MUA and the typical apartment

I am officially back from my matriculation in the Caribbean, and am I ever so happy!!! The Caribbean is not what I had in mind and nothing what they make it out to be! It was literally one of the dirtiest places I have ever encountered on the planet! Well, I guess I should start from the beginning and give you the details.

I choose to go to MUA- Medical University of the Americas. When my plane landed on the tiny island of Nevis, I knew I was going to be in for a ride.

The heat was intolerable, and the people were not as pleasant as I had expected. They were mean, short-tempered, and were very pushy. I thought it was due to it being the hottest time of the day. So I didn't hold it against them. A woman from MUA took me to the apartment that I was going to reside in while I was on the island.

I get to my new home, and it is a horrible place. For $600 a month, I would live in a concrete box, in the basement of a local's home, that had no windows, was moldy, and was as hot and humid as a sauna. I wasn't thrilled, but I knew I would look for another place to live eventually. Well, unless you want to spend a few thousand dollars, this is the best you are going to do. And might I add that no matter how much money your spend, it will not guarantee a roachless home. They live everywhere, as the islands are infested with them. Just a warning.

The first week I spent in the apartment, they toilet flooded and the shower backed up and water and sewage laid on the floor of my bed and bathroom. The landlords who lived upstairs, did not seem like they wanted to do anything about this. And this happened several more times. The pipes that all the dirty water runs out of the home in Nevis all run into the back yard. So every time it rained, and the ground was soaked, it came back up in my pipes, since I was basically on the ground.

The doors and windows of the apartments did not seal all together either. Giant centipedes would crawl through the door cracks, and some other critters including tarantulas and lizards.

Now, ALL the apartments in Nevis were pretty much like this, even the nicer ones. All my classmates had troubles as well. And it was not safe. Students ALWAYS got robbed.

I soon learned that many of the landlords there were in it for the money. They would throw together cheap little apartments together and overcharge any student. They believed the students were rich and felt they were justified in taking our money. A local could rent a brand new nice apartment for around a tenth of what we paid.

My humble little abode has a few other problems as well as the flooding. The cistern was right behind one of my walls in the living room, and it leaked constantly. Might I dd what happens to leaky concrete walls? They are likely to collapse at any time do to structural problems caused by the water. Not to mention that ALL the floors in the Caribbean are tiled, and when wet, my floor was like ice. That's always fun to crack your head off once a week.

Here's an idea of what a place to live would look like to a student. Most are one room, and tiny as hell. The are all tiled floor with second and third hand furnished. Doors are cheap and easily to break open, as the windows. Look for a home with bars on the windows. Trust me, you will thank me later. $600 is cheap, but the norm is around $1000.

Not many places like pets, so I wouldn't recommend bringing yours. Plus, they are likely to get poisoned by the locals. They hate animals and love killing student's pets. They also do this to make breaking into you apartment more easily. If there is no dog, then they don't get bit, nor can the dog alarm you of their entrance.

Oh and by the way, the people I encountered at the airport that were miserable? Well, it wasn't because of the weather, and it wasn't because it was late in the day. They are just ALWAYS like that.