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Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Old May 2nd 2016, 2:37 am
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Lightbulb Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Hi! I'm a 44 year old British West Indian (my dad's from Jamaica & my mum's from Barbados but both my parents have been living in England for so long that they are more British then I am!) ex pat who has been living in Sainte Anne in Guadeloupe for 3 1/2 years with my partner (who was born here) & our 2 children aged 9 1/2 & 7. We used to live in Plaistow in East London before moving to Guadeloupe. I'm from Surrey (New Malden) but moved to Plaistow 2 weeks before our daughter was born 9 1/2 years ago. The reason we decided to move to Guadeloupe was because my partner wanted our children to have the same upbringing he had as a child and be closer to his family. He also wanted to start a business with his brother and they have been managing a pizzeria for 2 1/2 years. My children are bilingual and go to school here but my French still isn't that good therefore I only work on a part-time basis teaching English privately to those parents that have asked me to teach their kids or themselves. I would like to make friends with any ex pats living in Guadeloupe, particularly in Ste Anne or Ste François. As my life can be a little hectic and revolves around the home, my teaching and my children's many extra curricula activities I may only be able to make friends via email. If a window of opportunity arises to meet up then that would be great. I'm also happy to meet or get in contact with any holidaymakers who visit the island for the first time or regularly. I would also like to find out if any ex pats have shipped their household furniture from the UK here and how much it cost. I would like to bring some things over but don't have much money so the cheaper the better! I don't have that much stuff so I may just bring it over when we go back for our annual holiday in the summer. I'm looking forward to hearing from someone soon!
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Old May 2nd 2016, 9:32 am
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Hello there and welcome to the forum

I've shifted your post over to the Caribbean section as you'll have a better chance of a response in here.

Plaistow to Guadeloupe.....now that is a Move! I bet I know which place you prefer (I should point out that I started out life in East London.)
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Old May 2nd 2016, 11:31 am
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Hi, hounslow to grenada here...

I just had a look at the usual uk-caribbean shippers, none do guadeloupe. Im guessing that in the usual french way, only french carriers get to do it. So, i suspect that you'll have to ship via a french port.

If you want to compare costs, j p ram shipping is about the most visible uk caribbean shipping agent. £120-30 for a barrel including the barrel, up to £4k for a 40 foot container.

You are probably right to bring in lots when you travel, that first extra case is usually cheap, we always do and a few trips can transport a lot.

Here big things are mostly bought locally, excellent quality furniture, sometimes not a great choice of white goods.
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Old May 2nd 2016, 11:33 am
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

You might ship uk to st kitts or st lucia and use inter island ferry / transport if that exists?
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Old May 2nd 2016, 1:45 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Thanks for the advice baked bean. I don't think that I would be able to get an interlink from St Kitts or St Lucia to Guadeloupe (only by plane - Liat - and that would be expensive) because those islands aren't part of the French Directorate. Antigua and Montserrat are the nearest islands to Guadeloupe but it still would be difficult and expensive to ship items from the UK there and then here I think.
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Old May 2nd 2016, 2:02 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Thanks very much for moving my message to the Caribbean section. Apart from your replies I had another one from an ex pat living in Grenada. They rightly stated that I would have to use a French shipping company as Guadeloupe comes under their domaine. Whichever way I decide to go (i.e. via the UK or France) it will still be very expensive. Yes Plaistow to Guadeloupe is a big jump and a very different way of life. After 3 1/2 years I still feel like a foreigner although I've made a few friends with some of the mums at my kids school and my French is a bit better then their English which is practically non existant! My kids like it here but miss some of the things they used to do in England like going to different parks, the amusement parks & various museums. We try and go out as much as possible when we are over for the summer hols as well as visit family & friends.
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Old May 2nd 2016, 2:09 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Thanks very much for replying to my post. You are right, I would have to use a French shipping company and ship my things via France. This probably would be the most practical and least expensive option but still, no doubt, fairly expensive. I will just have to travel light and bring back as much as I can in my suitcase. Unfortunately Air France only allows one suitcase per person weighing a maximum of 23 kg and one hand luggage so this restricts how much I can bring over. Obviously nothing too bulky or heavy. Things are a bit more pricey over here so I prefer to buy them in England plus I have more choice and am used to the shops/brands in England. How do you find life in Grenada? Very different from Hounslow no doubt! Do many ex pats live there?
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Old May 2nd 2016, 2:13 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Weekly ferry - with shipping - antigua to guadeloupe...

WEEKLY FERRY SERVICE WITH GUADELOUPE | Antigua Observer Newspaper
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Old May 3rd 2016, 1:53 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

hallo - there is an English group that meets at the Affirmatif in Gosier on a Thursday night ? spelling ? you can look up Pauline Houzard -
I have been thinking of moving there for a couple of months with my 11 year old son - before he starts senior school in Australia - we are currently in North London - I speak very little french and he speaks none - but I love the Caribbean and hate London and before I settle down to another life in Oz with school and work etc - what do you reckon>
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Old May 3rd 2016, 9:08 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Why choose a french speaking island then?
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Old May 3rd 2016, 9:37 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Hello Happysun01! Thanks for the reply. I will have to ask my partner or Google search the Affirmatif to find out exactly where it is in Gosier. Gosier is about 15 - 18 mins (without traffic) drive from where I live so it's not that far. I usually teach English on a Thursday evening at a local residence association before going home to make supper for my children but I will try and check it out one evening. I don't think that moving over here for a couple of months is a good idea for you or your son at least not until he finishes his current school term especially if you both speak little French. It is a very BIG jump from moving from London to Guadeloupe because the infrastructure and schooling is very different. It's nice for a holiday but if you are thinking of coming over for a long while then you really need to plan well in advance and bare in mind that this is a French/Créole speaking island with very little (if any) English spoken (it's not like in Death In Paradise!). My advice is not to move here in your son's last term at Secondary school as he will need to finish his SATS first but do come over for a holiday so you can see what it's really like. If you have the money and the time why don't you island hop as there are lots of lovely English speaking islands as well. Good luck!
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Old May 4th 2016, 4:28 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Originally Posted by catseyes23
Hello Happysun01! Thanks for the reply. I will have to ask my partner or Google search the Affirmatif to find out exactly where it is in Gosier. Gosier is about 15 - 18 mins (without traffic) drive from where I live so it's not that far. I usually teach English on a Thursday evening at a local residence association before going home to make supper for my children but I will try and check it out one evening. I don't think that moving over here for a couple of months is a good idea for you or your son at least not until he finishes his current school term especially if you both speak little French. It is a very BIG jump from moving from London to Guadeloupe because the infrastructure and schooling is very different. It's nice for a holiday but if you are thinking of coming over for a long while then you really need to plan well in advance and bare in mind that this is a French/Créole speaking island with very little (if any) English spoken (it's not like in Death In Paradise!). My advice is not to move here in your son's last term at Secondary school as he will need to finish his SATS first but do come over for a holiday so you can see what it's really like. If you have the money and the time why don't you island hop as there are lots of lovely English speaking islands as well. Good luck!
hey - thanks for that. My French is ok - I can get by - I just don't like to say 'I speak French ' - I spent six months living in the Caribbean - Jamaica; Antigua; Cuba and Martinique and would like to try a long holiday in Gwada - my son would finish his SATS and I just would love him
To experience life in a totally different country before we settle down again - romantic probably - ?!?! We have a family home in France where we have spent time - I also know that the only way to learn a language properly is by being there -
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Old May 4th 2016, 4:42 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

Originally Posted by uk_grenada
Why choose a french speaking island then?
Why not ? I want to improve my French and my son to learn - plus I love the language and way of life and yes I spent six months travelling there before
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Old May 4th 2016, 11:43 pm
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

No problem. I apologise if I seemed so reluctant to say GO FOR IT but I was just concerned that your son may want to spend his last months in England so he can say his farewells to his family & friends before you all move to Australia. I was also concerned that you might have a very romantic view of living over here when in reality (although it is very pretty) it isn't easy as things are so different and English isn't spoken. I did meet an English family of 5 (the couple had 3 girls aged 8, 6 & 3 at the time) who came over the year before last and stayed for 10 months. They enjoyed their stay and would like to come over for a holiday when they can afford it. Their French was the same as mine but they managed and survived! Why don't you come for the summer hols and also island hop if you can? Just an idea. I wish that I could say that my French has dramatically improved since I've lived here but it may be due to the fact that I'm not very good at learning languages and am getting on a bit. Either that or I'm not trying hard enough. I have a problem with rolling my r's, remembering all the conjugation and pronouncing a lot of words. I embarrass my children every time I open my mouth whether I'm speaking English to them (as I'm the only one) or French (as it's so bad).
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Old May 5th 2016, 2:49 am
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Default Re: Living in Guadeloupe & looking for other ex pats!

So long as you have travelled the other islands and made an informed choice.

I have travelled quite widely through the carribean, the islands themselves vary physically of course, but the peoples attitudes vary tremendously. Personally i could never enjoy the french islands, they appeared the only ones where i found the people were really almost deliberately unpleasant, possibly - like parts of france itself - because i coupdnt speak their language, which was quite a bit like the non-indian people in another french island i have visited - mauritius - but anyway, not my personal favourite. Never found it an issue in the dutch ABC's.
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