life in Tuvalu

Tuvalu is a pretty upscale neighborhood. There are things here that I would never in a million years choose to have in my neighborhood. Things that I cannot quite believe are here. Within two miles of our little hut in Tuvalu, one can shop at Gucci, Prada or Loro Piana. People drive either luxury vehicles (BMW, Mercedes, Audi), SUV's (Escalade, Range Rover, Mercedes) or mini vans. Many families have one of each of these vehicles. Most households here have one parent who works outside the home and one who "works" in their home. Lots of these families have a mom at home with a live-in nanny, so mom can have some time to herself without having to arrange for a sitter. There are a smidge of families wherein mom is the breadwinner and dad is at the house, often trading stocks, writing, or having retired after "getting out of the market in time." Tuvaluns play tennis, basketball and have personal trainers several days a week. They run, walk, and do a lot of pilates at any of the many pilates studios, which is a good thing because most families eat in restaurants a couple of nights a week. Tuvaluns "dress" everyday. That doesn't mean just putting on clothing. That means accessorizing, accessorizing with items purchased at the aforementioned local shops.

As I write this, I realize that it must sound as though I am either bragging or complaining. Neither is the case. Tuvalu, while not a very realistic place to grow up, is a very nice place to grow up. The schools are good, the houses are comfortable, there is not a lot of crime. We do own a luxury vehicle and a very old SUV. I even have some very costly accessories. I do not wish to be a hypocrite and yet it is difficult to describe my feelings about this place without sounding like one.

It's just that we didn't really pick Tuvalu...we kind of just fell into it, and its
lifestyle on some levels.

We were living in a tiny apartment in a nearby borough of...of Manilla let's say. We were about to have our third baby. We needed more space. A friend who owned a home in Tuvalu as a rental property and offered it up. We could never have afforded to purchase it, and so we rented it. We knew Tuvalu was pretty, on the water, and that the quality of life was good. We knew K could get to work very easily from there and we had a few weeks to decide. K was especially busy that year and travelling pretty extensively. It was easy to move. So we did.

Over these years, I have realized that our lives built themselves around us. K sort of stepped into his line of work (and then worked very hard to stay in that line of work) and we kind of found ourselves here, where we are now.

Tuvalu is nice, it's just not really us.

We talk about it. About where we would like to end up when a commute or school is not an issue. Ocean...mountains...forest...

I hope we will be less influenced by some things and more by others when that time comes, but who knows. For now, we just live, here in Tuvalu, and marvel at the natives.