Barbados - Oct 9th 2008

6:45AM

We landed around 1:30pm yesterday. The flight to Bridgetown - Grantley Adams airport was much more comfortable than the flight from New York to Miami and just as quick. The customs process was equally painless. I changed $40 USD into $80 BDS (not enough) and we were soon looking for a taxi, which we found as soon as we walked outside.

Our driver, Kelvin, gave us some tips about the island, mostly about public transportation and money. As it turns out, he was RBPF (Royal Barbados Police Force) for 40 years before retiring and at one point spent several weeks working in the 47 precinct in the Bronx as part of an exchange program. A small world indeed. He highlighted some of the differences between policing here and back home, mostly that they have very little crime (though not crime free of course), don't wear "bullet-proof" vests, and most of their officers are not armed. He gave me his card and told me if I wanted a tour of the local police station, just to give him a call. I might take him up on it.

After we had gotten our room, changed, and took care of some activity planning, we were famished, having not eaten in 12 hours. We walked around the immediate area outside the hotel, but weren't satisfied with the choices. Everyone seems to rave about the Italian place across the street, but we could eat Italian any time back home. I wanted something at least slightly more authentic. Margot at the front desk, a tall, slightly built Bajan woman who had shared some war stories with Alice about being in accidents and having to wear orthotic devices, told us that our best bet for food at that time was St. Lawrence Gap.

We hopped on a blue city bus and tried not to look like awkward tourists but failed miserably, nearly falling out of the bus a few times. Kelvin had pointed out St. Lawrence Gap to us when we had passed in in the taxi, but I ended up not being able to recognize it going the opposite direction. We missed the stop and didn't realize it until we got about 3/4 of the way back to the airport. We got off the bus a bit past Oistins, where they have the fish-fry on Friday nights. We grabbed another bus back and again passed St. Lawrence. We were just going to walk till we found it but upon looking down a residential side street, almost an alley, we noticed a restaurant called "The Carib" down on the beach. We ended up eating there instead of St. Lawrence, which we didn't regret. The waitress showcased every bit of the famed "Bajan friendliness" without being patronizing or condescending. I had fried flying fish with Cou-Cou (the Bajan national dish) and Alice had a chicken sandwich, which she thought I was going to harass her about getting such a common meal, but I knew how hungry she was and not in any mood to be adventurous. She did try my flying fish, for which I gave her a lot of credit, being admantly opposed to eating seafood. She didn't like it, as it was fish, after all.
I, on the other hand, while also not being much of a fish-eater, thought it was excellent. The flavor wasn't "fishy" at all and the texture was soft without being mushy. The cou-cou was also delicious. Cou-cou is "a Bajan dish made from cornmeal and okra" as our waitress put it. I didn't care what it was, it was delicious. Accompanied by a few Banks beers and a mango margarita for Alice, it was an excellent dinner. I think it only ran us $35USD, with drinks!

The bus ride back to the hotel went without incident. This time we told the driver where we were going and he let us off right in front. We went back to our room and I think we were both asleep by 8pm. I had the strangest dreams about my grandmother battling sea-monsters in her backyard which had become a swamp, and another dream about being late for gym class in the Academy. Must have been something in the cou-cou.

Today we're renting a car, which I'm approaching with an equal mix of excitement and terror, as they drive on the left here. I'm supposed to meet the guy from the rental company at 8:30am in the lobby. Right now, I'm mostly concerned about breakfast.
I'm currently sitting on our room's patio. It's raining lightly but looks to be clearing. Occasionally, a little bird that looks like a brown dove with a longer beak and brown spots on its tail will wander tentatively over to see if I have anything for it, which I don't. There's a lizard in a the tree doing some sort of mating dance with its frill out. Go get 'em tiger.

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