Hiking up Chalky Mountain

Yesterday I went hiking on the East Coast at Barclays Park (near Bathsheba) with Joseph and Sunera (see photo).  We climbed Chalky Mountain, which despite its name does not contain any actual chalk.  It is quite dusty though.

It was an absolute blast but the trail we went on was more difficult than I had predicted.  My decision to wear shorts and sandles quickly revealed itself to be extremely DUMB when we started wakling through knee high grasses and climbing up 45 degree, rocky inclines.  The biggest problem was that the velcro on my sandles frequently came undone due to my sweat weakening the bond between the two sides.  This made hiking up the inclines incredibly dangerous; to be honest, I'm lucky to have walked away without a major cut injury.  Half way through the hike, a woman in the group who must have noticed the trouble I was having with my sandles offered me a piece of wire she found on the ground to use to tie the straps in place.  This worked surprisingly well, although it did cut into my foot quite a bit.

Other than the footwear issues, the hike was a complete joy.  It was a great workout and the scenery was stunning.  The East Coast of Barbados is the least developed part of the island and there is lots of untouched land remaining.  The East Coast is also the hilliest (and thus the oldest, geologically) part of the island, so there are some really nice valleys hidden amongst the small but steep hills.  Also, the East Coast faces the Atlantic Ocean, so the waters are much rougher but also much more interesting as a result.  I was genuinly surprised by the quality, quantity, and variety of natural beauty this island possesses; at various points during the hike I came across cacti, bamboo, sugar cane, and many other types of vegetation.

Here are some photos from the top of Chaulky Mountain.  The guy in the hat is the main guide and the one who organizes these weekly hikes.  He shared some great stories with us from his childhood.

After the hike we went to Bubba's sports bar in the South Coast, which is where Joseph recommends I watch NFL games every Sunday.  After eating there I can see why he likes the place!  The food is good and the portions generous.  The best part was the pitcher of Banks beer we shared; there's nothing like the taste of a well earned beer.  Also, there are so many TVs at Bubbas that I have no doubt I'll be able to watch the Giants/Jets play every Sunday.

That's all that happened on Sunday.  I will combine my experience today and tomorrow into one post for tomorrow.  Lots going on at UWI, so stay tuned!

My Night on the South Coast

Last night I went down to the South Coast for dinner with some new acquaintances.  It was a fun time and I am happy I went, but getting there was an absolute pain.  According to my friend Sunera, the bus to Oistins on the South Coast leaves from Speightstown, which is directly north of where I live in Prospect, every hour on the hour.  Therefore, the bus should make it to Prospect at roughly 15 minutes after the hour.  Knowing this, I left my apartment at 5pm to try and catch the 5:15 bus.  It never came.  I waited for an entire hour for a bus to come, finally grabbing one at 6:02 which put me into the South Coast at roughly 6:50ish.  Luckily there was a guy waiting for the same bus as I was at the bus stop, so we were able to chat to pass the time.  Once again, transport here failed to deliver.  I find myself wanting a car more and more every day.  It's a shame they are so damn expensive!

Once in the South Coast, we went to a place called Carib Beach Bar, which has good food but is pretty expensive.  My Thai Curry with Shrimp only had five shrimp and cost $22.50 U.S.  The highlight of the meal foodwise was getting to try Carib beer (brewed in Trinidad and Tobago), which is pretty good and only cost $3 for a 9.75oz bottle.  The best part of the whole experience though was getting to meet a bunch of new people, including two former Fulbrighters, an intern at the U.S. Embassy, and one current member of the Barbadian Defense Force.  We had some great conversations and I'm looking forward to getting together again.

At the end of the meal I was taken back to one of the Fulbrighter's apartment where I was bequeathed a printer and a host of other goodies that she did not need anymore.  To top it all off, I was then driven back to my apartment, which I really appreciate since it was my first time out at night and I otherwise would have had to take a huge box of stuff on to the bus, which does not sound fun given how crowded they always are.

One other thing of note: the South Coast is much more developed than the area in which I live.  There's much more activity and many more things to do down there, which makes me quite jealous.  That said, once school starts I know I will be happy to be living within walking distance of the University.  Still, I've been kind of disappointed by the lack of activity around the school.  One would assume that the area around a major University would be hopping, but in Barbados, it's not.

Today is going to be a quiet day.  I am going to run to the grocery store in a couple minutes to pick up some things (hopefully including a new trash can as the one in my apartment is the stickiest thing I've touched next to maple syrup) and then come home and plan my activities for tomorrow.  Joseph, who was at the dinner last night and was the kind person who drove me home, has offered to take me to a Costco-like store to stock up on items if I need to or to just hang out in general.  I learned last night that St. Nicholas Abbey, which produces the most amazing rum I've ever tasted, is here on Barbados! (http://www.stnicholasabbey.com/) I am going to try convincing Joe to go there.

Enjoy the weekend everybody!

Visit to the U.S. Embassy

My entire day today revolved around going to the U.S. Embassy for a couple briefings that all Fulbright students are required to attend once they arrive in-country.  My appointment was for 1:30 so I left my apartment at 12:30 in order to give myself some buffer room in the likely case I got lost.  It was a good thing I left early because, even though I didn't get lost, it took a full hour to get to the Embassy from my apartment.  This is in spite of the fact that the two destinations are separated by less than 10 miles! It is becoming painfully clear to me that getting around Barbados is harder than its diminutive area would suggest.  Thus, it took from 12:30-4:30 for my entire Embassy experience to be over, of which two full hours was purely traveling.

Thankfully my time at the Embassy was very rewarding.  I was surprised at my cliched reaction, but seeing the Stars and Stripes flying from the flagpole and seeing the portraits of Obama, Biden, and Hillary in the entrace hall was very comforting even though I've only be in Barbados for five days.  Furthermore, the general architecture and layout of the Embassy was like a security blanket of Americana.  There's nothing like a good ol' traditional American office layout and furnishings to make an expat feel at home.  For two full hours I forgot I was in Barbados because my mind had been transplanted to "Anywhere, America."  It's nice to know that amidst all this unfamiliar terrain and culture, there is an oasis of America squirreled just an hour away from me. 

So thats pretty much that.  I've been trying to get home before the sun sets so I didn't go out again after getting home at 4:30.  I immediately took a cold shower, which is quickly becoming my favorite part of the day.  Right now I just finished dinner (chicken, broccoli, and rice) and am listening to a major storm pass by not too far off the West Coast.  Every now and then a flash of lightening bursts out from the blackness, but it is not enough to illuminate the entire sky from my perspective because of all the ambient light around me.  Too bad the storm isn't hitting the island - I would really welcome the cooldown a good rainstorm provides.

Tomorrow I have nothing planned until 7pm when I am meeting up for dinner with some new acquaintances.  This will be my first time traveling through Barbados at night and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous.  We're meeting on the South Coast, so I'm thinking I'll go explore that area during the daytime so that I'm close by at night.  We shall see though.  Stay tuned!

Oh, one last thing - I forgot to take my camera with me today which explains why I have no photos of my travels and the Embassy.  I'm going to try getting used to taking it with me so that I can give you guys some visuals of what I am talking about.

UPDATE: The above photo is of me and the charge d'affaires shaking hands in front of the flags of all the Caribbean nations the Embassy is responsible for.  The photo comes from one of the Embassy's media relations officers and was used in a mini-profiling of me on the Embassy's Facebook page.

I'm Here!

I know it's been a while since I last posted, but that's cause I wasn't in Barbados yet.  Now that I am officially here and set up in my apartment, I will be posting more frequently.

So where to begin?  I guess I'll start with my flight into Barbados.  All went well until I had to clear through Immigration.  I had written down that I would be staying in Barbados for 120 days, since I won't be leaving until Christmas break.  U.S. Citizens can only stay in Barbados without a visa for 30 days, so the immigration officer asked to see proof that I had been accepted to the University of the West Indies.  Luckily, early that morning before I left the NYC apartment my Dad had asked me if I wanted to take a letter from UWI with me.  This saved my ass and got me into the country.  Thanks Dad!

The following two days were spent by my mother and me moving me into my apartment.  There were lots of things to be cleaned and purchased in order to make the place liveable, although the landlady did provide a really nice level of basic equipment and furnishings.  That said, two trips to the grocery store cost me a total of $400 U.S.!!!  Everything is just so outrageously expensive here.  A can of Chunky soup that normally costs $2 or so in the States costs $5 here.  A normal sized container of laundry detergent: $30.  A single roll of Bounty paper towls: $4.  Luckily for many of these items (notably paper goods) there are generic versions available that cost a lot less.  Still, I was able to spend $400 even when buying generic whenever possible.  Thank god Fulbright gave me a generous stipend.  It is going to be expensive to live here.

Today my mother left for the airport at 11am (nicely dropping me off on her way) and I continued setting up my place.  I eventually ventured into Bridgetown to buy a pre-paid cellphone.  I was riding one of the usual yellow "Rasta" buses - so called for their tendency to play rasta rap music really loudly - that seem to never have working speedometers.  It can be concluded that the owners spend their maintenance money on killer sound systems rather than autoparts. 

Not surprisingly, doing the most mundane of things can reveal a lot about a different culture.  On the bus I quickly realized I had no idea where I was going (where would I get off, how would I get to the cellphone store, etc) so I asked the woman next to me some questions.  She was very friendly and in fact guided me directly to the Digicell store.  Her only request was that I call her once I got my new cellphone.  Aparantly Barbadian women have a thing for helpless white Americans...

Once inside the store it took absolutely forever to get someone's attention.  The concept of customer service in Barbados seems to be wildly different from that in the States.  Customers are expected to sit quiet in the midst of complete disorganization while they wait for a sales representative to be ready for them.  That said, once you have the representative's attention, they are extremely nice.  Coming from NYC I know I am going to have to adjust to the slower pace of life here.  I'm willing to bet it won't be that hard.

Another interesting thing that happened to me today was when I was telling one of the workers at the hotel my mother and I were staying at that I was going to be studying in UWI, he immediately asked me if I ultimately planned to use my newly gained knowledge in the Caribbean or take it home with me.  This is a fair question and one that Americans are always asking about immigrant students at U.S. universities.  At this moment I plan to do both: helping the Caribbean but from a home in the United States.  However, who knows how my year and a half in Barbados will change my outlook.  It is conceivable that I could end up wanting to stay in the Caribbean.

That's it for now.  There are plenty of more things for me to say but right now I am trying to see if Operation "Can The AC Unit In My Bedroom Cool The Entire Apartment" will be successful while juggling a couple loads of unbalanced laundry.

I will post again tomorrow, so stay tuned!