That’s a question I was prepared to get a lot, but when it comes to answering it, it’s hard to satisfy everyone! I wish I could write a very personal message to each and every person who asks me this question, but then I would be missing out on the whole experience here! So in order to still answer the question as best as I can, here is a summary of my last days in Europe and the first impressions of Island Life!

In the past month, a lot happened… Amsterdam life was left behind, loads of goodbyes, friends got married, spent time at home with my parents and finally flew to Saint Vincent!!!

I’ll show you what it is to be me… On the one hand, I have been super excited to leave for my new adventure and at the same time, I have been quite nervous and sad to leave everyone behind. Starting over is not as easy as I make it sound before I leave… Of course, it’s exciting and completely crazy, but hey, it’s going to go fast, right?

So last month I was spending time at my parent’s farm. I thought I would have time to rest a bit, read, and prepare for my big experience… But I don’t know where the time went… visiting family and friends, playing cards, cooking dinners, helping on the farm, making my suitcase… well, time flew…

In these few pictures, you can discover my family’s farm, the current plantations, and of course, our homemade art pieces in the courtyard 😉

But of course, the bit that you’re probably looking forward to is the part when I finally reach my destination… Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

I left on Saturday from sunny but FREEZING London, to land in Saint Vincent about 16 hours later…  I’m not allowed to talk about the local temperatures not to upset anyone in Europe… So I won’t tell you! So I arrived on the 24th in the evening, and after a 2 hours taxi ride (for roughly 50km, I let you imagine the state of the road…), it was dark, so I didn’t get to enjoy the view, the surprise was left intact for the next morning.

I must say that the very first impression was not as exciting as I would have thought… My room is small and I’ll have to share it (last time I shared a room on the long run was maybe 10 years ago!), the sight of a moldy bathroom was not that thrilling, and the bugs wandering on the kitchen floor and counters on a Saturday night were not very appetizing! A wave of negativity submerged me on that 1st night and I was almost ready to cry. Why did I leave my comfy home! Anyways, now that I was there, I decided that I really needed was a good night of sleep and a fresh look in the morning.

So at the break of dawn, when the bugs and frogs started to be quiet and the birds took over the background music, and I saw that amazing view on the garden with the green hills of St Vincent and the Caribbean Sea in the background, I totally reconsidered my first impression and decided that I could put up with a few spiders and a moldy shower for the next few months! I let you appreciate the view in question:

My Climate change activist program only starting on the 1st of March, I have a couple of days to get used to the place, meet the people I will be sharing my life with for the next months, the previous teams, and my team, the beautiful surroundings of the school, the garden, the horses, the flowers… well, the beach of course… what a change, I have been wishing for the past summers to be able to get out of the house in a dress without having to worry about getting a cold, or forgetting my jacket because then I would freeze in the evening. My wish has now come true and I can walk around barefoot all day in my dresses and shorts! How nice… Sorry I had to brag about it! It feels sooooo good!!!!

Everything feels a bit like a big summer camp here (colonie de Vacances), we share duties in the kitchen, in the garden, doing the different chores, picking fruits… For now it sounds fun and exciting as everything is brand new! From the perspective of the people that have been here a bit longer, it seems that it gets old and less exciting… I can imagine, but for the moment, I’m ready to make the most of my stay and be very positive about everything!

That’s it for today, hope you liked the story! looking forward to your comments!