“I’m heading home.” But what does that mean? It’s a fundamental question for me right now. Sometimes I solved it by putting air quotes around “home.” Other times I avoided it altogether by specifying: back to Canada, back to Barbados. Which way is the plane facing, when I’m going home? I thought Canada, my home, … Continue reading Home After a Year— or After a Month?
We were walking down the driveway, on our way to dinner, when Richard looked at me, startled. “Is that a CARDIGAN?” Simone, who was also carrying one, and I exchanged a men-don’t-really-understand glance. “I might get chilly.” Simone nodded in agreement. “But it’s still 28 degrees!” “But it might get down to 26 tonight. And … Continue reading My Barbados Evolution
I’m lying in bed at 6am, before my first coffee, and I reach for my phone. Not to check the weather— that’s going to be a high of 30 or 31C, low of 25 or 26C, every day, because it’s July. Predictions of rain are erratic— it could be pouring rain here and sunny a … Continue reading A Day in the Life, Barbados version
“Good morning!” I say cheerily as I pass anyone. Or good afternoon, or good evening. Bajans will always greet as they go by, and even a teen wearing earbuds and attitude will reply in reflex. “Alright, alright.” Or, “Mornin, mornin.” Once I was walking alongside an older woman whom I recognized from other trips along … Continue reading Talking the Talk: Bajanisms
“We’re leaving tomorrow.” Kaity and François are going back to New York. I’ve watched their daughter Louise become a full fledged toddler as she traveled down our street over the last five months, with whichever parent wasn’t surfing. The semi-tamed cats on the street learned to move more quickly in tandem. Once it rains, no … Continue reading To Stay or To Go?
“That’s not a goat, that’s a sheep.” Wait what? It looks like a goat. It has hair, not wool. But apparently it is a Barbados blackbelly sheep. You can tell because of the tail, the ears, and its temperament. Barbados black belly sheep Like that goat, I mean sheep, on Barbados you can never assume, … Continue reading Talking the Talk: Barbados Vocabulary
I’ve given up fighting a sandal tan. I used to put a lot of effort, on holiday, into not getting tan lines from my sandals. I’d sit with only my bare feet in the sun, and slather on the sunblock when I was wearing sandals. I used to be proud of my tan. I tan … Continue reading How Barbados Has Changed Me
The announcement came: only essential workers, all stores closed until Tuesday. Don’t go outside without a mask. No, not the latest Covid restrictions. Waves of volcanic ash were hitting Barbados, from La Soufrière’s eruptions on St. Vincent, 150 kilometres west of us. Had to capture the foreboding yellow tint to the sky. Out my window. … Continue reading In the Path of the Volcano
We’d just stepped off the ZR van, stopping for dinner on our way home after an afternoon of errands in Bridgetown, when Scott looked up in disbelief. “I don’t have my phone.” While we stood, frozen, the next #11 ZR van pulled up. “He left his phone on the bus!” I shouted to the driver … Continue reading A Wild Ride: travelling by ZR in Barbados
My beach at Freight’s Bay is different again this morning. The tide is low, but some of the sand that had returned after the scouring of the winter storms has been scooped away again. The beach is angled instead of flat, and fist sized pieces of coral lay scattered on the soft sand. The same … Continue reading On the Beach in Barbados
Brave Travels 