With an estimated population of just under 15,000 people (according to the CIA Factbook), Anguilla definitely has a small-town feel to it. It’s the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone else, and even if they don’t, a short conversation is likely enough to uncover a degree or two of separation between almost any two people.

I was surprised at how often it happened that I would meet someone new, only to have them say something like “Oh yeah, I saw you this morning/the other day/last night at [location A] with [person X]. I know [person X] too.”. Hearing that kind of thing can be a little disconcerting for someone like me who has always lived in large metropolitan areas and who is used to relative anonymity when out in public. However, in the special atmosphere of this island, I usually found it to be a nice feeling to already have some sort of connection to someone. Anguilla is the kind of place where people seem to take care of each other, and many tend to go by the idea that “If you’re a friend of a friend, then you’re also a friend of mine”.

Of course, if everyone seems to know where you’ve been and who you’ve been hanging out with, you can imagine how difficult it might be to maintain a sense of privacy and/or avoid being the subject of gossip. One 25-year-old guy that I met, who I will call “Leo”*, told me that it drives him crazy how much people there talk about one another. He said that if he and I were to have a drink together somewhere or if we were to just walk down the beach together, not only would people automatically assume that we were sleeping together, but word would travel like wildfire. He said that it has become such a struggle to deny untrue rumors that he doesn’t even bother anymore. Convincing people of the truth when the gossip is so much more “juicy” is rarely a winning battle. Leo is so fed up with the island’s gossip that he finds it easier to separate himself from the larger crowd in his age-group and to surround himself with only a small group of people that he knows that he can trust. Leo was not the only one to tell me that he prefers to “live in [his] own little world” in order to avoid unnecessary drama. It’s also important to note that, thankfully, in these kinds of atmospheres, not everyone takes part in spreading gossip and not everyone believes everything they hear.

Despite the fact that one’s business is everyone’s business, Leo assured me that he is still happy and content with his life. He said that he can’t see himself ever leaving Anguilla for an extended period of time, and even if he does, he has no doubt that he’ll eventually come back.

Any small-town area is going to have these kinds of privacy/gossip issues, but whether or not you can find a way to be happy in those types of surroundings probably depends more on you than anything else. For me, this isn’t really a deal-breaker, because I don’t tend to talk about my personal issues with people that I don’t know very well. I also don’t enjoy gossiping about other people, so I would not be a likely contributor to the rumor mill. What if people start talking about me? Well, I’m not sure how I’d handle it, but I guess I’d do my best to not put myself into positions that would allow for too much misinterpretation. Otherwise, you just have try to let it all roll off your back without getting too worked up. There’s not much else you can do, is there? Plus, I would hope that enough people there have heard so many untrue rumors, that they don’t always believe what they hear. *shrug*

I think these circumstances are something that I’d have to live through (for more than 10 days) in order to determine if I could truly “handle” it or not. As of right now, though, it’s not enough of a deterrent to keep me from going back. I wish I could go back tomorrow…

*Well, I can’t very well use his real name and subject him to the wrath of the rumor mill, now, can I?