Today, Feb. 24, 2011, is the final article I will write from Tortola Island in the BVI (British Virgin Islands).

I have spent six lovely weeks working, playing and learning about lots of things.

Things I’ve learned about Tortola and the British Virgin Islands:

• The fascinating culture in the BVI…the good, the bad and the ugly. And yes, there is ugly but we don’t need to go into it here.
  
• Life on a small island (it’s 11 miles long and 3 miles wide) is very pleasant. I haven’t experienced Island Fever but I do miss quite a few things. Maybe if I were here longer, but I doubt it.
  
• The politics of the island, how it affects the locals’ attitudes and behaviors. All I can say is that politics is a four-letter word everywhere I go. Imagine that.
  
• How simple the tax system is (had to learn it to teach The Money Game at a private school here). You keep the first $10,000 you make. You pay 4% social security on every dollar you make and 8% income tax of every dollar over the $10,000. OMG…is that simple or what?
  
• How expensive food is when you have to ship most of it in and how limited the variety can be though I have found most of what I usually eat.
  
• How amazing the local fruit and veggies are when you find them. A banana by any other name is NOT a banana. And the arugula is to die for. It doesn’t taste like any other arugula I have ever tasted. There are papayas that grow like weeds, soursup fruits, coconut (and the water!), plantains, dasheen, yams, sweet potato, boiled green bananas (didn’t really like these).
  
• How much freer it feels to know there are fewer rules to follow.
  
• How badly I feel when I buy a drink in an aluminum can that must be tossed rather than recycled because nothing is recycled here.
  
• I don’t understand the disconnect in terms of the garbage that is everywhere and here’s what I mean…the locals wash their automobiles all the time. Everywhere I go someone is washing a car. But around them can be garbage bags of trash and they don’t stop to pick it up. If anyone can explain THAT to me, I’ll take my hat off to you.
  
• There are chickens running around the island everywhere but people go to the store to buy chicken, and eggs, to cook. Go figure.
  
• How small an island really is, i.e., everyone knows everyone. They literally slow down driving past people they know and yell, “Hey!” out the window. It’s a riot.
  
• That the best time to visit the Caribbean is during OUR winter! Weather is a boring 80 degrees most days. Thank goodness for the next thing.
  
• How much I love the Caribbean rain. The sky opens up and drops buckets but stops as quickly as it starts…usually. The best part? The RAINBOWS!!!
  
• How precious water is when you live on a island. Everyone is required to build a cistern under their home or apartment to catch the rain water for showers and cooking. It’s hard to imagine being surrounded by water yet being so dependent on rain water.
  
• How much our US economy affects the rest of the world and how quickly it affects it.
  
• Experiencing the allure of living on a boat in this beautiful blue water.
  
• Knowing that the beautiful blue water is not as clean as it really looks. The island has a huge solid waste problem and many of their septic tanks run over into the roads which all go…you guessed it…to the water. You learn quickly to swim where there aren’t houses nearby.
  
• That I prefer to swim my laps in a pool WITHOUT the watchful eye of a stingray lurking about!
  
• That there is nothing that feels better than a warm, soapy shower when you’re sticky from the day and salty from the ocean.
  
• How much I miss Santa Barbara Farmer’s Markets and Trader Joe’s!
  
• How everyone walks in the road here and everyone else drives around them and no one yells, screams, honks or gets pissy about it. Even the little kids going to and from school walk in the roads. It’s just not an issue.
  
• If you live on an island, you must have a HUMMER to get around. OK, that’s a little exaggeration but you get the picture.
  
• How easy it is to hitch a ride (caveat…IF you’re a white girl. I don’t think it’s that easy if you’re a local).
  
• How much I hate roosters but how powerful the mind is at training it to think of their cock-a-doodle-dooing as trains so that I can sleep through all the racket they make during the early (and I mean early) morning.
  
• How much the people who love me, miss me.

As you might expect, I’ve also learned that financial education is lacking in the BVI as much or more as it’s lacking everywhere else. Every adult I meet who asks me what I do either says, “That’s amazing. Great work.” or “Can you teach me because I don’t have a clue what to do with money?” Things don’t change just because you go to an island.

These are things I’ve learned to love:

• The rules we’re so used to (but shouldn’t be) in the US. You can still drive around drinking a beer in the afternoon here.  And before you have a tizzy, you have to understand that they aren’t drunk…they are just drinking a beer in the car.
  
• The thing is, you can’t drive fast on the roads here because they are in terrible shape AND there are speed bumps everywhere so a beer in the afternoon doesn’t mean a thing.
  
• One of my favorite things, though, are the colorful homes. There is this ornate apartment building near where I’m staying that is dark pink and blue and it just makes my eyes happy. One day I’m going to paint a house this color just because I want to!
  
• Probably one of my most memorable experiences will be my day trip to Virgin Gorda. I went there on a boat with a friend and we found our way to Spring Bay. We got into the ocean and swam for an hour looking at red fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish (Oh, sorry…forgive me Dr. Seuss). You get the idea. If heaven looks like that, you won’t have to drag me when it’s time.
  
• I also discovered that I love Caribbean music. We went out dancing on Valentine’s Day to The Pub and there was a great international band that played a lot of Reggae. We had a blast. I’ve already downloaded an album by Morgan Heritage and I have to say I love it!

What I have learned about me:

I’ve learned that my heart and soul still have a lot to accomplish in the financial literacy industry.

I’ve learned that it’s good to go live somewhere new, learn new ways and new culture, try new foods, meet new people and make new friends in that new place.

I’ve relearned that people really are people all over the world.

I’ve remembered how easy it is for me to be happy and fit in where ever I am.

I’ve learned that more than anything else, people tell me how ‘gracious’ I am. And here’s what I have to say about that…

I owe that to my mother; the one who taught me my best lessons. Even though she didn’t teach me anything about money, what she DID teach me, in many ways, was far more valuable.

She taught me:

If you’re going to say something, say something nice.

Always leave a place, and the people in that place, in better shape than how you found it and them.

If you’re going up stairs, take something. If you’re going downstairs, take something.

Don’t wait around for someone to tell you what needs to be done. Look around you, pay attention and then do it because you see it needs doing.

It’s better to be supportive than judgmental.

Trust the ones you love to know what’s best for themselves. Even if they don’t, at least you’ll be around to help pick them up if they need it when they fall.

You can do anything you set your mind to do.

Just make sure you pay attention to your surroundings and don’t do anything stupid (thanks Mom).

Drive like everyone else is nuts. (I’ve added WALK like everyone driving is nuts…though the drivers really do seem to watch more closely for people walking on the road.)

Don’t believe everything you read, hear, or see.

And finally, no matter what you’re doing, you can only do your best.

Thinking back, I realize I brought all of this wisdom with me to Tortola six weeks ago.

And by using it, I am leaving wiser, with several beautiful friendships, some sweet business connections, and the experience of teaching The Money Game in another country.

But even more, I’ll return home with even more gratitude for the people I return to next Monday, the home I have the privilege to live in that I adore, the ocean called The Pacific that I get to walk alongside, the pool I get to swim in that is stingray-free, all of the food I could possibly want, and a little bit of a tan.

Next week, I’ll be back in my own home and office getting reacquainted with my other life.

Last weekend someone asked me when I had to go back to my REAL life. The question startled me. Why? Because I consider every day I get to live my real life.

Thanks for coming along on my Tortola Adventure. It was grand.

So, you good?