Welcome To Barbados

Have you ever been to a Caribbean country and have people sing songs of the territory to you? Thankfully it has never happened to me, nor have I had to do it. What has happened though is that I was stopped and grilled by a police after I came through immigration - Welcome Home? This one goes out to all my Bajan friends, the real ones and the ones who wished they were Bajan. This one goes out to everyone in the world lol.

Before we begin, let's look at last week. The presentation was bad but the essay was good. But as for the other events...well...that's a different story.

And here it is. I have a friend from Trinidad who came to Barbados to study. Among other things, she was given strict instructions not to eat from Chefette. And she obeyed them, until last week. I went to a concert and afterword we were hungry and looking for a place to eat at. It was here that she informed us of the command. "I'm not going to eat Chefette," she said, impressing upon us that her convictions were immutable. Asking why was no use, neither was trying to debunk her myths, but since the other restaurants were closed and she was not driving, we decided to go to Chefette.

The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts  (C. S. Lewis).

We sat in Chefette and talked as she continue to make it clear that she was NOT going to eat Chefette. (She also said that she was not even going to go in Chefette). When it was time to eat, those who were hungry ordered their food. As we sat and ate we asked her, "Aren't you going to eat some?" "NO!" she answered. We ate until the scent filled the whole room and she just couldn't stand the pressure. "Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!" the voices inside and outside her head cried. "Ok." All eyes were fixed on her as she took a small portion, ignoring all warnings, and ate. (Then she gave some to her husband who was with her...lol just kidding). "It's ok" she said while fighting to hold back a smile. And if that wasn't bad enough she had a second set! So much for "I'm not eating Chefette!"

The second story involves the members of my OB group. It is not as victorious as the first one though. After the group meeting was finished on Wednesday we were sitting around and talking about Barbados' lovely public transportation system. We talked about standing in ZR's (minivans) and being so squashed that you can't change your mind and listening to the tunes blazing inside while your eardrums get rattle.

Now I confess that Bajans are the worst in giving directions. My friend, who's from Nevis, wanted to get to town. Someone told him that town is "just down the road" so he decided to walk there from Wanstead (5 min highway time). So he's walking and the sun is obviously not cool at any time of this day. After getting a working knowledge of what "down the road" means he decided to ask someone if town was really down the road. Of course it is. With renewed vigour, he continued his trek to town. About a while later he realizes that this was a bad idea so he stopped and asked someone else where was town. "Oh it's just down the road". By this time he figured that it was actually down the road since he'd been walking for more than 45 minutes. So he kept walking...and walking...and walking.......Red Label....Black Label...Civil Rights...walking. At this time now, he was frustrated and realized that "down the road" is not five minutes, turn corner and see the destination. It's more, five minutes, turn the corner and see the destination - on Google Maps. Like Brian McKnight, he gave one last cry, "Where is town?" "Oh it's around the corner." Relief hit him as he thought that that was closer than "just down the road". Well it is but then again the moon is closer to the earth than the sun. In the end he did reach town and vowed never to walk to anywhere that is "just down the road". He will definitely keep that vow.

My final story is strictly Bajan in nature. If you're not Bajan, you can stop reading here and have a great week.

The conversation somehow changed to the topic of food. A friend of another group member got married and was living here. One day she and her friend, both non-nationals by birth, decided to go to a bakery for some salt bread. Upon opening the pack they found the coconut leaf on the top so they went back to the bakery and told someone "I think you sold me bad bread. This has in grass."

This is my country - broasted tenderness in the meat, long walks on the beach (or down the road for that matter) and grass in our bread. It is true, there is a never a dull moment in Barbados.