Pesci - Fish?

This year we will have fish on old year's night.

And so have a lot of other people as the Rasta fish seller at Oistin's fish market was surrounded by a hord of customers. Mostly Italianos who didn't speak much English or comprehend Bajan Rasta accent nor know much about fish or how things work here -  creating a very confusing scene for everybody involved. As I wanted my fish before sunset I jumped in as a translater: - 'da maan clan da fish for sam moiney ofer yer' He says 'Now you go over there to the man in the yellow t-shirt he will clean your snapper for an additional small fee. Grazie and ciao'. That worked and off the next Italian went...

I was deemed helpful by the Rasta and Italians and somehow jumped the line, got 3 pounds of great looking Yellowfin tuna for $12 while at the same time explaining the differences between Marlin, Swordfish, Mahi Mahi, Kingfish, Baracuda and Shark on offer to the next bunch of Italians who could not make up their mind. 

My favorite fish in Barbados is by the way Flying Fish. Tastes great when fresh and I like the idea of an airborn sea creature on my plate...

Mahi Mahi

Snapper and Baracuda

Flying Fish

Trinidad - Visiting family and Connor's baptism

We left Bequia to head to my homeland of Trinidad where my mom and two sisters still live.  Life in Bequia was simple as there really wasn't much to do on such a small island but relax, its the exact opposite of life in Trinidad which can be considered the New York of the Caribbean.  My mom lives in Petit Valley which is very close to the capital of Port-of-Spain, she and my sisters and their families live all within 10 minutes drive of one another.  We decided to baptize Connor while we were there so that we could have most of our family around for the happy occasion. It was really a special day and Connor especially seemed to enjoy it! He didn't even cry when Rev. Bacchus poured the holy water on him.

Connor with his godmother Kathryn

My nieces Abigail and Shannon singing a song during the church service

Connor was really enjoying their singing.

Then we went back to my moms home to celebrate

We got a chance to take some lovely family photos

My sister Frances-Anne (pink dress) was the designated photographer and did a fabulous job at capturing all the special moments of that day. Thanks baits!

Thank you Glen's pre-school!

After one week in Bequia i started to realise that Ivy was bored of just hanging out with us all day. In Brooklyn she had pre-school, a nanny share  and playdates, she needed little people and to learn new stuff. I asked Jo what was available on the island and she promptly gave me the phone number for Glen's pre-school, I called right away and spoke to a friendly lady who told me that there was space for Ivy and it would cost $150 EC dollars for one month. My jaw dropped that's about $60 US dollars, that will get you about 4 hrs of childcare in New york! So I told her I would come by the next day with Ivy to check the place out.

It was a lovely brightly painted little house on the hill above the town cemetery and they had about 30 kids when we got there...everyone in matching red and white uniforms.  I met Glenys the lady who runs the place and knew pretty soon this was going to be a great place for Ivy.  She ran straight for the swings when we arrived!

She was busy from day 1 playing with all the new toys...one thing that is very limited when you travel is the amount of toys that can be fit into a suitcase when you have to pack so much other crap, so she was in heaven here.

Ivy was not potty trained when we got to Bequia....however that situation was soon to be remedied by the great teachers at Glen's. Glenys was literally shocked when she found out Ivy still wore diapers...she said her kids were potty trained by 1 year and that diapers were too expensive on the island so they learned very fast. She told me that they will have Ivy trained in a day or 2, and so said so done. Ivy is such a little pro at it now that I am not really ever needed and she usually tells me " mummy leave me alone, I will call you when I am finished". Amazing that it happened all so easily and I really think Glen's had a huge role to play, Daddy was a pretty good trainer too...truth be told! 

Lunch was provided at school and I would ask Ivy what she had and more than once i got a reply of "rice and bones" hmmmm, didn't sound quite right but I think it must have been "pelau" a local rice dish made with chicken ( i hope!) Ivy came home singing new songs, with pretty arts and crafts and the last day which was this Friday was their Christmas party and she came home with gifts and a goodie bag filled with toys and candy...she was over the moon. Below was a gingerbread house picture frame that she helped to make, so cute and came in very handy making our family Christmas card

And there she is posing in front of the school tree that she proudly led me to to show me since she helped to decorate it. Who knew that pre-school on such a small island would be so amazing!

My local coffee shop ... Bee's beach cafe

This little cafe opened its doors shortly after we moved to Lower Bay... It was as if some celestial force sent out a message for me "Nicola needs a coffee shop!" and voila there it was.  On any given day I end up here maybe not always for a coffee or delish pastries, cake, callaloo pies... But just to lime with the 2 lovely ladies that run this place. Audrie and Joan said they don't like their photo taken but I snuck this one in and with their permission I am posting it. They both became Ivy and Connor's adopted aunties always smiling and happy to see us even when Ivy was bringing buckets of sand from the beach inside. Audrie's chocolate chip cookies and coconut cake were her favorites. Many mornings Connor would sleep peacefully in the shade of this cafe while I went for a swim or sunbathing just steps below on the beach. Many days I had this expanse of sea and sand all to myself. I will certainly miss my favorite coffee shop when we leave Bequia, but who knows maybe we find our way back here sooner than later!

Connor enjoying his morning nap 

Liming with Audrie and Joan

Lower bay in all it's glory

Mayreau

Mayreau is an island and a way of being. Mayreau has two cars. One is lacking most windows, the driver is a rastaman and it functions as a taxi and transporter of goods. Otherwise it is an island of ones: One one road, one policeman, one proper guest house, one lone flamingo in the saltwater pond and one lone tourist. 
The one road goes over a very steep hill with the school and the church on top and the village below. People on Mayreau look fit from constantly walking up and down the hill where all of the 200 residents live. The supermarket is called 'the first stop supermarket' as it is the first stop when you come from the ferry or the last stop when you leave town. On Friday night the  people of Mayreau gather around some enourmous speakers at the barber shop for the 'barber shop lime'.

Forgetting your swimming trunks is a big mistake, the person who sells such exotic things was on the 'mainland' as they call St. Vincent here. The next person you ask will try to sell you her only pair of jeans instead. The only available pair on the island was bought at Salt Whistle Bay from the smiley happy women who sell t-shirts to the few people arriving with sailboats everyday. The color was a little off but it did fit.

The goats of the island seem to prefer the cemetery and all dogs of the island are related as they all bark in symphony every hour all through the night. Weed seem to have replaced cigarettes and the boys on the watertaxi drink something they call 'wine de columbia'.

Ordering a lobster salad at the 'Last Bar before the Jungle' involves somebody taking a boat across the bay, diving into the water to get the lobster out of a cage, coming back to the bar dripping wet and then preparing the beast on a barbeque. When you order a beer the barkeeper might take some money, run to the next bar to buy it for you there. And then when you sit at the bar at night the stories keep coming the pirates, the smugglers, the ruthless investors, the girlfriends in foreign lands and the revolvers in boots.

But when at sunset on top of the hill the infinte views reveal all the Grenadines preparing for the night, the bustling little village below is getting ready for dinner and a lone Rasta is humming a Bob Marley tune to the sound of the goats and the whistle of the tradewinds you might have found it: Mayreau. 

Real Shit!

N: As the huge waves tossed the little boat around I saw my life flash before my eyes and the captain of the boat whose nickname is "Real Shit" looked as cool as a cucumber.  Yes this was all my doing to go on this boat trip to the nearby island of Isle A Quatre when 'Real Shit' extended the invitation it seemed like a great idea...but how could I have known that our boat captain would be drinking rum shots when the mixers ran out, and at one point he even asked me for a bit of my beer to use as a mixer! And who knew the waves would be so massive on such a short island hop....never me again.

This photo was taken about 20 minutes after we finally left Port Elisabeth, my husband was happy then and even had a few sips of the homemade rum punch from a cut out bottle since nobody remembered to bring cups. However things started getting a bit weird when the boyfriend of the lovely lady in pink decided we needed more rum and we had to stop at a little shop along the coast which almost resulted in us loosing the boat engine in a shallow rocky cove.

D: If I would have continued participated in the drinking I probably would have had a great time but I decided one person on the boat needed to stay sober. My wife Nicola 'Safety' Donelan had picked a nutshell of a boat to take us to the nearby island beach in really bad weather with one line of squalls after the next with no safety equipment other than a bottle of rum. We also had with us a couple from St. Vincent that wanted to check out the beach at Isle la Quatre for their wedding. After waiting 45 min in the harbour on the boat to get it all organized, matches need to be purchased by jumping of the boat on the beach in high surf and rum needed to be bought as we ran out of rum punch after 45 min (all 1,5 liters of it between 3 people).  

We tried to catch a baracuda to barbecue on the way there but it snapped off the entire line. 

By the time we arrived on the beach on Island la Quatre after crossing a rough channel the weather turned bad with strong winds and rain that we decided to stay in the water to keep warm as there was no shelter on the beach. After more rum for the skipper and finally a break in the weather I pushed everybody sternly to go back to Bequia as the next line of squalls was approaching fast. After some dramatic moments to get the rather large woman back in the boat, we were finally on our way home.

The channel to Bequia was now rough with 5 - 7 feet swells and we got soaked to the skin with constant waves crashing over our open boat. But nothing could prepare us for when we turned into the Bequia channel - 40 feet cliffs to the right side, 8 - 12 ft swells, strong winds and strong tidal current made the ocean boil and my wife pray. Our very experienced captain maneuvered us through the crazy ocean deeper into the bay where after a seamingly endless stretch of waves, spray, rocks the sea became calmer again and then our engine died. We ran out of petrol and had to refill the tank from our reserve canister. If that would have happend just 5 min earlier we would have been in Real Shit.

N: In my defense, I had never set eyes on this tiny boat until todays adventure....and my experienced skipper husband could have refused to go on board, right? :)

How many bad ideas can a two year old have? Too many!!

Yesterday I decided to take both kids to the little town for an afternoon outing at a lovely spot on the waterfront called the Gingerbread cafe. Started off quite nicely Ivy eating her chocolate ice cream as I had an ice coffee and a banana/rum cake. While Connor just happily sat in his stroller watching us.

Ivy has been avoiding daytime naps at all costs and will only sleep if she is with Daddy in bed and Dada as she calls him must nap also. Well Dada had spent the night in Mayreau a tiny little island about a 2 hr ferry ride from Bequia and was returning on the 5 pm boat. It was about 4pm when the bad ideas started.

"Mummy can I go for a little swim?" fully dressed and standing precariously on the edge of the jetty she asks. "No Ivy, without armbands you will drown please get off of the jetty" I say trying to stay calm

I coax her back into the beautiful gardens surrounding the cafe, then comes the next bad idea.... She starts picking random leaves and flowers and starts eating them. When that gets shot down she decides to pick up handfuls of sandy dirt and throw it all over the walk ways and then the chairs and benches of the cafe

It starts to rain so we go inside to shelter, I'm actually a little thankful to have Ivy in a confined place for a while until I notice her stooping underneath one of the chairs and peeing right there through her clothes. She then looks at me like nothing is wrong and denies the whole thing.  She has been diaper free for 2 weeks.

It stops raining and we go outside. She disappears behind the cafe to splash in muddy puddles. The friendly ladies who work in the cafe feel sorry for me as Connor starts to cry for his bottle and I'm too busy trying to feed him to run after Ivy so they go after her. She comes back but then lies face down in a puddle and drinks some of the water like a puppy!

Connor is finished eating and happy again. Ivy is asking where is dada's boat? It's about 4:30.... A friendly dog appears and Ivy is trying to play with it. I'm holding Connor and chatting with a lady from the cafe who turns out to be from Trinidad and is in love with Connor... She has an 11 month old boy at home. It's strangely quiet... I look around Ivy is nowhere to be seen. I start calling her name ... Ivy where are you? Then I remember the last time I saw her she was after the dog so I quickly ask the nice lady to look after Connor for a bit and walk in the direction I last saw the dog and Ivy.  She is nowhere to be seen then in the distance I see the dog and Ivy running behind it... Halfway into town so I start running too and shouting for her to come back. Does she listen? Of course not! So I have to run until I scoop her up and carry her back to the cafe. 

Where is Dada's boat? I wish I knew too. Finally I see it coming in the distance and then Daddy comes walking up and Ivy is in his arms happy and safe.  

Boy do i need a drink! We go to the Whaleboner bar where you sit on bar stools made of whale bones and order 3 drinks. Juice for Ivy, rum and coke for Dada and I have a beer.
Ivy starts drinking but mostly pouring pineapple juice on herself then starts dipping her straw into dada's rum and coke. I've lost count of the number of bad ideas by now but the best is yet to come!

The bar tender who is amused by Ivy tells us this great story about the first time she got drunk. She claims she was 3 at the time.. her mom had sent her into the bar to get the ice pick ( my jaw drops already.. A 3 year old with an ice pick!!??) so she gets the ice pick and as she is on her way back with it she spots a case of Budweiser on the floor of the bar. She is always asking daddy for a sip of his beer so she decides to take matters into her own hands and with the ice pick  she punched a hole in a can of beer . As the warm beer started squirting out she opened her mouth and drank as much as she could. Her parents found her a short time later covered in beer and drunk! Now that was a Bad Idea!!  But considering she had an ice pick I think it could have been much worse ...

Sent from my iPhone

Tuna and tennis

You may be wondering what the two things have in common...well nothing usually except in Bequia where the tennis coach is also the fisherman who caught a 6 pound tuna the other night and delivered it straight to our house.

This is Fabio ...locals call him Bootie. His father is italian hence his name and his mother is a local Carib indian woman.  I was told to give him a call from some locals I met one afternoon at the beach bar. These guys had just finished some cricket batting practise at a sport center that is directly across from the bar that also happens to have a very well maintained lawn tennis court (astro turf)...when I asked them how does one get access to the tennis court.  One guy told pointed to a big house on the hill above and said the guy lives there and he can "hook me up"... He then made a phone call to Mr. Bootie..the conversation went something like this " aye Bootie i have my girlfriend here who wants to play tennis and you better charge her the local rate, her name is Nicola and she will call you soon to set up a lesson, cool?" And that was it done deal. I called him the next day and he told me that he is a tennis instructor and a fisherman and if we would be interested in tuna as he was out fishing for some right now.  Tuna! Hell yeah...so he would call me if he caught any.  He showed up with that lovely specimen above and for 3 days now we have been eating tuna every which way.

Tuna crudo/ italian style with just a bit of olive oil, salt and lemon....my favorite!

Then for lunch i made a fish sandwich with fresh chives from our herb garden

Then dinner tonight was some seared tuna with avocado and christophine :) the tuna is almost finished now. I had my tennis lesson today and turns out Bootie is a rather good coach and he has promised more fresh fish and even to take Daniel along to catch some too, all he needs to do is chip in for gas.

We have 2 more weeks here and i have a feeling there will be lots more tuna (or whatever Daniel catches) and tennis!

A different kind of playground...

We live about 5 minutes walk from the Mc Carren park playground in Williamsburg where I spent countless hours with Ivy until we left a few weeks ago.  Now she is experiencing what I had as a child growing up in the Caribbean where nature is our playground and that is such a treat. 

Climbing trees have become a daily activity

We even found a swing on our beach 

The never ending supply of creeping, crawling and flying insects, birds and lizards keep her entertained. She used to freak out back in Brooklyn if a little house fly got into our apartment, now she does not even comment.  Today we visited a turtle sanctuary where you can get really close to the gentle creatures. The old guy who runs the place also has a few chickens nearby so when I asked if he had eggs for sale his eyes lit up as he proudly announced that he sells "free range eggs" for 10 EC per dozen.  When he brought them to us they were all different colours and Ivy exclaimed that she wanted the blue-ish colored one tomorrow for breakfast!

Cows under the Mango tree

Mount Pleasant is the highest point in Bequia and is actually not so high (240 m, 840 ft). But walking it up from sea-level at noon with a little rain shower to increase the humidity was not so pleasant. And then walk all the way down to Hope Beach on a small path through the scubs, back up again all the way to Mount Pleasant and down to Port Elizabeth was torture. I needed a swim, three bottles of water and a piece of banana bread at the Gingerbread hotel to recover from it but I think I still have elevated temperature. 

But it was an amazing walk with the best views of the Caribbean and then there were these cows under the mango tree...