Yo ho, yo ho

Last post from Barbados

2005-12-24T08:17:32Z

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.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-12-23T05:24:00

2005-12-23T09:35:44Z

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.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-12-23T03:03:00

2005-12-23T07:15:04Z

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.

So, some updates

2005-12-19T14:48:27Z

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.

Dear Diary...

2005-12-15T22:54:18Z

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.

Skin-a-ma-rink-a-dink-a-dink

2005-12-07T09:02:17Z

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.

To Remember

2005-12-06T20:59:35Z

~"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

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-12-03T03:23:00

2005-12-03T07:35:41Z

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.

Books I've read (and thus recommend) since being here

2005-11-30T21:18:10Z

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.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-11-29T14:39:00

2005-11-29T18:52:19Z

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

Today I am thankful for...

2005-11-26T17:44:57Z

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!

First of all, Vanessa visited last week. Complete awesomeness. It was like....a person I love, in a place I love, with other people I love, doing things I love. Loverload! <--( if you know me at all, you know how to pronounce that word).

This is when she first arrived, and I'd faithfully spent about six jillion hours on the bus and at the airport and gotten ridiculed by the rude Bajan woman asking if I'd ever flown before, because I didn't know where the check-in counter was. But then Vanessa arrived and from the moment I heard her voice going, "hey sexy!" it was all peaches.

That night, we went out to Harbor Lights:

same pose, different look.

We spent our days at various beaches:

Accra

Bathsheba

and our nights at various clubs:

she makes me so happy!!

And it was good times. I love my Vanene.

A few days after Vanessa left (sadness!) it was Sunday night, which any Barbadian will tell you is THE night to go to McBride's because of their weekly booty-shaking contest. No, I did not participate. I did go, however, to support Jen -- who can shake that ass like it's a bowl of jell-o and wanted the $100 bar tab prize for when her boyfriend arrives. So, a bunch of us headed for McBride's.

Brian, Jen (who DID, of course, win the contest), me, Meredith.

We like to drink:

and drink:

and drink:

and then stop each other from saying stupid things:

(oh, and yes, by the way, I am still the same girl who ranted a year ago about not liking to drink. What can I say? The stick has been removed and I love my friends.)

The Friday before, of course, we'd gone to Harbor Lights. Here are some highlights from that night:

we got the boat table! Nothing beats the boat table.

and a picture that I think just came out awesomely:

Then Thursday night was Ship Inn, in which my beautiful girls had an awesome time on stage shaking their booties with Strategy. Once again no, I did not participate, but I did take some pictures with which to blackmail them later.

Par example:

that's Pegah, Jessy, Meredith, and Jen.

And I've mentioned the English cricket team, haven't I? Well I have photographic evidence that they do not like to smile in pictures:

Plus they wear dumb hats. Oh, the British.

Thanksgiving was last night! Peter Wickham, the EAP liason, had us over to his house for a catered Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and, of course, fish (what else would you serve in Barbados?)

Here's Peter's house with the tables set up:

And Meera and Wes didn't like the actual candid picture I took of them:

So they posed for another.

And now for the pretty picture portion of the program, a little thing I like to call "Bridgetown at Sunset":

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...."

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-11-23T22:49:00

2005-11-24T02:55:08Z

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.

Update

2005-11-22T00:46:24Z

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.

Remind me to tell you about the time...

2005-11-16T11:58:09Z

Vanessa and I hopped a fence at three in the morning to avoid the mean security guard.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-11-10T13:32:00

2005-11-10T17:33:27Z

Vanessa arrives tomorrow!!!

a hot crustacean band

2005-11-05T20:47:13Z

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.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-31T15:29:00

2005-11-01T19:49:48Z

What? Pictures? Really?

not as many this time because, hey, I'm getting picky about what I post. So here you go:

A couple weeks ago we went sailing on a catamaran (spelling?) It was so much fun: we stopped and snorkled over this reef/shipwreck filled with sealife and I got to mingle with a school of fish. Then we sailed to another place where I got to swim with, and touch, sea turtles. Then, our third stop, we just sort of dropped anchor for a while and practiced doing flips off the top of the boat. We got lunch on the boat, and just got to chill and sail and have fun. Such a blast.

So here we are on the catamaran:

and we met this little boy, Josh, who is one of the cutest little boys ever. He begged me to take his picture "like this!":

A few days later we had the halfway party to celebrate our making it halfway through our time in Barbados. We went to the Boatyard, a beach that has, as I've said before, rope swings and water trampolines and a big slide. We played beach football and stayed to watch the sun set. This is my favorite picture from that day:

Hugo had posed with his hands up, totally full of himself, and then Elise came and pushed him over just as I snapped the picture. Fun. :-)

Friday night, we went to Harbor Lights for the Halloween party. We also went to McBrides/Cafe Sol last night, but I don't have those pictures uploaded to my camera yet. So here are a couple from Friday night:

dressed in our costumes and ready to go out. In order, that's Avril Lavigne, a mermaid, I Dream of Jeannie, a witch, two pirates, and a butterfly.

At Harbor Lights, we noticed this sign. I absolutely had to take a picture next to it:

I'm such a rebel.

And some other random pictures:

this is Meera, me, and Audrey at Opa! three nights ago. It's this great Greek restaurant on the south coast, right on the water, that makes really good tsatsiki and tarofakiri (spelling?). So tasty, even though we had a big surprise when we found a tiny baby crab sitting on our butter. But they let you smash plates by throwing them on the floor, so that definitely made up for it.

and some pictures of the Hilton beach:

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.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-29T11:46:00

2005-10-30T15:49:21Z

watching my money drain like this makes me want to cry. Good Lord, I look forward to having a job again.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-28T09:07:00

2005-10-29T13:14:09Z

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."

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-27T10:01:00

2005-10-28T14:05:50Z

How did I manage to lose my toothbrush? Because that's just gross.

EDIT: found it.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-23T09:29:00

2005-10-24T13:32:52Z

October 24th. Halfway through.

We had a "halfway bash" at the Boatyard beach yesterday. Jumped illegally on a water trampoline, swung from rope swings, and played football on the beach; culminated with a lovely sunset and a cozy chat. Halfway through.

17,000+ words

2005-10-17T03:19:58Z

So, here's the scoop with the pictures: it turns out that my camera has been dying a very slow, very painful death and has only recently decided to tell me about it. I.E: my camera broke two and a half weeks ago and it wasn't until Thursday that I finally bit the bullet and bought a new (AMAZING) one. It disappoints me because a lot of fun stuff went on during those two weeks, like Unity Week (including a culinary competition, t-shirt and song contest, and a beauty pageant) and Animal Flower Cave (this beautiful naturally-formed cave near the north part of the island.) However, I've been making up for lost time and, between Thursday night and tonight, I've managed to take 175 pictures. Here are 17 of them. :-)

Thursday night:

I hung out with people, trying out my new camera.

This is my roommate Sophia, telling me not to take her picture:

Tee hee.

Then I attacked Marc with the camera, and finally got a semi-good one of him and my unphotogenic self.

Friday night:

We went to the Ship Inn. This is this really cool little place in St. Laurence Gap. It has an indoor and outdoor bar and dance floor, and on Friday and Saturday nights there's a local live band, Strategy. They're awesome, and it's a really chill place to just go hang out with friends. This is also the night Meredith broke her camera by dropping it into her wine.

Elise, Meredith and Jessy, all dressed up with an awesome place to go.

Audrey and Jill, laughing it up at the bar.

And then Elise discovered a new way to drink:

no hands!

Saturday night:

We went to Cafe Sol, the only Mexican restaurant in Barbados. The food is decent (although I think their "homemade salad dressing" is just mayonnaise), but what's awesome about it is the chips and salsa, the margaritas (passion fruit, anyone?) and the atmosphere.

Brad took a picture of all the gals.

Jessy will kill me if she finds out that I posted this picture:

...but it's too funny not to. :-)

It was Brad's birthday, so he got a free drink.

And then we walked around the Gap, down the street. Past all the restaurants with their lights on and people laughing and music playing, past the inrush and outrush of the beach, to a small jewelry stand where Jill got into a fight with the woman selling jewelry. According to the stand-lady, she's psychic and can tell that Jill is "a bad person with no love in her heart." Coincidentally, she received this psychic revelation right as Jill decided she didn't want to buy a pair of $30 earrings. Fancy that.

After, we headed home and just hung out in Brad's room for a while. Good times, good people.

I love this picture.

Today:

We went to Bathsheba to surf and celebrate Elise's birthday. This spot, THE prime surfing spot in Barbados and one of the best in the world, is on the East coast, so to get there we have to take two buses for an hour and a half. First you have to cut straight through the island, which is full of:

sugar cane fields!!

However, there's apparently been a huge swell, to the point where the beach was completely covered with water and the waves were so high that even the native surfers were scared to surf it. Then it started raining really badly. So, instead of going to the beach, we sat in a restaurant overlooking the beach and ate the food we'd brought. It was pretty chill; there was a guy there playing the guitar and singing who was really good. He even sang a great rendition of "Happy Birthday" to Elise.

This is Elise, in a picture that I like a great deal:

Then after the rain stopped, it was becoming evening and we went outside to sit on a cliff overlooking the ocean and just hang out, watch the ocean and the sky, and snap some pictures. Here are some choice ones (although Ryan, I've saved the absolute best for our "contest" that isn't really a contest because I've got it in the bag).

Dirk and Jessy cuddled:

And here are some of the beautiful, rugged beach:

Plus, I handed in my first paper, on rural slavery vs. urban slavery, and I'm extremely proud of it. One paper down, three presentations, five exams, and three more papers to go. Toodles.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-15T17:35:00

2005-10-15T21:38:04Z

PSA I heard today on the Barbadian reggae/hip-hop radio station:

"Parents, don't ever forget to ask your child where they're going and who they'll be with. Make sure you always know what they're doing. Search their room. Listen to their phone conversations. Invade their privacy.

Be more than just a parent; be a friend. Because if you don't, the drug dealers will."

Life in Barbados

2005-10-12T00:55:18Z

Highlights:
~having our ZR [bus] driver pulled over by the police and given a drunk test.
~having a ZR money-collector asking me to hold his beer for him.
~drunk poker, utilizing bits of scrap paper as chips, with Jill, Brad, and Meera.
~Crane, Accra, Paradise, Bathsheba, Malibu, Needham beaches.
~macaroni pie EVERYWHERE
~people like jewelry vendors and taxi drivers who are willing to bargain
~Oistin's, Xtreme, the Hilton, Bridgetown, Cave Shepherd, Animal Flower Cave, Weisers, Ship Inn, Harbour Lights, Aqua, Cafe Sol, McBride's
~Carlton's, Super Centre, Nameless store in Bridgetown that has tartar sauce
~the bread lady who comes to the dorms twice a day, the fruit/vegetable guy who comes to the dorms twice a week, the fruit/vegetable vendors on the streets everyday in Bridgetown, farmer's market Saturdays
~Fiesta Fridays
~Fruitee Sunny Apple
~Bajan Pepper Sauce
~constantly hearing:
~"Hey, do you have a boyfriend? I'm going to marry you. I'll love you forever. What's your name?"
~"hey ladies, need a taxi? Need a taxi? Taxi?"
~"Hello, good night. You alright? You guys just liming?"
~"I have no idea; ask Jessy."
~swimming in the Hilton pool (especially the waterfall) and eating coconut shrimp at the Hilton restaurant
~getting kicked out of the Hilton pool because we're not guests
~rediscovering my love of seafood, especially shrimp, flying fish, and marlin
~discovering a love of plantains
~"I'm a Worrellite, 'cause I live on this hall..."
~the fact that ALL the hotdogs being sold on the street here are CHICKEN so I can eat them
~Meredith carrying her drinks around with her wherever she goes
~Meredith and me wearing our matching dresses to campus
~rain showers lasting for ten minutes
~the LOUD sound of crickets outside my window
~showing the natives knowledge of the city and the island beyond the regular "tourist" mentality ("no we don't need a taxi, we'll take the ZR." "We're UWI students." "Will you accept $12?")
~Meera's stories and bluntness
~the pageant which featured Jill (winner), Meera (first runner-up), Janelle, Kenisha, Maya, and Liz
~Star Wars fights
~Brad's sayings: ("That's outta control." "I'm not gonna lie, I'm not gonna lie. I'll be honest, I'm not gonna lie...")
~Connecting with Brad at Harbour Lights
~Shopping for a camera with Audrey
~Brian's randomness ("Hey, I'm like one of those ZR guys.")
~Elise's hippie-ness comments ("I really want a moped." "Really? 'Cause I really want a unicorn." "Your ditziness makes me feel better about myself.")
~Marc inviting me to his house in Antigua
~Jill's unique laugh...and her COOKING
~"Stop your lesbian tendancies."
~Everyone's grub line names: Esso, Oil Slick, Crown, B Mobile, Magnet, Cornerstone, Jumbo Jet, Burger King, Clothespin, Open Booth
~standing up on the surfboard for a whopping three seconds
~sunrise at 5:30, when we're awake to see it
~getting stuff duty-free
~having a new, yet very strong, love for reggae
~Kimberley's amusing frankness and open care for people
~Jon's consideration ("You're such a bitch for taking the last book, Jon." *five minutes later* "Hey Cathy, I asked and they have another copy in the back. You can have this one.")
~how Sean's love of sports (especially hockey) is exceeded only by his love of school
~Marc's strong interest in anime and anything sci-fi
~being able to get ANYWHERE on the ZR for, at the most, $3 roundtrip
~Swan Street, Broad Street
~Lizzie bringing me a York from town because I'd said, a week ago, that I wanted one
~the off-campus kids
~the tiny, precious moments that aren't capture-able on the page

Lowlights:
~stepping on a sea urchin
~finding out that a couple of girls in the dorms, who don't even know me, don't like me because I'm a "white outsider" dating one of "their men". But honestly...it doesn't bother me that much. It's their problem, not mine.
~sunset at 6
~vegetables molding the day after you buy them
~the high price of food and clothes

So all in all, I'd say....I win. :-) This is the most awesome place to live...ever.

cthydabarbadian @ 2005-10-10T20:39:00

2005-10-11T00:42:36Z

The time here is flying by so ridiculously fast and I've been spending so much of it trying to hold on, to make every moment count. Spent so many nights awake until dawn without even realizing it until this soft grey light begins to peep through the shutters and we realize, suddenly, that the night is over and we have class in five hours. I'm loving and hating each day as they pass. Even when it's just a quiet night in, I find myself trying to study in the presence of friends, of people, of noise and laughter or even just of quiet breathing, so as not to waste a precious moment with these people, in this place. We've been saying that it takes a certain type of person to choose Barbados, of all places, to study abroad and that's why we get along so well. Honestly, there's no drama here, no bad at all. Just good times and good friends and good memories. As each day closes it reminds me that that's one less day to spend with them, here in Barbados. Each day is bittersweet, here.

It's funny, I've been told that it's about the three-week point where you start to get homesick; I've been told it's the halfway point, the middle, where you get homesick. Well, I've passed the three-week point and I'm almost to the middle and honestly...I haven't felt homesick for a minute. There are people that I miss at home. There are animals that I miss at home, and there are some experiences that I miss at home. But to miss those...well, I have to think about it. I have to consciously ask myself, "what do I miss?". If I sign online too much, and they talk to me, then yes, I'll miss them a bit. But honestly, I haven't yet gotten nostalgic, or to a point where I'm crying and claiming "I just want to go home!". I hope, so much, that this doesn't offend anyone; I love the people at home and when I get back, nothing will thrill me more than to be able to spend time with them again. But I love where I am, as well...and when you're in the presence of love, there is not room for an unhappy thought. This is such a compelling, enriching experience, in such an amazing environment. I am blessed a thousand times over to be able to share in it with the people I've been privileged to meet.