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Saturday, December 24th, 2005
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4:04 am - Last post from Barbados
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I'm being picked up in ten minutes to go to the airport. I'll be travelling for a total of ... twenty hours. Dear Lord.
I've come to realize that trying to pack your whole life for the past four months into two suitcases, two duffelbags, one beach bag, and a purse is a lot like a really complicated game of Tetris.
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| Friday, December 23rd, 2005
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5:24 am
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And now here I am, crying "like a little bitch", as Jill would say, because they're all gone. Audrey and Meera left yesterday morning. Jill and Jessy and Brad just left right now. And I'm here, alone.
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3:03 am
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all in all, I'm ready to go home.
I love Audrey and Jessy, Meera and Jill and Brad. I'm glad I know Brian and Elise and Meredith and Jordan and Sean and Jon and so many others. I'm glad I've had this experience. But....I want to go home.
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| Monday, December 19th, 2005
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10:25 am - So, some updates
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Just to prove that I am still alive.
~ my computer has completely crashed. My hard drive? Gone, according to the Barbados computer people (although I'm still going to have it looked at when I get back to the States). This means that a) no more picture updates until after Christmas, 2) all my pictures and documents from the last five, six, who knows how many years are gone, and iii) I can't watch the DVD that I got for my birthday, which I've been DYING to watch. Torture.
~ my birthday was completely fantastic. It was weird, it didn't really FEEL like my birthday, because my birthday feels like cold and rainy, not warm and sunny. But it was still a great day. Thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes, whether through e-mail or the facebook (ah, good old facebook). I had a final, on South African history, on which I kicked ass; then we went to Oistins for "one last" where I ate a delicious bass, and then we went over to Harbour Lights for ... some extreme times. I don't know how much I drank. I DID get to experience the tube-y things, that Vanessa and I have been dying to try. Met a guy named Alex, British. Held two of my friend's hair (both of whom said, "this is YOUR birthday, I should be doing this for you"). Audrey had Jamal drama, again. Brad got kicked out. *sigh* Jessy went home with some guy. It's like I'm retroactively in high school. Still, though? It's my vacation, it was my birthday, and I had fun.
~ St. Lucia. It's an absolutely gorgeous island. We stayed in Soufriere for two nights, right at the base of the petite Piton mountain. Practically all the pictures I have are of the scenery, with a smattering of people. Breathtaking landscape -- ocean, mountains, distance, sky....le sigh. We ate at Camilla's which was...one of the most unique experiences I've ever had. She wound up yelling at us (no, we didn't deserve it, it's a great story. remind me to tell you about it.), and of course Jill and Audrey yelled back, and it was just...erm, memorable. We went inside a volcano, and went snorkeling, and sat in mineral baths and under waterfalls and ate delicious St. Lucian food and stayed in this quaint, beautiful villa with a backyard and a hammock and a pool. Audrey, Jill, Brad, and Jessy -- I love these people so much.
~ Home on Saturday night. I have every minute of every day planned until then. It's a bit crazy. I just wish I didn't have a final tomorrow, for which I need to study tonight and thus miss going to the Reggae Lounge.
~ I will probably, for the first month or so, only listen to reggae music. Constantly, and sing along with it. Prepare yourself. Hey, it's good stuff. You might like it.
~ We might have a place to live. I'm trying not to get too excited and jinx it, but it looks good.
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| Thursday, December 15th, 2005
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6:51 pm - Dear Diary...
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I don't have much time to write this, but I keep trying to write a new entry in my head so I thought I'd jot some of it down before I forget. The giant long absence is due to many things. 1) I'm freakishly busy. 2) we went to St. Lucia this week. 3) Finals. 4) The trip is winding down, so we're doing something every minute of the day. My next week and a half is booked solid.
I fully intend to steal some sleep time from myself, tonight or Saturday night or something, to come back and write much more about St. Lucia. Many, many memories there that I don't want to forget. Gorgeous and fun. Ok, I need to be back in my dorm in seven minutes, so I've got to book it if I'm going to make it to P.E. Kudos if you recognize the quote. Double Kudos if you recognize it and you're not Vanessa.
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| Wednesday, December 7th, 2005
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4:49 am - Skin-a-ma-rink-a-dink-a-dink
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It's 4:49 in the morning and I'm in that limbo stage where I'm too awake to sleep and too zoned out to study. Plus I keep hoping that if I just lie in bed, I'll sleep. I've never had a problem with getting to sleep before, but here, with a quickly-establishing pattern of staying out until 5 AM and then sleeping on the beach during the day, it's become routine to stay awake at night. It's even worse than work back at home, because that's not a "pattern", that's just "being awake at weird hours so sleeping whenever you get an hour to yourself". But this...this has annoyingly established itself. Dear God, insomnia must suck.
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| Tuesday, December 6th, 2005
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4:43 pm - To Remember
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~"I don't drive drunk, I just steer drunk."
~The Willy Bounce
~"Where's Brad?" "I'll tell you through Charades!" ..."Brad went off with some girl?"
~"six is for that motherfucking Brad, so drink your fucking drink."
~I tried to sleep on the dance floor at Harbour Lights
~Jessy and I tried to share an umbrella during the worst rainstorm we'd ever seen
~"Miiiirrorrrrr!"
~bread 'n two
~Jordan changing his facebook picture to a cracker
~"there have been more white people here than when I first got here." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
~"Cathy is a lover of pancakes."
~talking about sex with Jessy at the Hilton
~"it's orange-flavored! Let's take a picture of us licking it!"
~"fucking hell..."
~lemon icebox pie
~"You'll write the book Sad Fat Girl based on walking into the kitchen at 3 in the morning and there's me, on the floor, covered in a thin layer of condensed milk."
~Snakey, Rhino, Bobby
~Glyne
~"it's shake your booty, not shake your back."
~"Let's go get ALOE!"
~Banks beer tour with Meera, Audrey, Jill, Brad
~botanical gardens with Jessy, Meera, Jill, Brad
~Queen Elizabeth hospital
~"I wish I could vomit on command. Alwayne would be my first target."
~"Fuckin' Bajan men!"
~Fuckin' flaky Bajan men!"
~"aww, muffin..."
~"I just want to be a Southern belle."
~the night at Oistins where Audrey, Jessy, Meera, Jill, Brad, and I were all finally in the same place at the same time
~TNT Barbecue Hut
~trying desperately to get cash, with Jessy
~eating a sushi burrito because the knife couldn't cut the sushi
~making fishcakes that turned out to be fish pancakes
~Sunbury Plantation House with Jessy
~Harbor Lights with Jesse: "I'm sorry, I'm just really not in the mood to talk to you." "hey, it could be worse."
~when I slapped the Bajan man in the head
~Prof. Cobley dancing in front of the projector light, under the influence of novocane
~"isn't that right, Ms. Combs?"
~"I cancelled the printing, but it still charged me." "No you didn't."
~Elise teaching me how to surf
~doing the Willy Bounce with Brian at McBride's
~all the scuba with Meera
~having a tea party on the ocean floor with Audrey
~"hello, Drunkie."
~having two people climb the fence in one week
~"you look out my window and have the glorious view of the security booth."
~"I'm not ready to go home yet!"
~seriously discussing, with Meredith, at Accra, which Disney character is the hottest. I still hold out for Prince Phillip.
~"I'm always so sad when I get to the end of my hotdog. Like, it just came so quickly."
~the woman at Esso with the hat-dog
~watching an illegal, filmed-in-the-theater version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on Brad's computer
~movie nights in Brad's block: Crash and Wedding Crashers
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| Saturday, December 3rd, 2005
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3:23 am
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I love it when that e-mail you've been waiting for for the past two days arrives and it's better than you thought it would be.
I hate it when my friends are sad, especially when it's because of stupid boys.
I love that we're going to the Barbados botanical gardens tomorrow.
That is all for right now.
EDIT: just kidding. One more thing. I finally found Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the street and I intend to go watch it now.
Good night.
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| Wednesday, November 30th, 2005
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4:03 pm - Books I've read (and thus recommend) since being here
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It's criminal how much fun this was. It was almost as good as reading them again!
Mary Queen of Scots and the Murder of Lord Darnley by Alison Weir. Although it looks like some sappy period fictional romance, it's not. It's actually a true investigation of a murder that was internationally famous long before Jack the Ripper was even born. Looking only at hard facts and primary sources, Alison Weir, my favorite historian, pieces together the probable cause and events leading up to the death (murder?) of Lord Darnley. Fascinating, especially if you like anything historical. And if you DO like historical stuff, read anything else by Alison Weir. Anything. She's the kind of historian I'd like to be someday.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. The second Faulkner I've read, and I found this to be even better than the first. The story of a mother's death and the toll it takes on her family is one of the best I've ever read. Faulkner knows how to use simple language and common diction to convey so much more than is just written on the bare paper, and he does it in an amiable manner. Rather than Hemingway's "I'm so deep, your simple brain will never understand the layers I write about" holier-than-thou attitude, Faulkner's simple style connotes a love of writing combined with a brilliant mind. Yummy.
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts by Maxine Hong Kingston. Edith inspired me to a re-read and I'm glad she did. This book, a memoir of a young Asian girl's life in America, is beautifully written, partially because it doesn't take on the sappy aspect that many childhood memoirs tend to take. It's real, it's non-apologetic, and it's riveting. Definitely recommended.
Call it Sleep by Henry Roth. I picked this one up on a whim at a used book store in Santa Monica and I'm so glad I did. The story of a Polish immigrant family newly settled in New York at the turn of the 20th century, seen through the eyes of their six-year old son, is magnificent. Roth captures the essence of New York slums as well as the confusion, clarity, and fright that exists within the mind of a child. Both beautiful and ugly, this book is a must-read. Christ, I feel like I'm writing for book jackets.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I love it when I discover a new author that I know is going to become a favorite. Marquez is such an author. This book, an account of one hundred years in the life of the Buendia family in the Caribbean, is amazing. Marquez seamlessly weaves together the fantastic with the real until anything seems possible. His writing is rich with detail, complex with color and utterly absorbing. Each character comes alive from the first second you meet them. It's breathtaking.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare. I've been meaning to read this for a while and I'm so glad I've finally gotten to. Shakespeare never fails to regale with his beautiful language (both poetry and prose) and memorable characters. I love a book that really makes me LIVE inside of it, that absorbs my soul while I'm reading it, and Hamlet does that. I'd love to see it performed.
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. One of the world's most classic books, Orwell wrote this book at the very beginning of the Red Scare. It's a fictional projection into the future of the world, should communism take hold. Chilling and provocative, this novel doesn't fail to grab your mind -- and not let it go -- until long after you've finished it. Books that make you think, that are there for more than just entertainment, are always amazing, and this is the pinnacle of books of that nature. You will question everything in your life as a result of this book. NOTE: if you've already read -- and liked -- Nineteen Eighty-Four, you must read Arthur Koestler's Darkness at Noon. It's the psychological story of a Russian prisoner -- formerly a top member of the Communist Party -- as he contemplates his life and his deeds but, more importantly, his thoughts on behalf of the Party and the Party's own impact on him -- and how it all came about. It leaves you questioning more than answering, and it's chilling to realize how rational and HUMAN his thought processes are. Brilliant.
A History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative by Mary Prince. One of the only slave narratives we have, this is a gripping read. Prince tells in her own words about her life as a slave, growing up in the plantation house, being torn from her mother, and moving from plantation to plantation, island to island, throughout her life. She details the widely varying difference in her treatment by those with whom she came in contact until eventually, she is smuggled to England and freed. It's bare, it's poignant, and it's wonderful.
Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories by Hisaye Yamamoto. The one I'm currently reading. A collection of short stories, all about various Japanese girls but all with very different contexts. Some take place in internment camps; some take place after, some before. Some are newly arrived immigrants, some are young, some are older; all are worth reading. This book is a series of vignettes, woven into a rich tapestry of worlds to give us a small glimpse into the lives of each girl -- what they have in common, and how they differ. It's beautiful, rich writing, and I recommend it to everyone.
Anyone have anything they want to suggest for me to read? I'm starving for new recommendations.
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| Tuesday, November 29th, 2005
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2:39 pm
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I have a test today, on primary sources regarding the history of South Africa (fun! <-- no, not sarcasm) and then I'll be done with the class portion of my first (and only) semester of undergraduate school. Then four finals spaced over a course of three weeks, a few days of packing and good-byes, and then home. Weirdness.
Things I'm looking forward to:
~Audrey's, Brad's, Jill's, Jessy's, and my trip to St. Lucia; December 11-14
~Jessy staying until the 24th!
~The wildlife sanctuary
~time for the beach, all day
~good, quality time with the people I've grown to love here
~my block's gift exchnge on Friday
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| Friday, November 25th, 2005
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4:36 pm - Today I am thankful for...
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pictures! And no more papers due! Which gives me time! To crop and upload my pictures! For which I'm sure you've been dying! And panting in anticipation! So here they are!
( I've had too much coffee lately )
Today is the 25th of November. In one month, it will be Christmas and I will be at home, curled up next to the tree in six layers of clothes, shaking and going "Barbados Barbados Barbados Barbados...."
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| Thursday, November 24th, 2005
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4:36 pm - Baker me a cake as fast as you can
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So the past two weeks have been...seriously, some of the best of my life. Especially in terms of company. And while it's sad that it has to end...rather that than it never having happened.
Huzzah for good memories.
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| Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005
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10:49 pm
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Nobody ruin Harry Potter for me! Please! I'm still trying to find a bootlegged copy of it on the street here. The guy told me he should have some more by Friday morning. If you ruin it, I'll....well, I can't think of anything right now, but I promise it'll be drastic.
I think I understand why Bajans are flaky. Living here, you find that most of the people you know, most of the people you meet and get to like, are temporary. They're always tourists, just passing through for a week. Even me and the EAP kids...we're leaving in a month. And after a while, it gets disheartening, getting emotionally attached to people who are leaving. You have a fun week, two weeks, month, with them, and then it's over. And it just keeps happening and happening and happening. If that was your life, don't you think you'd stop taking things seriously too? You wouldn't necessarily keep every promise, or allow people to become important enough that it hurts you when you disappoint them because, after all, they're leaving and you're staying and you're the one who always, constantly, winds up hurt. Living on an island where the most constant inhabitant is here only temporarily must make life feel very...transient.
Today is the 23rd of November. We, all of us, have exactly one month left. As of tomorrow, it will be less than a month. Any time I'm not with people, any time I'm in my room or sleeping or doing homework, I feel it's time wasted. I'm constantly feeling the urge to be on the go-go-go, to do SOMETHING, to see someone, to make sure that the moment I'm living is unforgettable and quality. I just feel....antsy.
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| Monday, November 21st, 2005
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8:29 pm - Update
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No pictures in this one. I've been extremely busy and while I have loads of pictures, I haven't taken the time yet to upload them to my computer, let alone crop and post them with commentary. Still, I wanted to document the last week and a half because it's been completely awesome.
Vanessa came to visit. She arrived last friday and left on wednesday and basically I didn't go to class that whole week. It was rainy all week, but that didn't deter us from going to every beach possible and every club at night and shopping, oh the shopping. Craziness in Cave Shepherd as we searched for patches and coin purses and the perfect magnet and lo and behold, stumbled upon the treasure of all treasures, a hat/umbrella with the Bajan flag on it. Vanessa has a picture of it.
We celebrated many firsts for both us. The first time Oistins was that dead, the first time I've heard gospel music on the ZR, the first time waiting that long for the ZR, the first time Swan Street hasn't had jewelry vendors on it, the first time Boatyard tried to make us pay to use their beach. The rain we had all that week kind of screwed up a lot of things, but Vanessa and I are troopers and what's a little rain to stop us from going to the beach and laying out?
Technically I'm not supposed to have "overnight guests", but since all the whiteys here look the same (and Vanessa, as a non-black, qualifies), we were able to just walk her past the security guards and none of them (except one) ever batted an eyelash. As a former Access monitor, I was horrified and disdainful, but as a resident trying to sneak in a friend, I was glad. So Vanessa stayed with me.
There was one guard who actually did his job and after a night of begging him to let her in because it was 4:30 AM and she didn't have anywhere else to go, we wound up having to hop the fence into the compound...not once, but twice. And the second time, it was 3 AM and we were tipsy and when Vanessa was at the top of the fence she goes "oh shit, there's the security guard!" and falls to the ground and then shouts "run, run!" and starts bolting down the path to my block. And I freaked out by her reaction and started running and then my shoe fell off and I had to go back for it and ran to my block with one shoe off, where we locked the door and turned off the lights and then just sat there waiting for the Gestapo to come take us away. And Vanessa cut her hand on the fence. That's just not safe; did the guards ever think about that?
There was much dancing and beaching and swimming and napping and laughing and talking and making of videos and jokes and movie-quotes, and when I she left I was horribly depressed for a few hours just because of how much her being here had reminded me of how great my friends at home are, and I really became homesick. Then, however, Audrey, Jessy, Brad, Meera, Brian, Liz, and Jill and I made fishcakes and hung out in Audrey's block, which reminded me of how great my friends HERE are as well, so I'm bent on enjoying this small amount of time while I'm lucky enough to have it.
Oh, also, remind me to tell you about the time we all made sushi (yum) but the knife wasn't sharp enough to cut it so we wound up eating it like a burrito. And after Brad had spent three days trying to learn how to use chopsticks. Sigh.
This is mostly my last week of class. I have a test in one class next week, but other than that, on Thursday, I'm done with class and then it's final final final final home. Sadness. But yes, that's where I am in terms of academics.
There's a cricket team here from England. They won the Cockspur Cup and a trip to Barbados for two weeks was their prize, and since Vanessa and I were out every night anyway we wound up spending a lot of time with them. They're fun guys, and the accent is just sexy as hell, and I can't tell you how much fun it is to have an excuse to say things like "rubbish" and "snogging" and "she's a tough old bird." They're here until this Friday. Will be sadness when they leave as well.
Mrrp. So that's what's up. Thanksgiving is this Thursday, and we have a dinner planned on Thursday night, then a night dive on Friday with scuba. Then no more classes, only finals, so there will be much beaching and clubbing and going to the Wildlife Reserve and Harrison's Cave a LOT of scuba and cooking food and watching movies and spending as much time with each other as possible. Ah, life in Barbados is lovely.
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| Tuesday, November 15th, 2005
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7:57 am - Remind me to tell you about the time...
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| Thursday, November 10th, 2005
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1:32 pm
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| Friday, November 4th, 2005
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4:43 pm - a hot crustacean band
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today Meera and I went scuba diving for the first time, accompanied by Audrey and of course Andre, the instructor. Horeback riding now has a rival for my favorite activity; honestly, it was completely awesome. We went on two dives today, among a couple of shipwrecks (one from WWI, one from WWII), and I swam inside a great confusion of fish, got to see some amazing coral, and touched an eel. The reef and coral was beautiful; so many colors, it makes you feel like you're inhabiting a rainbow, and all the sealife is so rich. It was incredible to be swiming along, watching tiny baby fish swim around their mother and then oh! look up just as a school of sergeant-marines accompanied by a flutefish goes by. In addition, scuba diving ROCKS because at any given moment you can pretend that you're:
1) flying.
2) having a tea party at the bottom of the ocean.
3) The Little Mermaid.
And let me tell you, nothing beats being a mermaid.
current mood:  happy
current music: Tammany Hall NYC -- "Cindy"
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| Monday, October 31st, 2005
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3:29 pm
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What? Pictures? Really?
( really! )
I'm getting scuba-certified this week. Awesomeness. :-)
Ok, so I have a presentation and two papers to write this week so I can be duty-free (get it? get the pun?) when Vanessa gets here. See you kids later.
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| Saturday, October 29th, 2005
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11:46 am
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watching my money drain like this makes me want to cry. Good Lord, I look forward to having a job again.
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| Friday, October 28th, 2005
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9:07 am
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Could yesterday have been more awesome? Well, I guess it could have, if I'd gone somewhere during the day instead of being stuck inside doing laundry. But after the laundry, it was just plain great. Had a sunset picnic on the beach with Marc, watched the fireflies come out and play, listened to the waves and witnessed solar-turned-celestial beauty. Then went back, got dressed in my Halloween costume, and headed out with the crew to Harbor Lights for their Halloween party....which was possibly the most fun I've had since I've been here. And I've had a lot of fun here. That sentence sounds slightly dirty, oops. Anyway. The music was great, the people who came out are amazing, there were costume contests and dancing and laughs galore. The only bad part was that girl accidentally burning me on the leg with her cigarette, but at least it'll make a cool scar and I can be all, "oh, that's from when I lived in Barbados."
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cthydabarbadian's journal
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