Island life 4 families SGU Vs SABA

[seaflower]

thanks for your advice, not quite what i was looking for but appreciated none the less;-D

[Boulderunner]

You mention that your main reason for wanting to attend a carib school is the lifestyle. In my humble opinion that should be the last reason to attend the carib. The main reason that I and probably 95% of others are attending a carib school is because the competitiveness of american schools prihibited me from staying stateside. The lifestyle should be that of a med student, which is pretty much the same everywhere if you're staying on top of your game; ie studying or working on school work almost all the time. The lifestyle of where you live should really be incidental. If I had better grades I would have tried to stay in the U.S.. That being said I chose Saba for the cheap tuition and 50 state approval. Im sure there are others who can chime in on the tribulations of bringing a family.

[rdecastro]

It seems that the smartest thing you could do is visit both islands and decide.

Personally, I wouldn't go to Grenada because of the local atmosphere, but thats me.

[wolfvgang22]

Here is my experience on Saba with family:

If you get involved in the SOS (significant others of saba) group early on, it really helps, as they have activities going on all the time for adults and kids, and they help each other out with things like buying groceries, diapers, and other things in bulk.

If you can imagine your family being happy in a very small town where most things are closed on Sunday, no movie theater, NO mall or shopping centers for 20 months, limited grocery selection and prices that are double than those in the U.S., then you have an idea of the sacrifice entailed. If you like shopping a lot, or need wide open spaces, or you are not into "getting back to nature" at all (ie; you LOVE centralized air conditioning in your home, and hate lizards), Saba may not be for your family.
On the other hand, if you are an outdoors type family, that does not mind living a simpler, more spartan lifestyle, then you might like Saba, as the weather is great and there is lots of hiking, a small beach most of the year, and beautiful scenery. There is a decent little park for kids to play at in Windwardside. Most houses DO NOT have a yard.

One major reason I chose Saba over schools like AUC or SGU is that Saba is a very safe place for your family, there is very little crime here. After all, there are only two ways off the island; the ferry and the plane, and just one road so the police can easily round up any crooks.

Also, you will want to consider the school, and investigate it for yourself and gather many peoples experiences and opinions. The SOS group is great for this. Some say the school is excellent, some say it is poor. We never put our son in the school here because my wife is a teacher and was able to home school him; he is now at the top of his class back in the U.S.
I was not happy when I heard many Saba kids cursing and speaking about inappropriate topics (sex & drugs), and even drinking alcohol (these are elementary kids I saw) and I wanted to shelter my son from that right now; he was only 5. Perhaps that was a rash judgement, but it worked out for us. The school is mainly catholic and the students wear uniforms and have a strict dress code (no long hair, etc), which was not a problem for us but some people don't like it. The bus system for the school seems great with good bus drivers.

Saba is a fine island and a great place to vacation, but you will find that it is another thing altogether for a family to live here. You will sacrifice a lot. My family was here half the time, and I have been alone here half the time. The trade-off was that it made life easier on me emotionally and physically to have my wife and kids here, enabling me to do well in school. My kids got to be with their daddy, but they sacrificed many conveniences and missed the grandparents and stateside life while here quite a bit.

I can't speak to life on Grenada (SGU), because I haven't been there, and have only gotten second hand reports. SGU was just too high dollar for me. I think Saba University has been a better value.

If you have any questions you can PM me.
Good Luck,
~W

[sabaspouse2006]

Well, you've deleted out your original post but I think I'll give my two cents anyway.

You orginally said you were going to bring a 2 year old and leave your husband behind. If your husband has an average job with average hours and is a capable, loving parent, I would consider leaving the 2 year old behind with him.

Would you really bring a 2 year old here to leave with strangers? You will often be gone from 7:30 am until 6 pm and then have to study in the evenings. The most successful thing I've seen student moms do is bring their husbands or their own nanny. Someone they know and trust, not whomever on the island seems interested.

Now I don't know if that is feasible but I can't imagine having a two year old on this island without some sort of help if you plan to attend school. My daughters are almost 5 and almost 2. I know the energy toddlers need. You will have neither the time nor the energy to be involved as much as your child will need you. Unless absolutely necessary, I wouldn't rely on island strangers to pick up the slack and begin raising my kids....

My thought would not be "how can I immerse myself in island life and culture" but how can I organize my choices so that my family can stay together while still reaching for my goals?

My 2 cents, for what it is worth.

R/

[seaflower]

Got the hang of the reply thing now, had a few issues with cookies before....
Thanks so much for all your advice. It's a big step to leave behind all the comforts & routines of home so every bit of advice is very valuable for us.

We are a very out doorsy family, love nature (even the reptilian creepy crawly type) and actively avoid big shopping malls, so I really do believe we'd enjoy the life. My husband would work about a month away then be a month with us which is what we do just now so while it might seem like a huge sacrifice to some people it's what we're used to and at least he then gets to spend a month of really quality time with our daughter.

I only spend 2 full days away from our daughter just now and i do wonder how I'd cope with seeing so little of her but I figure it'll all be worth it once we've reached the goal posts;0)

[cavalletti]

I had similar questions, check out this website for SGU Significant others. http://www.geocities.com/sguso/

[skull]

I am a parent too, and Saba is one of my choices. Based on what I read here, I have decided to leave my family behind during first semester, until I adjust, then bring them perhaps in semester 2. Do 3rd semester solo, bring them for 4th, and so one. That way they do not stay too long outside the states, at the same time, I get to have them around for support. What do you old-timers think?

Thx!

[wolfvgang22]

I am a parent too, and Saba is one of my choices. Based on what I read here, I have decided to leave my family behind during first semester, until I adjust, then bring them perhaps in semester 2. Do 3rd semester solo, bring them for 4th, and so one. That way they do not stay too long outside the states, at the same time, I get to have them around for support. What do you old-timers think?

Thx!
That's pretty much exactly what I did. Works fine. There have been three drawbacks to it, though:1.) I had to pay the more expensive rent on a larger house to accomodate my family even when they were away and I was alone on the island. I didn't move every semester because it can be difficult to find good quality housing large enough for a family. Plus, groceries, diapers, etc cost twice here what they do back home. It is waaaay less expensive to have them in the U.S.

2.) Plane tickets back and forth got expensive.

3.) One semester I'd be at home with my kids all the time, and then the next semester I'd try to hang out with classmates that had already established tight knit cliques. This was/is difficult, as I am not the most gregarious type. Also, as a lone male I don't quite fit in with the SOS group...probably just my personal hang up, but there it is.