was stop at Lambeau Field to get him that cheesehead! Now c’mon, I’m in sales…this is what you do to get business! A little schmoozing (is that a word?). Man oh man you shoulda seen his face when I walked up 3 weeks ago on my 2nd visit and handed him a real cheesehead! He said that made his week.
Airplane and flight stuff: I’m obviously on planes and in airports for many hours each week, which means I’m bound to run into someone I know, right? Yep, especially when there are limited daily flights to these islands. My 2nd trip to St. Maarten I ran into a guy I went to college with who was in some of my business classes. It never fails that, especially if I’m wearing my Milwaukee polo, I run into people from Wisconsin or people who know and love Milwaukee Tool. I’ve also met a good amount of Texans, including a woman from Dallas who attends the same Dallas church I did. On one flight I sat by a girl from D.C. who was attending med school in St. Maarten. She said going from East Coast fast-paced life to island life was a hard transition. My flight back from St. Lucia 2 weeks ago was next to a woman and husband from South Carolina. She talked to me for almost 2 hours about cooking (it’s like my mom called and told her I’m not very good at cooking) and told me about 8 different recipes. I only remember one easy recipe on how to make southern Sweet Tea, so I’m going to try that someday. The Bruscetta Parmesan Chicken was too much to remember. I’ve only had one flight with extreme turbulence, and landings on these little islands are always fun – skidding to a sudden stop right away so as to not fall off the short runway into the ocean.
BARBADOS (week of 1.17.11): Barbados was my first trip alone, with no manager along. He was with me for my first two trips to St. Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and now I’ve been set free. He bounces around rotating between me and my 2 teammates. I arrived to Barbados on Tuesday in the pouring rain, picked up my rental car, and took off driving on the opposite side of the road and sitting on the opposite side of the car. This ‘car’ was like a roller skate, a Suzuki with four hubcab-less wheels that each looked like a spare tire. The roads were all unmarked and pot-holed, and so by the grace of God and my map, I eventually found my hotel. I had 5 accounts to visit the next day and again—my map and Jesus pulled me through. There was only one time when I pulled out of a parking lot onto the RIGHT side of the road (which is the ‘wrong’ side…since they drive on the left…get it? Haha). Also, just a note to anyone who would like to have my job when my rotation is up: you cannot be too proud to ask for directions. As y’all know I’m not shy, so I always ask away…it’s another story whether you understand the response or not. The Barbados accent is like a combo of British and Jamaican—heavy accent but it’s so neat to listen to.
My first day was pretty tense, but I was able to feel more comfortable navigating myself around by Day 2 or 3. On my 3rd day of 4 in Barbados, I made friends and my experience got more cultural! On Day 3, I was finished with appointments by early afternoon, so I decided to head to Oistins, the fishing capital of the island, for some island-famous flying fish. The place recommended to me was closed, so I asked a lady walking by if she knew where a good flying fish place was. She said no but that she’d walk around and help me find one. This lady’s name is Chantalle, and she was my first friend in Barbados! From Canada, she went to Barbados alone to “find herself again.” Chantalle ended up being a Yoga instructor and Raw Foodist (which is like a super-vegan) who would never dream of eating fish – or anything cooked for that matter. Nevertheless she sat with me as I ate some of the worst fish I’ve ever tasted. We ended up walking around the local fishing market and taking some pics in the Oistins Boatyard when she started explaining to me how to drink coconut water straight from a coconut. She said I HAD to try a fresh one from a stand on the street. I really needed to get back to my hotel and laptop to do my mountains of emailing and spreadsheets, but this was cultural! That office work was not life or death, and it would wait until the next day. So, Chantalle then brought me to Paul, a local Barbadian who worked a surf/skate shop down the road. He told us what coconut guys would be out selling on a Thursday, so we took off in my rollerskate car to find him. For those who don’t know, coconuts have water in them, not milk, and it’s delicious! According to Ms. Raw Foodist, it’s one of the healthiest things for you. A ‘superfood.’ So Roger, the coconut guy, picks a coconut from his pile (which he climbed into a tree to pick himself) uses a machete to hack the top of the thing so that there’s a hole to drink out of. When you drink all the water, he can cut it open and you use a piece of the outer shell to scrape the jelly out of the inside, which was kind of like a mushy coconut gummy bear. It was such a cool experience!! No doubt will I be drinking more fresh coconut water in the future. Thanks Chantalle! After that we parted, and she invited me to dinner with her and surf-shop-Paul later on. We went to a place with Roti, a famous Caribbean food. It was so good –inside of homemade flatbread/tortilla thing, they put meat, potatoes, and pumpkin, with a curry sauce…mmmm it was full of flavor. The great thing about it was that this particular Roti place was owned by a family from Trinidad (an island just south of Barbados) where Roti originated. Later on we said our goodbyes…not sure if I’ll take up Chantalle’s offer to visit Guelph, Canada, but we’re connected on good ole Facebook. And I told surf-shop-Paul I’d see him again on a future trip for more Roti.
Until meeting them I was feeling a little down about Barbados…and really just lonely from all of this travel and nights in hotels, but they were a great pick-me-up to remind me that I’m very blessed in a pretty cool position down here, and I have to seize the opportunity while it’s in front of me. So, while I didn’t see any monkeys running around (they are all over the island apparently) or spot the famous Rihanna (she’s a Barbadian who goes back to her home in Barbados a lot), it was an awesome trip—for Milwaukee Tool and for myself. Goals for the next time in Barbados: get informed on the island’s national sport (cricket) and eat another coconut. And duh, keep selling power tools.
