My first week in Barbados!

My new life begins..

I landed in Barbados Friday night, January 8th after a long day of travel and very little sleep. The warmth was welcoming after leaving the 20 degree wintry scene of Canton, NY. I was even more pleased with the cooling breeze that met our first steps off the plane. Barbados is known for this breeze, and it certainly makes a huge difference!

After meeting my landlord and getting settled into my apartment over the first day, Charles and I began to explore - he was in fact 'on vacation'! and so was I! We played with the idea of renting a car, but were quickly discouraged by the expense, the narrow roads, and of course - driving on the left. We decided it would be an adventure to get to know the public transportation system, and agreed that it would be important for me to know when I was on my own for the year. And quite the adventure it has been...

My roommate, Tanika moved in last semester, but is home in Trinidad for the semester break. I was thrilled to accept her 'welcome to Barbados' gift - in the form of 'the room with the view'! She sent a message saying she thought I would appreciate it - and boy was she right! Here is the view from my bedroom looking over the west coast at the Caribbean Sea. ( I posted this photo with the visible screen, just so you know that I am not exaggerating - it is my window. ).

We decided that our first day should be spent relaxing on the beach at Fitts Village, just below my apartment on the coast, a 10-15 minute walk. When we returned home that evening, we were met by the local monkeys! First one, then two, then about 10! They were scampering in and out of the rubble that meets the little forest leading down the ridge. These monkeys are called 'green monkeys' although there is only a hint of greenish-yellow on some of their tails - they were brought to Barbados from West Africa about 350 years ago.

The University of the West Indies - Cave Hill

 

(The new Graduate Studies Complex)

UWI (you-wee)as it is called, is a 20 minute walk, or a quick bus trip down the street from my apartment. I have already met with Professor Sherma Roberts to discuss my courses and get acquainted with the campus and program. I also attended a brief orientation with other management students in graduate studies. I am beginning to get a feel for how the program is going to go, and am very excited to get started!

My courses this semester: Human Resources Management, Research Methods, Financial Management, Sustainable Tourism and Cruise Tourism - a nice mix of fun and challenging subjects!

The Main Campus sits up on a hill overlooking the sea, and the Cruise Ship Pier (you can see in the background of the road photo) The campus is undergoing major expansions and renovations, and covers several different disciplines both undergraduate and graduate.

 

There is also a Cricket Studies program, and a beautiful fairly new Cricket grounds which doubles as the entrance to campus.

  

Being a Tourist...

If I am going to be studying Tourism, it only makes sense to do some experiential learning, so we did.

I am always one to seek 'budget travel' information and guidebooks before I set out on my journeys, and was a little upset that I could not find such information about Barbados - I was also excited by the opportunity of creating such a guide or resource while here for the year. It took about 24 hours for me to realize that budget travel and Barbados were not compatible. One of the standard ways to travel on a budget is to be creative about food, make your own meals, eat local 'snack shack' kind of things. In Barbados, food is expensive. In addition to the many tempting (and expensive) restaurants lining the streets and beaches, the everyday food in the grocery stores came with surprisingly high prices. Almost all food has to be shipped in. Keeping to a budget will take a bit more effort and research than planned...

Our budget travel would have to depend on using public transportation, which would also require some patience, but only 75 cents a ride, for any distance.

Bridgetown - also known as 'Town'

Brindgetown is the many city, located on the south west coast. All buses go to 'Town' so we hopped on and had a look. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, we went on a Sunday when everything is closed. The streets were empty and we were able to walk in peace and get a lay of the 'city' without the hustle and bustle of a normal day there.

The Mount Gay Rum Distillery is also just outside of 'town', which we walked to another day...a bit of a far walk - which made us quite thirsty upon arrival ;)

Some fun facts about Rum:

- The name RUM comes from the English word 'Rumbullion' meaning the sort of hooligan mayhem known to ensue after plentiful rum was consumed. 

- Rum was being distilled in Barbados as early at 1630

- In 1655, the British Navy instituted a daily ration of Rum to all sailors, guaranteeing the industries success.

- Mount Gay Rum was distilled in 1703, making it the oldest brand in the world.

- Rum is made from sugar molasses and pure coral-filtered water - both plentiful here in Barbados.

Along with the tour of Mount Gay, on another day, we continued our island education with a visit to the Barbados Museum, housed in the old British Military Prison. The displays were very interesting ranging from sea life to sugar cane to architecture and building materials. It was hard to believe such a beautiful place was once a prison.

On to Speightstown:

The second largest town, formerly a major port, whaling station and trading center.

From Bridgetown we jumped back on a bus headed to Speightstown the other major town, and bus hub, on the north west. Riding the bus is a great way to see the country, and its cheap. We hopped off at Speightstown and walked through the quiet sunday streets until we came to a beautiful beach.

One of my guidebooks provides a list of '20 Things you must do in Barbados' - the 20th recommendation: "Float face up in the Caribbean and realize how perfect everything is"

CHECK!

One of my favorite things about Barbados, so far, is that although there are a ton of tourists here, you can always find a nearly secluded beach!