As of one day ago, I have traveled to the island of Grenada twice: once in February and once this past week. It is not Granada, Spain…it’s Grenada (pronounced Greh-NAY-da). The first trip there, I got sick with a fever and sore throat on Tuesday morning. Traveling is the last thing you wanna do feeling like poo-poo, but I had no choice, so after getting DayQuil and cough drops at the airport I flew a direct flight (3.5 hours) from Miami to Grenada and laid down across 3 empty airplane seats the whole time. I had body aches and was shivering and sweating at the same time, so it didn’t take a thermometer to tell me I had a fever. It wasn’t fun to visit new accounts and introduce myself sounding like a DUCK, but I trucked along with a very supportive taxi driver. I have a lot of islands with a 25+ age restriction to rent cars, so I take many cabs. I keep their business cards when I know they’re reliable so that I can call them on my next trip back. Also, they’re an awesome resource for me. My sales territory consists of more islands than I’d originally mentioned in my first blog post. I basically got all the extra tiny islands, many of which have never seen a Milwaukee sales rep. Many are also on a 220 voltage system. Just a little info for those who don’t know: the U.S. is on 110 volts of electricity, so that’s why when you bring your hair dryer or hammer drill to countries with 220-volt systems, you can’t just use an outlet adapter for a different style of plug-in – you need a transformer to convert the voltage. So, the thing with 220 volts is that Milwaukee Tool only makes 4 tools of 220V for the Caribbean. I’ve visited 7 islands that are 220V… to take notes and pictures and assess the opportunity. My point with all of this is that I have those 7 or 8 islands that no Milwaukee rep has ever been to, and many times going on Google to find ‘Hardware stores in St. Vincent’ doesn’t work as it might when Googling the same thing in the States. That’s where the taxi drivers are great. They know their island better than everyone else, and so asking them to just bring me to hardware stores that sell power tools is a big time-saver for me instead of blindly Googling. I got back to Miami from my 2nd Grenada trip yesterday. I wasn’t as sick as a dog this time around, and I had an extra afternoon to drive to the northern side of the island (1 hour taxi-ride winding through the rainforest) and try to find new business. I found 2 hardware stores we didn’t know existed! Yay! It was a busy day of appointments, and I had Clet, my taxi driver, on-the-go all day…no time for lunch. Clet is from Grenada and has four children who are all grown and employed. This is very fortunate, as the island’s unemployment rate is almost 40%. According to Clet, you can sort-of get caught in a trap on the island if you don’t make good grades in high school. There’s a 2-year college on-island that you can attend if you do well enough in high school, and then if you’re fortunate enough to afford it or get a scholarship, you can attend the small university on the island for a bachelor’s degree or leave to study somewhere else. If not, you’re stuck trying to find a job on the island of 94,000 people. Note to selves: let’s be thankful for all the resources we have! With an island like Grenada, few go on to school after high school and for the majority who don’t – finding a job is not easy when you’re confined to a place that size. 94,000 is a solid population for a Caribbean island, but with no industry (they import everything), there’s not a lot. That would be like taking Green Bay, Wisconsin (not its suburbs), removing all the factories and the casino, and you live there and only have job options within the city. There’s no commuting to Appleton, WI, for work or moving a short drive down to Madison to live/work. You can see how even with a big island and above-average Caribbean population, it can become a Catch 22. Anyway, not to dampen the mood here, but traveling like this REALLY puts things in perspective. Nonetheless, though, let it be known that the overall spirit of the island is still Caribbean-happy. The people are smiley and polite and welcoming. The steel drum can be heard when car stereos and restaurants are blaring Caribbean Calypso music all day and into the evening. I bought myself a Christian Calypso CD that I’ve jammed out to driving in Miami once in awhile (“Jesus is our King, yah, Jesus is our King”).
Next week I’m off to St. Lucia, another big island that has a 220-volt system. It will be my 2nd time there (be sure to check out an earlier blog post of mine to read about it!). I have not written in almost 2 months, and I travel EVERY week to an island or 2 without fail, so I’m a little behind. I have some great stories to post, so stay tuned! All is well in Florida on the weekends, too. In the past 2 months I’ve had 6 visitors (shout-out to Audrey, Lili, Stephen, Melissa, Lauren, Brianna!), which has forced me to explore Miami and Ft. Lauderdale more, discover great Cuban and Venezuelan restaurants, bust out my salsa dancing moves (a few…), and even soak up some sun in the Florida Keys. I also, believe it or not, have a few friends in Florida (I think I’m up to 6)…a few from my church, one from an airplane, and a couple friends-of-friends. I welcome more visitors! I think I’m a pretty good tour-guide! I’ve been sacrificing my healthy eating habits to make sure all the visitors experience the yummy Cuban and Venezuelan food (I have the next couple weekends here by myself, so I’m focusing on produce and whole grains!!).
If you didn’t get to see (on Facebook) my chocolate milk story from the lobby bar at the Marriott in St. Thomas, stay tuned! You may just crack up - it's that funny. That, my allergic reaction on Barbados, and my trip to the volcanic island of Montserrat will be posted soon. Life is crazy right now, but I’m working hard and feeling very blessed with these opportunities to travel and meet so many people. Please keep in touch everyone. Be thankful and be happy! and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my MADRE and ALL MOMs!!
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