When it rains, Michele told me, the fish in the ocean jump out of the water a lot - because they are trying to get to the fresh water. I haven't seen this yet myself - but, will try and notice next time.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Rain, Rain and more Rain
When it rains, Michele told me, the fish in the ocean jump out of the water a lot - because they are trying to get to the fresh water. I haven't seen this yet myself - but, will try and notice next time.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship - Here in Barbados - Now
This is the view from my apartment window these days. We have got women boxers everywhere on this island right now! AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships - the bouts will start tomorrow on the 9th and will go until the 18th. I'm glad they are bringing business to the island, but man has it slowed our traffic down. And I am hearing a lot more police sirens these days - I think they are using the police cars as escorts for the boxers.
Also, it has started raining this afternoon - and it is so refreshing. I don't know if I have ever posted a blog about how cool it is to watch the rain coming towards you - as you are looking out over the ocean. One problem with the rain, is that it really slows the traffic down because of several areas that have drainage problems. Most Bajans try to stay inside until the rain has passed. I don't blame them. I think I will do the same today. Time to post more in my blog and enjoy this rainy day.
I am catching up on writing down some of my good recipes. Sylvie has loaned me a cookbook - called Hamlyn Essential Caribbean - and it has got some of the most awesome recipes in it. I cooked one last night called Curried Shrimp Pilau. Fabulous. Outstanding. Well, I think that is all I know for today - take care, my friends out in this world of ours.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Going out
Well, it happened last Friday here in Barbados - I went to two different super markets and at both of them - I ran into people that I know - my friends. I guess that ends the privilege of leaving the house without my hair fixed. I have only had this feeling in Meridian, MS; Flower Mound, TX and now Barbados.
Friday, September 3, 2010
ZED R's
Do you know what I mean when I say ZED R? Well, it is a Bajan term (maybe also in St. Lucia). It is referring to the minibuses that roam to and fro on the roads here. It is because all of their license plates have these two letters at the beginning of their number ZR. And in Europe, they pronounce a Z as ZED - hence ZED R.
These ZED R's can be a lot of fun. Some of them have their own horn tunes such as the Mexican Hat Dance or Dixie. And if you ever do come and stay with us in our apartment, you will probably hear these horn tunes all through the night! But, after a while - you get used to the sounds and are not even aware of them. Trust me, really - I'm telling the truth. You know, probably the same way as someone who lives near an airport or train track will tell you that the noise doesn't bother them - they are used to it.
Anyway, at night - especially on Friday nights - they get a little more upbeat and rambunctious. The driver, who hopefully is sober, usually has some really good music playing and all the windows are down and it feels like you are on a roller coaster as you go around the rotaries. Oh, do you know what a rotary is? It is a round circle in the middle of a road intersection - and you can hop on and hop off when there is an opening in the traffic! They use these rotaries here on the island instead of stop lights. Now that I have gotten used to them - I kind of like them.
ZED R's are a lot of fun - the locals will usually talk with you and tell you where you need to stop to go to this or that place. So, I took a picture for you to see. Oh, and another thing - Fridays on the first of the month - don't go to the super centre if you can help it (better known in the southern USA as a grocery store). Oh, and those super centres - if they need to do a stock inventory..... they just close the store down. Sorry, if you needed anything - guess you will have to wait or drive to a different store.
These ZED R's can be a lot of fun. Some of them have their own horn tunes such as the Mexican Hat Dance or Dixie. And if you ever do come and stay with us in our apartment, you will probably hear these horn tunes all through the night! But, after a while - you get used to the sounds and are not even aware of them. Trust me, really - I'm telling the truth. You know, probably the same way as someone who lives near an airport or train track will tell you that the noise doesn't bother them - they are used to it.
Anyway, at night - especially on Friday nights - they get a little more upbeat and rambunctious. The driver, who hopefully is sober, usually has some really good music playing and all the windows are down and it feels like you are on a roller coaster as you go around the rotaries. Oh, do you know what a rotary is? It is a round circle in the middle of a road intersection - and you can hop on and hop off when there is an opening in the traffic! They use these rotaries here on the island instead of stop lights. Now that I have gotten used to them - I kind of like them.
ZED R's are a lot of fun - the locals will usually talk with you and tell you where you need to stop to go to this or that place. So, I took a picture for you to see. Oh, and another thing - Fridays on the first of the month - don't go to the super centre if you can help it (better known in the southern USA as a grocery store). Oh, and those super centres - if they need to do a stock inventory..... they just close the store down. Sorry, if you needed anything - guess you will have to wait or drive to a different store.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Beach Worm!
I will have to tell you that I am a lot calmer today than I was three days ago!
It all started a week ago last Tuesday. When I went to bed, I started scratching what I thought was a mosquito bite. But, the next day - it really itched and I kept scratching at it. I started to believe that I had been bitten by some type of bug other than a mosquito. It kept itching, I kept scratching and the place on my leg started getting redder and there was a red line - which I thought was from my ever so often scratching!
On Saturday, Gary and I went to play golf and I decided to ask the lady behind the counter if she had ever seen anything like what was on my leg. She had never seen anything like this - but, she said she would flag one of the 5 doctors that were out on the course playing - when they rounded the bend. I didn't want her to do this. I know doctors in the USA do not want to be bothered in their off hours and private time. I told her so - and she just laughed at me and said it was different here in Barbados. So, before I could object she had flagged down a doctor and he very graciously looked at my leg and said that it was nothing - just a bug bite - that I should try putting witch hazel on it. OK! That was a new one for me! Gary remembered hearing how his grandmother would use witch hazel for different cure alls in the good ole days.
So, we went to the SuperCentre and picked up a bottle of witch hazel. It did stop the itching. I thought my problem had been solved. Unfortunately, when I woke up on Sunday morning - the itch and a new red line was back - just below my previous red line (which Gary had joking told me looked like I had tattooed the word Jo on my leg). Now, I was getting suspicious - this couldn't possibly be a bug bite - because it seemed to have moved!
I waited until Monday morning - and after driving Gary to work (we only have one leased car here on the island - that is another long story in and of itself) - I went to the doctor's office. No appointment is needed. The office has an open air lobby. The doctor that saw me was a young lady - who was not in a very good mood. She was complaining to the nurse about this and that. She listened to my story and looked at my leg and then wrote out two prescriptions - one to be taken for 3 days to kill the WORM and one to be taken for 7 days as an antihistamine! She said I had what is called a beach worm! Nothing else was said. No bedside manners, just the facts Jack!
What? I had a worm inside of me? Oh, I was so grossed out! I was enraged as well. I was furious. I wanted off this island. I was tired of all this. I cried and cried and did I tell you - I cried? I called my sister for comfort - she wasn't in the comforting mood that morning. Oh well - what do I do? Well, I go get the medicine that the doctor prescribed and start taking it!
I went home and read up on the medicine on the internet - side effects include throat soreness, flu like symptoms, loss of hair, etc.!! (Yeah, with my thin hair that I probably got from my great, great, great Cherokee grandmother - I really needed to lose more hair.) The beach worm comes from people not deworming their dogs and then letting their animals poop on the beach! Lovely thought, isn't it? By 5:30 pm, when I was to pick Gary up - I could hardly move - my throat was sore and my body ached big time. Also, my leg was no longer itching, it was throbbing with pain! I laugh now about this and say that neither the worm nor I liked this medicine. Well, I'm happy to report that by the next morning - my leg had quit hurting completely - the WORM died and I seemed to have survived it all!
I always wear my crocs to the beach - but, one day while I was watching Alisha learn how to windsurf - I had enjoyed mushing my feet into the sand and letting the waves gently roll over the feet and sand - and I'm sure that is probably when I came in contact with the larvae. But, I will not be doing that again any time soon! A lot of my local Bajan friends are very curious about my leg. They have definitely heard of the beach worm and many have had it as well, but they have never seen it as vividly as is on my leg - because my skin color is white. They are all so shocked at how it looks. My advice to anyone, anywhere in this world - do NOT go barefoot on the beach!
It all started a week ago last Tuesday. When I went to bed, I started scratching what I thought was a mosquito bite. But, the next day - it really itched and I kept scratching at it. I started to believe that I had been bitten by some type of bug other than a mosquito. It kept itching, I kept scratching and the place on my leg started getting redder and there was a red line - which I thought was from my ever so often scratching!
On Saturday, Gary and I went to play golf and I decided to ask the lady behind the counter if she had ever seen anything like what was on my leg. She had never seen anything like this - but, she said she would flag one of the 5 doctors that were out on the course playing - when they rounded the bend. I didn't want her to do this. I know doctors in the USA do not want to be bothered in their off hours and private time. I told her so - and she just laughed at me and said it was different here in Barbados. So, before I could object she had flagged down a doctor and he very graciously looked at my leg and said that it was nothing - just a bug bite - that I should try putting witch hazel on it. OK! That was a new one for me! Gary remembered hearing how his grandmother would use witch hazel for different cure alls in the good ole days.
So, we went to the SuperCentre and picked up a bottle of witch hazel. It did stop the itching. I thought my problem had been solved. Unfortunately, when I woke up on Sunday morning - the itch and a new red line was back - just below my previous red line (which Gary had joking told me looked like I had tattooed the word Jo on my leg). Now, I was getting suspicious - this couldn't possibly be a bug bite - because it seemed to have moved!
I waited until Monday morning - and after driving Gary to work (we only have one leased car here on the island - that is another long story in and of itself) - I went to the doctor's office. No appointment is needed. The office has an open air lobby. The doctor that saw me was a young lady - who was not in a very good mood. She was complaining to the nurse about this and that. She listened to my story and looked at my leg and then wrote out two prescriptions - one to be taken for 3 days to kill the WORM and one to be taken for 7 days as an antihistamine! She said I had what is called a beach worm! Nothing else was said. No bedside manners, just the facts Jack!
What? I had a worm inside of me? Oh, I was so grossed out! I was enraged as well. I was furious. I wanted off this island. I was tired of all this. I cried and cried and did I tell you - I cried? I called my sister for comfort - she wasn't in the comforting mood that morning. Oh well - what do I do? Well, I go get the medicine that the doctor prescribed and start taking it!
I went home and read up on the medicine on the internet - side effects include throat soreness, flu like symptoms, loss of hair, etc.!! (Yeah, with my thin hair that I probably got from my great, great, great Cherokee grandmother - I really needed to lose more hair.) The beach worm comes from people not deworming their dogs and then letting their animals poop on the beach! Lovely thought, isn't it? By 5:30 pm, when I was to pick Gary up - I could hardly move - my throat was sore and my body ached big time. Also, my leg was no longer itching, it was throbbing with pain! I laugh now about this and say that neither the worm nor I liked this medicine. Well, I'm happy to report that by the next morning - my leg had quit hurting completely - the WORM died and I seemed to have survived it all!
I always wear my crocs to the beach - but, one day while I was watching Alisha learn how to windsurf - I had enjoyed mushing my feet into the sand and letting the waves gently roll over the feet and sand - and I'm sure that is probably when I came in contact with the larvae. But, I will not be doing that again any time soon! A lot of my local Bajan friends are very curious about my leg. They have definitely heard of the beach worm and many have had it as well, but they have never seen it as vividly as is on my leg - because my skin color is white. They are all so shocked at how it looks. My advice to anyone, anywhere in this world - do NOT go barefoot on the beach!
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