how is the price and selection of stuff on the island?

toiletries prices are reasonable aren't they?

I want to get a brita water filter pitcher, but I don't wanna pack my luggage with too much stuff. Is it available down there for a good price?

Things are way expensive here. I would stuff your suitcases with as much as you can in terms of toiletries such as deodant, mouthwash, etc, etc. Save luggage space by getting used books here from students. Life is much easier here the more comfortable that you are. I could name a whole list of stuff, but maybe some other time.

Yeah, for some reason MOST toiletries are quite expensive here -- especially if you are brand specific. I brough it down with me and had more shipped down. There is a Colgate factory in Dominica, so Colgate products are more fairly priced. Everything else is shipped in and thus will cost you.

You can buy a Brita filter in Roseau. They will cost you more than in the States, but if room is a factor a few extra dollars won't kill you. You can also buy them from other students sometimes....

MitchDC

__________________
MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate

Don't bother with the Brita. I thought the same thing when I first got here. 2 things.... Mine broke on the luggage carts at the airport...they tend to throw bags!
Second...it was probably a good thing....the bottled water here is fine. I don't recommend the tap water. But hey, everyone's system is different.

__________________
Just remember that life down here is not a sprint, it's a 4 semester-long marathon.

Maybe someone else has better insight , but I brought mine down and tried to use it, but I noticed that when it rained, the water that filetered thru was still brown cruddy water. Other times, its clear as can be, but it makes you wonder, what IS being filtered, if the water ends up brown after it passes thru. Bottled water is fine, you can buy it by the case and they deliver it for you. Works for me. Penny pinching is hard here, everything is so expensive, because its all imported. I shipped thru amerijet and if you are close to Miami, you could use tropical shipping which is very economical and gets here in 7-10 days, unless customs is on strike. Hehehe, this island never ceases to amaze me.

__________________
And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
-- Abraham Lincoln

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
-- Winston Churchill

If you don't mind the cost, buying water by the case is the safest route. Trois Pitons is the best Dominican company, and the price is reasonable compared to Blue Mountain, which is imported from Trinidad.

The smartest thing to do is to save your water bottles, keep them clean, and fill up at the campus water fountains. The 0.5 micron filters on the fountains is better than Brita and you can be 99.9% sure that there aren't any unsavory organisms making their way past the filters. Keep about 10 bottles and fill up every weekend. You'll have plenty of clean filtered water for the week.

Yes, it is a little more work and time-consuming lugging all that water back home. But you're in a third world country and you're lucky you don't have to boil and filter the muddy tap water yourself...!

Yeah, I noticed that the PUR filters were better than the Brita. Even by reading the outside of the box, you can tell that PUR will actually filter out more "stuff".

MitchDC

__________________
MitchDC/MD
RUSM 2006 Graduate

i made sure to bring ALL my toiletries down, which turned out to be great because they don't carry my brands here. and like others have mentioned, toiletries can be expensive down here.

bring school supplies too. i have found the bookstore prices to be up to double the US retail price sometimes. Most books are marked up by up to 66%! if you don't mind used books, i suggest you either contact island thrift (info@islandthrift.com) to put some books on reserve, or wait until you're down here and buy used books from other students. but if you want your books new, i suggest you buy them from the states and NOT B.I.G.!!!!! I NEVER RECOMMEND B.I.G. TO ANYONE!!!

Yeah, BIG is bad, really bad. They got their business model from Tony Soprano.

great tip. I"ll keep that in mind. carrying 1 gallon home each day is cake.