It was an ordinary day. Shopping on the Dutch side of the island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin which is an interesting experience. Reason: the official currency on the Dutch side is the Netherlands Antilles Gilder while the official currency on the French side of the island is the Euro. Luckily for me, both sides happily accept the US dollar. The Guilder is pinned to the US Dollar so the rate of between 1.78 and 1.80 remains constant, but I must check the Euro/Dollar exchange rate before buying items on the French side of the island. When Carol and I first started to travel to this dual nationality country in the Caribbean, we decided it would be easier to exchange our US Dollars for Euros at our AAA store in Lancaster, PA. On the first trip after that we found it to be a mistake. Some stores and restaurants on the French side of the island honor $1=1 Euro so we ended up losing money being that the Euro is valued higher than the US Dollar. ATM machines usually dispense Guilders or US Dollars on the Dutch side while dispensing only Euros on the French side. As of this writing, the US Dollar is valued so that one Euro is worth $1.30; an item purchased for 1 Euro would cost me $1.30 in US Dollars. Starts to add up by the end of vacation. On our trip today to shop at the Grande Marche for groceries for our vacation, the bill amounted to $286.38 Guilders, but after handing the clerk my Visa credit card and telling her I wanted to pay in US Dollars, she showed me the cost to my card as being $159.10. Every item in the store carries three prices; one each for US Dollars, Guilders and Euros. Not to hard to get used to after you have shopped at the grocery store several times, but at first it was a challenge. And, the prices aren't that much different from the US for the products we purchased, and considering that most items are imported on the island, the prices are reasonable. I did buy a container of ice cream that was made in St. Thomas, USVI for almost seven dollars, but the St. Thomas Dairy orange pineapple has a great taste that you can't find in the states. I paid my bill at the Grande Marche with my Capital One credit card, making sure to tell the clerk one more time that I wanted to pay it in US Dollars. Paying with my Capital One Visa card is not a big
deal, since Capital One is probably the only company that doesn't charge an exchange rate for out of the country purchases that are charged in currency other than US Dollars. Not only that I build up points I can use to pay for other items such as airfare of car rental. In comparison, for our evening meal we traveled to Little Italy Restaurant in Orient Village, which is close to our villa on the French side of the island, and was charged 42.54 Euros for the meal which cost me $53.39 in US Dollars. Traveling out of the country on vacation is both interesting and enjoyable for Carol and me and after the first few times I found that currency rates don't create a problem as they once did. Oh, the joys of international travel! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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