First and foremost, Bonaire is liveable even if there are a few setbacks. It's definitely not like the U.S or Canada but everything is still manageable. I can't comment on the education yet since school wil start in about two weeks but so far, everything seems ok even though I did have a bad start here.

I must emphasize that housing is very hard to come by in my opinion. Just looking at the townhouse in Harbour Village, the cost was $1100 for one person and it didn't seem manageable to have a roommate since one person would get shafted since it only had one room. But then again, maybe you could just give the entire living room to one person and just turn it into a room by placing a huge sheet across the room to close it off.

The city itself is 'colorful' but it's definitely not like any of the buildings back home. Most buildings look like crap but that's a very minor thing.

If you're opening up a bank account, make sure to bring your passport and make sure you have an address to give them as to where you'll be living here on the Island or else you won't be able to open one.

As for super markets... the one named Cash & Carry and the one across from it seem to be the best ones from what I've seen as well as Cultimara. But it's more convienent for me to use Cash & Carry since it's closer to my apartment. The prices there are fairly decent too.

By the way, if you're telling yourself that you will just buy a bike down here... I would strongly advise against it. Definitely bring your own. All the bikes here are rusted and from the ones I tested, the chain broke on one, the wheel on another was warped / not straight, the gears didn't work on one, the brakes were terrible on another. Not to mention there is no warranty on the bike and the quality of it just seems to be bad. So I advise bringing your own.

Food - I love THE PIZZA TEMPLE.

Other than that, the city is very easy to get around in and it's virtually impossible to get lost. The locals are great and very helpful so don't hesitate talking to them.

Oh, and I did go snorkeling for my first time ever. It was unbelievable and I'm the worst swimmer you could ever find. Flippers work amazingly good and even though it took me awhile to adjust to the snorkel, I managed and it turned out great.

Let me know if you guys want to know anything else.

And yes, people sometimes do give you the runaround but just be patient. The people here are very laidback and take things easy. "Patience is a virture"

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Ever since Wednesday, my luck has changed a lot. Here I was, not too thrilled about the apartment I was going to live in since it was a fairly long distance from the school, but the one changing moment came when I called Frankenstone.

As of now I'm living in a new aparmtent and for A LOT LESS. I finally managed to open up a bank account here and I am slowly but surely seeing how Bonaire is a VERY laidback place in which things take TIME. The lifestyle here is far different than the fast paced life back in the U.S. and with that, just keep taking deep breaths and try not to get angered too much.

Like I said before, life is fairly decent. At first, life here may seem lonely but hopefully, when school starts it should all change. Everyday, I just sit inside my apartment just thinking of stupid stuff and just wishing school would start. There honestly isn't much too do here but just remember why you're here. And yes, the heat will get to you all! But keep active. It will take a long time to get used to it and it just makes you so unbelievably tired.

Another thing, REMEMBER to bring sunscreen (spf 36 +) and bug spray. I already have a mild burn and it doesn't look pretty but I was very lucky. It could have been a lot worse.

As far as the students, everyone seems nice for the most part and the professors seem nice too, but I've only briefly spoke to them.

One more thing, La Favorita has some good Vegetarian Noodles and it's pretty cheap. It's located right across the school for anyone who is interested, and more importantly for any Vegetarians coming down.

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