Oppa Bajan Style

I know it seems like it's been all fun and games since we've gotten to Guyana. Yes, it is a fun and exciting adventure, but we have also had our fair share of challenges. It's hard being far away from family and creating a new social network in an unfamiliar land. It's hard not having a car, and worse, not being able to safely and easily walk from place to place (our car should arrive next week…crossing fingers). It's hard not having access to the same goods that we grew used to and relied upon in the U.S. It's hard having to put in so much effort at church due to low membership and the newness of the church over here. It's hard getting used to the new rules and regulations of diplomatic life…there is a lot of bureaucracy and a certain loss of "freedom" to live like an ordinary citizen. Nevertheless, we still find that the pros outweigh the cons, and we definitely embrace all opportunities to explore our surroundings and rest from our cares. :) Today is Phagwah, a Hindu/Guyanese holiday. Since it was a day off work, we spent our four-day weekend in Barbados. It was really interesting to visit another Caricom nation. It is similar to Guyana in culture, language, and food, but it is much more developed with much, much more beautiful beaches. It is also a lot more expensive…maybe because it is an island, and maybe because it is touristy. But we were definitely shocked at the prices. Here are a few little tidbits I picked up about Barbados: the accent is kind of like a Guyanese accent, but more British-sounding. The exchange rate is roughly 2 Barbadian dollars to 1 U.S. dollar. They commonly accept U.S. currency, unlike Guyana. The flag is blue and yellow with a trident on it. The signature dishes are flying fish and cou cou (a cornmeal paste, kind of like grits). Their common produce is very similar to that of Guyana: okra, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber, callaloo (spinach), pumpkin, etc. Lots of coconuts, like Guyana. LOTS of sugar cane. The whole colonial history/triangular trade thing is very much more apparent in Barbados than in Guyana. The population is mostly black, whereas in Guyana it's about half black/half Indian. However, there are many more white people in Barbados than in Guyana (mostly tourists, I presume). Finally, "Bajan" is a term that is thrown around a lot on the island. It is a shortened form of "Barbadian." Well, on to the photos from our Bajan vacation!

FRIDAY

Awaiting the plane at Ogle airport (a tiny airport ten minutes from our home)

Tiny plane, too!

When we arrived on Friday night we were starving, so we hit up an Italian place right next to our hotel.

Rose putting the barricade around her cake.

Saturday morning everyone was anxious to get to the beach.

The kids kept wanting to see actual turtles, as there were reminders everywhere of how common they are in Barbados.

Cute little art shop next to a smoothie place.

Natural sand art 

Good to the last drop

These are what baby coconuts look like, in case you were wondering.

While swimming in the water we found many, many crabs. We also put on our goggles and got up close and personal with the tropical fish swimming around the rocks. It was so cool. You'd never think you'd get to see those colorful aquarium fish just swimming around in their natural habitat.

No editing. It was that beautiful.

Sand was grainy close to the water, but it was finer further away.

I love that the kids give us an excuse to dig in the sand. :) Otherwise I don't really know what I'd do at the beach all day. I can only lie on a chaise longue for so long.

Brazilian embassy just chillin' in plain view; no gates or guards or anything. We have a keener eye for any kind of governmental/diplomatic stuff these days. :)

We didn't have a car the first day and I really wanted to walk around and explore, but the kids weren't too keen on that. My big boy got to go in the ergo carrier. 

Cute little landscape done with coral and items that had washed upon the shore.

Police band

We went to a little cafe with a play area. Kids enjoyed the zip line.

Of course Jasmine won't get left out!

Some of Rose's treasures

The fryer at the café broke and the food was taking too long…we went to a roti place instead. Rose and Simon put on a show while we waited (once again) for our food.

Yum! It was quick this time. Roti is very common in Guyana too. They fill it with stuff, like a burrito. Mine had spinach, potato, and channa (chickpeas) in it.

Haagen Dazs for dessert! Hadn't seen this in a long time!

SUNDAY

We went to sacrament meeting at the Christ Church branch. Then…

Yummy variations of fried fish at the Flower Forest

 We walked around the jungly forest and saw many beautiful flowers

Rose was super intent on finding all the flowers pictured on her little map

Baobab tree, although much smaller than any I'd seen in Africa. Must be a young'un.

This was a large snail.

Beautiful view

Sleepy baby

Creepy crawly

Cool roots

 

Checking out a cou cou stick in the gift shop. Never actually got to eat cou cou in Barbados!

Part of the structure remained. It used to be a sugar mill. This is the big oven and the vats used for refining the sugar cane juice. They're from the 16 or 1700's. 

After the Flower Forest we went to Harrison's Cave. It was a rainy day so I didn't really want to sit on the beach. We saw a monkey there. For Jasmine, that alone was probably worth the trip. :)

Haha. We told the kids to hold hands and smile. As soon as the picture was taken, Rose dropped Simon's hand and turned off her smile. I told her how I thought it was funny she was so reluctantly posing, and Simon said she was also hurting his hand…I think it might have been purposeful. :)

We got to ride a tram through the cave. Quite a bit fancier than the Luray Caverns (in this post) if you ask me!

Pretty

I wanted to take a dip in those crystal clear cave waters!

Just a sample of a road in Barbados. They also drive on the left, like Guyana.

HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH

We actually couldn't buy anything because our Costco card was not acceptable at PriceSmart (a store that recently broke off from Costco), but it was sure fun to look around! And we ate at the food court. Cheapest food we had in Barbados. Brought back a lot of good memories of America, too. :)

This was our little baby car 

One last beach run on Sunday night. Had to put our feet in one last time, even though it was drizzly.

MONDAY

Before our flight we went to the Barbados museum. I had been trying to go all weekend. On Saturday we almost made it but the kids were complaining so much about walking. On Sunday we got there just as they were closing. So Monday we finally made it. Because we are residents of Guyana, we got in for free!!!! That made our day. I always love museums, and Sevak makes fun of me for being more concerned about getting to the museum than going to the beach in tropical paradise.

Shall I close with this picture of a stinky, rotten watermelon that was on our counter when we got back home? I guess it's kind of how we all feel about being back from vacation…a little deflated. :)