Reflection - Daily Life

I've been meaning to write a reflection about my time in Barbados so far for a while now.  Given that it will likely be a long process I have decided to split it up into sections, so that I can better keep my focus while writing and so that you don't have to read one super long post.  With that in mind here is the first post, which is about my daily life.

Daily life in Barbados is both refreshing and frustrating.  On the one hand, the single climate greatly simplifies wardrobe choices (hooray shorts and flip-flops!), while on the other hand it is easy to get tired of constantly sweating and being dehydrated.  Having quick and easy access to the beach is another plus, but since I live alone I often lack the motivation to go.  I think this has to do with the fact that for me growing up, going to the beach was always a family/social event.  Much like going to a movie, it just seems weird to go alone.  I'm sure I could get over my socialization if I were willing to make the effort, but so far I have not been willing to.  Perhaps it's because, subconsciously, I don't like the beach very much?  I do burn very easily...

More enjoyable social activities for me include simple liming ("Caribbean" for hanging out and drinking socially), going out for a meal, and straight up partying.  One thing I have really enjoyed is the diversity of my friends.  Only one of them is actually Barbadian.  The rest are either Jamaican, from St. Kitts, Canadian, American, Finlandian, Trinidadian...etc.  It makes for a really interesting group since there are so many different perspectives and cultures represented, and stands in sharp contrast to the homogeneity of Hamilton.  I am trying to organize pickup football games (cultural exchange woo!) since I enjoyed that a lot during my Hamilton days and miss the exercise/competitive spirit it gave me.  And finally, of course, I must confess a softspot for video games and reading - two activities that are so simple to enjoy when pursued correctly (i.e. don't force yourself to read/play anything you're not interested in).  (I just finished Bill Bryson's The Mother Tongue and it was wonderful.  If you are at all interested in language I highly recommend you pick it up!).
 
Academically my life is good.  The first semester went well (I think - still need to get grades back) despite being harder than I had anticipated.  This semester is shaping up to be a bit easier since I will only be taking 4 courses instead of 5, one of which (Sustainable Tourism) includes a trip to some other Caribbean island!  The professors at UWI are are nice and definitely intelligent, but they are disorganized, not the best communicators, and sometimes just factually wrong (I had one professor try to convince me that the American expressions "Main Street" and "Wall Street" meant the same thing...) which can be really frustrating.  Overall I've definitely learned a lot, but it can be a frustrating experience more frequently than I would like.  I miss the well-oiled machinery/competency of Hamilton.

Academically, the one thing I am really dreading is writing another thesis.  I hope to start the question development and research process this semester so that when it ends I can just launch right into writing and be done in a couple months.  The problem is: I have no idea what I want to write about.  I know I have time to figure it out, but I am still a bit nervous about coming up with an interesting and compelling project.  This is made all the worse by the knowledge that I would like to return home for good by late August, meaning my thesis needs to be done by then.

The other activities that take up most of my time are cooking and cleaning (are you yawning yet? I wouldn't blame you).  My troubles going grocery shopping are well documented (either pay $20 for a cab or wait for the shuttle and go on some crazy hour plus ride after which you can kiss your frozen food goodbye) but I think are still worth pointing out again.  It is the one activity that I truly dread every week.  Luckily the apartment I am renting is wonderful.  It has tile floors throughout, making sweeping/cleaning up spills really easy.  It also has high ceilings, giving it a really spacious feel.  Even though it only has A/C in the bedroom I have somewhat acclimated to the temperature here and can exist in a not-entirely-miserable state during even the hottest of days.  By far and away the best thing about my apartment is its proximity to the university.  I can walk to the graduate school "campus" (read: building) in under 10 minutes and to the main campus in under 15.  I think this is one of the main things that has kept me sane during these past couple of months.  I would not be happy if I had to take a rasta bus to and from school.

One process that surprised me is how my attitude toward my neighborhood has changed over time.  Initially I was nervous and apprehensive about the area I was living in.  It looked nothing like any other environment I had spent considerable time in, let alone lived.  Materials that Americans associate with poverty, such as cinderblocks and corrugated sheet metal, are commonly used throughout the neighborhood, Barbados, and the wider Caribbean.  Likewise, it is normal for chickens, cats, monkeys, dogs, and even horses, to be prevalent in a neighborhood.  These are all things I have come to realize.  Yet when I first got here I was afraid that their presence meant I was living in a run-down neighborhood that might be subject to high crime rates.  The reality has been, thankfully, quite the opposite.  My neighborhood is decidedly middle-class, local, and safe.  Kids play in the street until the sun sets.  People go to church on Sunday (including the Jehova's Witnesses down the street).  Locals gather a bit down the hill to play dominoes and lime.  It is, in fact, very nice and relatively quiet (except for that damned ice cream truck which comes at all different times!  It came at 9am this Sunday.  What the hell!?!!)  The amazing sunsets make up for the ice cream truck though! 

So that's basically what my life has looked like over the past 4+ months.  In many ways it is slower and simpler than life back home.  You are forced to have fewer "wants" because they are either impossible to meet or prohibitively expensive.  There is more of a focus on the "bigger" things and away from petty issues.  Life is so challenging for many people here that there just isn't time for the petty concerns/bitching that we Americans make a national pastime out of.  And you know what, it's refreshing.  I have yet to hear anyone complain about Windows crashing or their phone being slow or  any of the other stupid things you hear all the time back home.  There is a recognition that you should be 1) grateful and 2) realistic - i.e. realize nothing ever works perfectly all the time.  It is a lesson I hope to embrace.