Hi, I'm the wife of a 1st semester student...anencephalic to be exact. Jon was saying that some people were wondering how the spouses were doing, so here's my thoughts for anyone interested. The island is absolutely beautiful, but don't expect it to be like living in the states. Besides, if you're going to a foreign med school would you want it seem like you never left the U.S.? I wouldn't. The people here are very friendly and there are many different ethnicities represented here. This makes even small things like going out to eat or to the grocery store an adventure I have met some amazing people here too who are just as diverse, and who all have the strength and persiverence to go to med school on a tiny caribbean island. Pursuing and fulfilling one's dream is an awesome thing! I've joined the spouses club which is full of people who believe in the whole dream thing and they're here to support their spouse in that endeavor. There is plenty of support here when you need it.
Coming from Hawaii, the prices aren't too bad here, but most people find them a little high. Some things are really cheap (like alcohol ) and other things are like WHOA! It's probably about establishing a budget...skimping here and maybe splurging there. Most places take dollars or will convert them for you.
The things I've noticed that are hard...leaving your family. There are calling plans that make calling a little cheaper and I've also set up Yahoo Messenger which has chat and voice and works pretty good. It also has a web cam which we hope to try. The internet is a bit slow which can be frustrating. There are occasional electricity blackouts too. We did have someone rifle through our car too. I think we had $1 in the ashtray which they took. We don't lock our car though (no busted locks), but put on a club. People here aren't too wealthy which helps you to understand why they steal...not that I want to give them all my money, but it puts things into perspective.
Overall though, I am really enjoying my time here. I get out and run or walk every day...and like I said before, it's beautiful. I run by Maho beach everyday or take the dogs down to the beach for a swim. I am not saying it's perfect at all, because it's not, but I know I will look back fondly on my months in St.Maarten. Those are my thoughts...

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Teresa Tongson

Teresa--
Thanks for the imformative post! It is good to know how things are turning out! Matt (Flash) and I will be arriving in the middle of December and can't wait! I remember your hubby posting a few months ago about you and the animals coming down later than him...glad to hear you all made it safely! Look forward to meeting everyone in a few months!
Jennifer

Hi! My name is Alecia and my husband Phillip will be attending AUC in January. I just stumled upon this website yesterday. This is what I was looking for. We have no clue on what to do once we get to AUC. Since we are married, AUC told us we can't live in the dorms. Can you help out in this department? Also, we are not shipping over alot of our belongings, but some like our computer, clothes, etc. Do you have any suggestions on how to do this and how much it costs? I read that you brought over your pets, how did that go? We have 2 dogs and they have to come. Any advice would be appreciated. We are coming over in November to look for a place. Do you think we should come early or wait until we get there. Thank you in advance for your help and advice!

Sincerely,
Alecia P.s. you can email me at aligalee@yahoo.com

Hello Alecia! I'm a girlfriend of a 1st semester too and I found this site VERY HELPFUL! If you read previous posts, you'll find a lot of info that'll help u.

For the dorms, they make you pay per person...so if yall lived there you'd pay like $1,800 for a small place! Most of the people I've met that are married or have their significant others here live in apartments near the school or at least driving distance. I don't think you'll have a problem finding a place to live when you get here in Nov. I highly suggest searching online and doing research on places to live before you come down so you'll have a starting point when you get here. We found a place in 3-4 days and it helped that we printed out a bunch of stuff back home and had a cell phone hooked up when we got here so we can easily call people/places. The trick is to think of exactly what kind of apt you'd want (ie. 1bed/1bath) and about how much you want to spend on rent. Keep in mind utilities (elect and water) are expensive here...our 1st bill was $300 but that may be because we weren't as careful on conserving and plus there's 2 of us. The Housing List that AUC can email to you helped a bunch too. We also decided to only look at a handful of apts then make a decision b/c we didn't wanna get all stressed out. There are lots of posts about this subject on here, so just read up....it may take a while but i think it's worth it...

I shipped a box here thru Intermar... in your husband's acceptance packet, there's an orientation guide that has info about this. Basically you'll ship your box from your hometown to Miami, then they ship it to St. Maarten. It sits at Intermar in St. Maarten and they send a list of items that has arrived to AUC's Noteservice-which they post outside. You can also call Intermar directly and see if your package arrived, this is what I did. I shipped one box, (nothing fragile) about 50lbs, through FedEx Ground, from Houston to Miami, cost $19.... took about 1 month to get on the island, then I had to pay $70 to pick it up. They also want a separate packing list (I just printed this out and fedex gave me a sleeve to stick it on my box)

Address your packages exactly like this:
Student name (medical student)
American University of the Caribbean
St. Maarten, N.A.
c/o Intermar
8500 NW 72nd Street
Miami, FL 33166

For more info you can call Idania of Caribbean Freight in Miami at 305-629-8445...in St. Maarten, Intermar Shipping, Sandra Hazel 011-5995-424734 ext 3
There's more info about this in the orientation guide.

We just brought our laptops in our carry-on and I packed my printer in my luggage so I wouldn't worry about it getting messed up through shipping. I left my home pc at home, I think it would've been too much of a hassle to take here.

Hope that helps!
Good luck!

Passing on advice given to me by a wise 3rd semester student: TAKE OUT THE INK BEFORE YOU PACK IT IN YOUR SUITCASE!

Isn't that why they call it a home pc?

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Finally beat Super Mario Bros within 7 mins.

can i ask what your nationality is?

Hi, my husband and I are Americans. We are from Houston, TX. My husband was born in New Mexico and I was born in Louisiana.

Hi, Thanks for your helpful advice. What areas of the island do you suggest living in? i.e, what are the bad parts? good parts? expensive areas? When yall were looking for a place did yall have someone helping you find a place? And how expensive is it to live there? Do you need a car? Is the island dangerous? I hope you don't mind, but I have lots of questions. Also, should spouses work there or does financial aide cover living expenses including bills to be paid in the US? How do you go about getting a work permit?

On a personal note? Are you from the South? I noticed in your reply you wrote, yall!

Thanks in advance!

Alecia

Hi Alecia, welcome to the site! A lot of your questions have been answered before in previous posts. What I have been doing is when I get extra time, I look back through the other posts/pages and make notes of what info I have found. You have very good questions--questions I think everyone has at one point or another--and I know almost every one has been covered in great detail in other posts. Hope this info helps! See you in January!

Jennifer

evvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveryone here is from the south . . . . that is if they are not from Michigan . . . its well, interesting, for the cityslickers