Bahamas Update #1

WEEK ONE AND PLENTY OF FUN
originally sent Jan. 15th, 2001

Hello all,
Well I've only been in the country a short time (arrived Jan.8th, 2001), but I already have things to tell. I spent my first evening in a quaint little guest house (courtesy of the company) and fell asleep very quickly after such a long day. The day began at 6am with a trip to the Toronto airport and I was in Nassau at 3pm (due to a stop over in Atlanta). And no sooner was I off the plane than I had my first celebrity sighting. There, across the baggage claim from me, was the short-haired girl from Pam Anderson's show V.I.P. (the tough dark-haired one). Yahoo! Even though it's not much of a celebrity sighting if I don't know what her name is...

One of the office workers picked me up at the airport and after checking in to the Orange Hill Guest House (with a sign on the door reading "Fawlty Towers - Nassau") I was whisked over to the offices of Etienne Dupuch Jr. and introduced to the staff, and eventually the man himself. He's a nice old guy and the people I will be working with are great. Mr. D (as everyone calls him) instructed them to take me out for drinks and a dinner, which they agreed to without any hesitation. But the evenings have been chilly here and it was definitely sweater weather out on the bar patio. Dinner was at an Australian theme restaurant called The Outback, and steak and Ozzie red wine was the order of the day. I barely could keep awake by this point (even though it was only 10pm) so I got a drive home from Jennifer, the girl in my department that I will be working with from now on.

One thing I noticed immediately is that everyone drives everywhere here. It's real small town style. But I'm determined to be an avid and adamant cyclist once my bike gets here. Wednesday morning I was picked up after breakfast and brought in for my first day of work. I didn't get assigned much, and spent a large portion of the day writing and checking my e-mails. But I also went apartment shopping at lunch, and I finally settled on one. I had seen it the evening before (on the way to dinner). It's the apartment one of the girls from the office had been living in just a short number of months before. It is very quaint, a little small (but not by Toronto standards) and it has a tremendous garden because the landlady, who lives in the complex too, is quite the green thumb. I did go to see one other place but it was utterly charmless and a little more expensive. The rent at this new place will be $580 (inclusive), which is good because most one bedrooms rent for around $800. Getting utilities is supposed to be a bureacratic nightmare, or so I've been told, so I'm glad it's an all-inclusive.

Overall it's a disorienting experience, but people here are pretty good-natured and helpful. I'm surprised by how expensive everything is, but I'm hoping I'll come out of it with a dollar or two by the end of my term. The company I'm working for is very regimented but nothing I can't handle. What seems to be the worst aspect is that isn't a coffee shop near the office, and no coffee maker on the premesis. Funny how the things you take for granted are the things you miss the most. There are about 6 or 7 Canadians working in the office with me, and a few of them have been here a long long time. We'll see if I'll end up the same way (not bloody likely).

The week went by without a hitch. The office is a very charmless place and the staff seem to be an amusing collection of characters, and they produce a pretty quality product. However, the strangest thing is how strict it all is. EVERYONE takes lunch at the same time (that's an order!), from 1pm to 2pm, and there doesn't seem to be any notion of fifteen minute breaks. I take 'em anyway, but there's really nowhere to go and there's no coffee machine to loll about. Also EVERYONE starts at 8:30 am sharp and EVERYONE leaves at 5:30pm. I like the leaving at 5:30 part but I hate the 8:30 in the morning stuff. Basically the boss wants to wring every second of work time from us so it adds up that we work a full 40 hour week. In other words, lunch-hour is NOT paid for!

The weekend arrived without me even noticing. I spent Saturday shopping for supplies and neccessities (with one of my workmates helping out by driving me to the market), and then having conch and coconut drinks by the water. Pretty sweet! The coconut drink is called Sky Juice and it's a mixture of coconut water, gin, lime juice (I think) and crushed ice. And believe me after just 2 of these things you're feeelin' it!

Friday was spent going to a few bars (almost every place has a 4-7 happy hour, EVERY night), but overall the bars (so far) are pretty lame. I spent Sunday on my own exploring my area. There's a fresh fish market at the top of the main road near my street (huge freshly harvested crawfish, grouper, snapper, jack-fish and conch - too bad I don't cook) and some stunning villas and mansions as you walk further east along the coastal road. There are usually NO sidewalks on any of the streets, and "walking" is regarding as an odd activity. Again a sad thing, especially considering that most Bahamians and ex-pats here are lard-butts and could use more walking and less driving. While on my walk I spotted some beautiful birds, tons of rock and grass lizards, and some butterflies.

After the walk east, I went home to get my swim trunks and I walked over the bridge from Nassau to Pardise Island, where the mammoth Atlantis resort hotel looms over the city like a medieval castle. It is HUGE! It takes 45 minutes exactly to walk from my front door, to the beach on the north side of Paradise Island. It was a little chilly for swimming again today, but I got my feet wet and had a lay down on the sand. Afterwards, I went looking for an outdoor patio, but Sunday is a sleepy day here and I think I was looking in the wrong part of town. So I took the public bus home (only costs 75¢) and called it a day. After all, I have to be ready for my 8:00am drive to work every morning. Not my style, but I'm already used to it.

So... overall my pros and cons so far are these:
PROS: the weather, the ocean, the seafood, my apartment has overhead fans, my apartment is a seven minute walk to the water, vodka at the liquor store is VERY cheap, drinks are strong at bars, I have hummingbirds in my backyard, the people at work are making me feel quite welcome.

CONS: everything is WAY overpriced (even at the supermarket), some things are hard to find or not stocked in stores, my office is in a lame part of town, everyone drives absolutely everywhere so traffic congestion is ridiculous most times, the majority of the the local women are a little "chubby" for my tastes (but some are outstanding), it's been too cold to do any beach activities so far, I hear dogs barking all bloody night long (who let the dogs out?!!), all service industry and administrative people work REALLY slowly and hardly ever smile.

So there ya have it. It's hard not to miss Toronto but with 7 Canadians in the office it hardly seems like I left. It's also hard to adjust to living WITHOUT things I love back home (friends, rep cinemas, The Paddock, CKLN, promotional graft, my car, coffee shops, yada yada yada), but I'm looking forward to all the cool stuff I'll get to do here once the weather warms up. It's been really cold (not as bad as T.O., but definitely long pants and light sweater evenings), but I've been given all the horror stories about how summer is almost unbearably hot so I guess I should enjoy while I can. Look forward to more updates soon (they'll become more sporadic I'm sure), and visitors are always welcome.

Cheers!

B.

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Hello all,
Well I've only been in the country a short time (arrived Jan.8th, 2001), but I already have things to tell. I spent my first evening in a quaint little guest house (courtesy of the company) and fell asleep very quickly after such a long day. The day began at 6am with a trip to the Toronto airport and I was in Nassau at 3pm (due to a stop over in Atlanta). And no sooner was I off the plane than I had my first celebrity sighting. There, across the baggage claim from me, was the short-haired girl from Pam Anderson's show V.I.P. (the tough dark-haired one). Yahoo! Even though it's not much of a celebrity sighting if I don't know what her name is...

One of the office workers picked me up at the airport and after checking in to the Orange Hill Guest House (with a sign on the door reading "Fawlty Towers - Nassau") I was whisked over to the offices of Etienne Dupuch Jr. and introduced to the staff, and eventually the man himself. He's a nice old guy and the people I will be working with are great. Mr. D (as everyone calls him) instructed them to take me out for drinks and a dinner, which they agreed to without any hesitation. But the evenings have been chilly here and it was definitely sweater weather out on the bar patio. Dinner was at an Australian theme restaurant called The Outback, and steak and Ozzie red wine was the order of the day. I barely could keep awake by this point (even though it was only 10pm) so I got a drive home from Jennifer, the girl in my department that I will be working with from now on.

One thing I noticed immediately is that everyone drives everywhere here. It's real small town style. But I'm determined to be an avid and adamant cyclist once my bike gets here. Wednesday morning I was picked up after breakfast and brought in for my first day of work. I didn't get assigned much, and spent a large portion of the day writing and checking my e-mails. But I also went apartment shopping at lunch, and I finally settled on one. I had seen it the evening before (on the way to dinner). It's the apartment one of the girls from the office had been living in just a short number of months before. It is very quaint, a little small (but not by Toronto standards) and it has a tremendous garden because the landlady, who lives in the complex too, is quite the green thumb. I did go to see one other place but it was utterly charmless and a little more expensive. The rent at this new place will be $580 (inclusive), which is good because most one bedrooms rent for around $800. Getting utilities is supposed to be a bureacratic nightmare, or so I've been told, so I'm glad it's an all-inclusive.

Overall it's a disorienting experience, but people here are pretty good-natured and helpful. I'm surprised by how expensive everything is, but I'm hoping I'll come out of it with a dollar or two by the end of my term. The company I'm working for is very regimented but nothing I can't handle. What seems to be the worst aspect is that isn't a coffee shop near the office, and no coffee maker on the premesis. Funny how the things you take for granted are the things you miss the most. There are about 6 or 7 Canadians working in the office with me, and a few of them have been here a long long time. We'll see if I'll end up the same way (not bloody likely).

The week went by without a hitch. The office is a very charmless place and the staff seem to be an amusing collection of characters, and they produce a pretty quality product. However, the strangest thing is how strict it all is. EVERYONE takes lunch at the same time (that's an order!), from 1pm to 2pm, and there doesn't seem to be any notion of fifteen minute breaks. I take 'em anyway, but there's really nowhere to go and there's no coffee machine to loll about. Also EVERYONE starts at 8:30 am sharp and EVERYONE leaves at 5:30pm. I like the leaving at 5:30 part but I hate the 8:30 in the morning stuff. Basically the boss wants to wring every second of work time from us so it adds up that we work a full 40 hour week. In other words, lunch-hour is NOT paid for!

The weekend arrived without me even noticing. I spent Saturday shopping for supplies and neccessities (with one of my workmates helping out by driving me to the market), and then having conch and coconut drinks by the water. Pretty sweet! The coconut drink is called Sky Juice and it's a mixture of coconut water, gin, lime juice (I think) and crushed ice. And believe me after just 2 of these things you're feeelin' it!

Friday was spent going to a few bars (almost every place has a 4-7 happy hour, EVERY night), but overall the bars (so far) are pretty lame. I spent Sunday on my own exploring my area. There's a fresh fish market at the top of the main road near my street (huge freshly harvested crawfish, grouper, snapper, jack-fish and conch - too bad I don't cook) and some stunning villas and mansions as you walk further east along the coastal road. There are usually NO sidewalks on any of the streets, and "walking" is regarding as an odd activity. Again a sad thing, especially considering that most Bahamians and ex-pats here are lard-butts and could use more walking and less driving. While on my walk I spotted some beautiful birds, tons of rock and grass lizards, and some butterflies.

After the walk east, I went home to get my swim trunks and I walked over the bridge from Nassau to Pardise Island, where the mammoth Atlantis resort hotel looms over the city like a medieval castle. It is HUGE! It takes 45 minutes exactly to walk from my front door, to the beach on the north side of Paradise Island. It was a little chilly for swimming again today, but I got my feet wet and had a lay down on the sand. Afterwards, I went looking for an outdoor patio, but Sunday is a sleepy day here and I think I was looking in the wrong part of town. So I took the public bus home (only costs 75¢) and called it a day. After all, I have to be ready for my 8:00am drive to work every morning. Not my style, but I'm already used to it.

So... overall my pros and cons so far are these:
PROS: the weather, the ocean, the seafood, my apartment has overhead fans, my apartment is a seven minute walk to the water, vodka at the liquor store is VERY cheap, drinks are strong at bars, I have hummingbirds in my backyard, the people at work are making me feel quite welcome.

CONS: everything is WAY overpriced (even at the supermarket), some things are hard to find or not stocked in stores, my office is in a lame part of town, everyone drives absolutely everywhere so traffic congestion is ridiculous most times, the majority of the the local women are a little "chubby" for my tastes (but some are outstanding), it's been too cold to do any beach activities so far, I hear dogs barking all bloody night long (who let the dogs out?!!), all service industry and administrative people work REALLY slowly and hardly ever smile.

So there ya have it. It's hard not to miss Toronto but with 7 Canadians in the office it hardly seems like I left. It's also hard to adjust to living WITHOUT things I love back home (friends, rep cinemas, The Paddock, CKLN, promotional graft, my car, coffee shops, yada yada yada), but I'm looking forward to all the cool stuff I'll get to do here once the weather warms up. It's been really cold (not as bad as T.O., but definitely long pants and light sweater evenings), but I've been given all the horror stories about how summer is almost unbearably hot so I guess I should enjoy while I can. Look forward to more updates soon (they'll become more sporadic I'm sure), and visitors are always welcome.

Cheers!

B.