Grenada - Cellphone search

[Kevin's Post]Sorry for the lack of posts, there's just not much going on here. We are gradually integrating ourselves into Grenada society. We've got the public transportation system mastered. We know where all the grocery stores are and even what days they restock. We know where to buy the cheap beer. And today we have obtained the grand prize: a Grenada cell phone.

Yesterday I figured we would just run into town to the main Digicel store and buy a prepaid cell phone. We found the store easily enough, right on the waterfront in St. George. There were about 20 people waiting in line (more of a mob actually) and 2 employees working. I stood in one part of the mob and Amanda stood in another part and after about an hour waiting Amanda finally made it to the front of the mob. We told the guy we wanted to buy a prepaid cellphone (the same thing we had watched several people in front of us buy - some of them buying more than one). "Are you a student?", the guy asked me. I said no. "Do you have a work permit?". I said no. He then told us that they could not sell a prepaid cell phone to anyone without a Grenadian ID. He suggested we find a Grenadian to buy us one. I'm not sure what the point of the policy is, if all I have to do is get some guy walking by the store (with an hour to kill) who is willing to buy it for us. So we shook our heads in disbelief and left. We walked over to the bus terminal to catch a bus back to the marina and ducked into the Esplanade mall to check it out. The mall is at the cruise ship terminal and filled with tacky little tourist shops. One of them we noticed had a small sign "Cell phones $125". Thats in Eastern Caribbean dollars which is about $46 US. So we go in to see what the deal is, and find that the store is run by a small Indian woman that has a box of loose cellphones in the back. Cool. She says that they are unlocked and you need to get a sim card and it will work. Hmmmm. I was a little skeptical, figuring if Digicel wouldn't sell me a phone, they probably wouldn't sell me a sim card either. There was a different Digicel store across the street so I figured I would try again to buy a prepaid phone. They weren't as busy as the other store and I went straight to the counter and asked for a prepaid phone. "Are you a student?". "Uh. . .Yeah". "Do you have ID?". "Sure", and I proudly display my Arizona driver's license. She was too smart to fall for that and said I would need a St. George University ID. So day 1 of the cell phone search ended with defeat.

Back at the marina we met up with Chuck and Barb (Tusen Takk II) who I knew had a local cell phone. We asked them how they managed to get one and they said they bought the phone in St. Maarten and the sim card from bMobile (Digicel's competition) in Carriacou. So apparently you can buy a sim card without a Grenadian ID, at least from bMobile in Carriacou. So, this morning I went back to the Indian lady and bought one of her loose cell phones. No manual, no box, just the phone and the charger. She said I could bring it back if I couldn't get a sim card to work in it. Fair enough. I walked around the corner to the bMobile store and showed them the phone and said I wanted to buy a sim card. Them: "They are $40" Me: "ok" Wahoo!! Them: "Do you have ID" Me:crap. I sheepishly pull out my US passport and hand it to them. She reaches under the counter and pulls out a form and starts filling it out. Wahoo!! I left the store with an apparently working GSM cell phone. On the bus ride back to the marina I watched the signal meter on the phone constantly to see how the coverage was. I figured it would probably drop down to zero as soon as I got back to the marina. Luckily it didn't, and so far so good. We have a working local cell phone. Don't call us, we'll call you.