I arrived at the Bahamas at noon last Tuesday afternoon and by the time I left the airport 15 minutes later, the country had already lived up to its reputation of an easy-going, fun place -- there was live-music in the security line and no unsolicited offers for taxis or bag carriers or the other barrage of people that can sometimes greet you when you land in a tropical place.
Bahamas with its GDP per capita of $32,000 isn’t a poor place (compare to Madagascar’s GDP per capita of $1,000) but neither is it a rich place (compared to Norway’s GDP per capita of $55,400). Especially when you consider that folks often buy food at NYC prices. One example today was my terrible lemonade (really it was sugar water) for $3. In contrast, Wilson and I shared a huge plate of food (spicy grilled grouper, macaroni, plantains, beans and rice) with an order of conch fritters for $18 last night. Thus, you can get good food – it is just important not to rely on the vegetables or real lemonade.
I think the food situation is analogous to what our life will be like with Wilson in the diplomatic corps – it isn’t always going to be perfect but it is going to be good and remarkable. I noticed that with our housing. For the next two years, we live in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse. This is remarkable for me because it is probably triple the size of our former San Francisco apartment. This week, I sometimes took the wrong turn going to our bedroom – that has never happened to me before.
But the bigness of our house doesn’t mean it is perfect, the housing doesn’t have the same high end finishes that a house in the US might have and the furniture is not as chic as that found in our loved ones homes. But it has plenty of room to host our loved ones, and in addition to that, Wilson has done a fantastic job moving us in. It was so comforting to enter the house on Tuesday and see pictures and kitchen items that I hadn’t seen since we moved out of our San Francisco apartment in August 2012.
The noteworthy part of life in the diplomatic corps showcased itself last night when we ate the overflowing amounts of food and ran into a practice for "Junkanoo". Junkanoo is the Bahamian holiday that occurs on Boxing Day and New Years Eve/Day and practice for it was loud, exciting, and impressive. It was loud because they have about 100 drum players – some played percussion on standard drums while the majority used (and carried) huge barrels made into drums. The barrels are 50 gallon oil drums and they look very heavy and pack a powerful beat. It was exciting when we saw it begin with just one guy and his drum and his whistle then all the other drums and whistles built, then these metal triangle rattle instruments kicked in, then the horns. Now it was a party!
And it was impressive because the music sounded so good and the 50 or so dancers in front of the 100 musicians were talented energetic dancers whose body weight differences of 90-300 lbs didn’t affect the athletic choreography. We’ve heard that the actual Junkanoo is even cooler with the costumes, adrenaline, etc. Much to look forward to.
Food, housing, Junkanoo....I was only able to be "home" with Wilson for 3 nights and 4 days but it made me look forward ever more to the day when I will move home with him for good.
I think the food situation is analogous to what our life will be like with Wilson in the diplomatic corps – it isn’t always going to be perfect but it is going to be good and remarkable. I noticed that with our housing. For the next two years, we live in a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom townhouse. This is remarkable for me because it is probably triple the size of our former San Francisco apartment. This week, I sometimes took the wrong turn going to our bedroom – that has never happened to me before.
But the bigness of our house doesn’t mean it is perfect, the housing doesn’t have the same high end finishes that a house in the US might have and the furniture is not as chic as that found in our loved ones homes. But it has plenty of room to host our loved ones, and in addition to that, Wilson has done a fantastic job moving us in. It was so comforting to enter the house on Tuesday and see pictures and kitchen items that I hadn’t seen since we moved out of our San Francisco apartment in August 2012.
And it was impressive because the music sounded so good and the 50 or so dancers in front of the 100 musicians were talented energetic dancers whose body weight differences of 90-300 lbs didn’t affect the athletic choreography. We’ve heard that the actual Junkanoo is even cooler with the costumes, adrenaline, etc. Much to look forward to.
Food, housing, Junkanoo....I was only able to be "home" with Wilson for 3 nights and 4 days but it made me look forward ever more to the day when I will move home with him for good.
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