Our First Week in St. Kitts

We have been in St. Kitts for a little more than a week but it feels like we left home ages ago!

What Living in St. Kitts Means So Far…

A constant breeze…

Keeping the windows open all day and night…

Power outages every few days…

Lizards, centipedes and monkeys…

Swimming in January…

Island time…

Paying more for just about everything…

Learning to relax…

Monday…

Last Monday we flew out of Miami around lunch time and had a great flight. It was Maddy’s first flight and we weren’t exactly sure how she would do. We loaded her up with toys, gave her a window seat and charged her DVD player. Turns out, she had a blast! She even took an hour long nap!

Before we left home we discovered there were some issues regarding customs. We purchased a one-way ticket and were told getting into the country without a return ticket was going to be hairy. We were expecting a mess when we arrived. However, when the guy handling our paperwork found out we were missionaries, he stamped our passports and let us through without any issues!

We were taken to our new home where we briefly met with our board chairman and vice chairman. We had a little time to settle in and then Brandon Grayson (he and his family are missionaries here from the US) took us to the grocery store to stock up on a few things. Afterwards, Maddy got to meet Audri, the Grayson’s daughter, who is the same age as Maddy and their first words to each other were, Maddy: “Audri is a ballerina!” Audri: “No. I’m Cinderella!” Maddy is very excited to be playing with another princess 😉

Tuesday…

On Tuesday Sean got our island cell phones hooked up and scheduled an appointment with The Cable (no really, that’s the name of the cable company!) to get our internet hooked up. Maddy and I had a chance to spend some time at the Grayson’s home so she and Audri could play together. They had a lot of fun with each other but they also bicker and fight like sisters. Let’s just say their friendship is good for each other… especially for Maddy!

Wednesday…

We took the day easy. In fact, I can’t remember ever leaving the house! We were all still very tired from traveling and Maddy started running a small fever.  It’s a good thing we stayed home because we had some special visitors! About seven monkeys decided to take over our yard most of the day! Maddy loved watching them play and eat (we did too). And the day wouldn’t be complete without the power going out for a couple of hours!

Thursday…

Sean went into town in the morning and got his international driver’s license and to apply for a post office box. Later on in the day we went back to the grocery store. I made my first meal plan since living in Montgomery and made taco nachos for dinner! We knew that groceries here are much more expensive than back home but we were still shocked at the final price! It’s definitely something we’ll have to get used to for sure!

Friday…

We got our internet!!!!!

Saturday…

During breakfast the power went out and we discovered that whenever the power comes back on it will take two more hours before the internet returns as well. We went swimming and had dinner with the Johnson’s who are from Alabama and work at Ross University here in St. Kitts. Their son is also Maddy’s age and they really enjoyed playing together! When we got to their house we noticed both of them and Sean were wearing Auburn shirts!

Sunday…

We attended Caribbean Christian Fellowship which is a new church mainly for the Ross students and other expatriates living in St. Kitts. The Johnsons and the Graysons are both very much involved with this church and we are looking forward to making lots of connections! (Next week we plan to attend a local church with our board chairman and of course we will be visiting lots of churches and making connections on the island). After church we went to the city center and took our prayer card pictures (which will be available soon). Sunday afternoon welcomed us with another power outage! It was only off for a few minutes but of course, the internet didn’t return for two more hours. In the evening I went to a ladies Bible study and the guys with children came over to our house with Sean and Maddy.

All in all, we are settling in very nicely. It truly is beginning to feel like home to us. We have found a vehicle and will likely be able to get it this week! The boxes we shipped from Mobile will be in Tuesday and we should be able to get them by the end of the week. As soon as we are able to unpack all of our things I’m sure it will really feel like home to us!

Please pray for us to get our vehicle this week… it would help out tremendously! Also, please pray that we will not have to pay a lot (or anything at all) to get our boxes from the port. The taxes can be fairly steep but other missionaries have been able to collect their things without paying anything. The extra money is definitely needed! And please pray for our support. We still need to be at 100% and will continue trying to raise our support from here in St. Kitts.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for us!! We are so thrilled to be here and we can’t wait to get to work!

** Here is our mailing address in case anyone wants to send us care packages full of goodies! How is that for a not-so-subtle hint?

Sean and Mandi Miller

PO Box 2357

Basseterre, St. Kitts

St. Kitts and Nevis