Return or No Return
Posted by Englishman on Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Those people who know me know the answer I posed at the end of my last blog, those that dont, I can tell you the answer was YES.
After returning back to England I left home at 7 am on Monday morning to go to work, which was a 99 miles drive there and 99 miles back. For that week and the next, driving all those miles, all I could think was "why oh why" am I doing all of this when I had the opportunity to go and live in a Tropical Island. So I made a decision which was going to change my life for ever, I called Randy and asked him if it was ok for me to come over for a 6 months stay.
Eight weeks after returning home I was now walking down the steps of an aeroplane and walking across the tarmac at Barbados airport. Outside was Randy to meet me, we jumped in his car and as we were driving I realised I didnt know where I was staying but Randy assured me all that was taken care of. We arrived at a house in Brittons Cross Roads and an elderly lady (aunt Joyce) was standing at her gate waiting for me. That first evening was spent with aunt Joyce, getting to know each other, as we were going to be living together for 6 months it was important she was able to trust and like me. Randy had already agreed monetary terms with Aunt Joyce, $50 bds a month (approximaitely £15), this was for room, food and she also did my laundry (by hand). This lady was a wonderful woman and I cant thank her enough for looking after me for all those months.
As Randy was the "in house" taxi driver for Long Beach he would pick me up each morning and take me over to the hotel. I'm sure you may wonder why I wanted to go to the same hotel day in day out, well at first it was a place I felt comfortable.
Moving from England to Barbados was a major cultural shock for me and living there was totally different from that of a vacation. Randy realised this and always made sure he was able to protect me. As I have said he would pick me up each morning, drop me at the hotel, then pick me up in the evening no matter what time i was ready. All I needed to do was page him and enter a certain code, so he knew it was me, and wait for him to arrive.
In Barbados time means nothing, so if you are told a time this doesnt mean things will happen at that time. An example of this was most mornings sat waiting at Aunt Joyce's for Randy to turn up, usually an hour later than arranged. After a few weeks of this, one morning I decided to spend longer in bed as I knew Randy wouldn't be there on time. Suddenly aunt Joyce knocked on my door explaining that Randy was in his car outside waiting, yes you have guessed the only morning I wasnt ready on time he was there at the specified time. I had the quickest shower ever, then running down the path half dressed. What was even more amazing was that aunt Joyce lived on a one way street, it was rush hour, and a line of cars were behind Randy all the drivers sat patiently waiting for me to get ready. That would not happen in England, the noise of the horns would be deafening but here in Barbados all was quiet.
After a few weeks of my daily visits to Long Beach, all the staff knew me by name and I was treated as part of "the family" to such an extent I was invited to the staff christmas party. That night I stood in amazement at all the staff dancing, in a way I had never seen in England, but I was apprehensive to join in having never danced like that in my life, so decided then and there to learn how it was done. The next day I was sat at the bar watching the barman dance to the music on the radio and asked him to teach me. He gave me a quick lesson then invited me out to Harbour Lights, to put into practice what he had just taught me. From that moment it was all downhill for me as I had found the "nightlife" so much so I was going out every night to different bars and clubs. Of course Randy was always there to pick me up at whatever time I was ready to go home, in fact I remeber one night he picked me up outside Harbour Lights at 2am but I didnt get home till 7am. Where had I been for 5 hours, I'm sorry but even to this day I dont know, I slept in the car while Randy did whatever he needed to do.
After a few months of Randy driving me here, there and everywhere I told him to stop wrapping me in cotton wool and let me explore for myself. Over the 6 months I did visit other hotels and beaches but always ended up back at Long Beach and on one occasion I was sat at the bar and the restaurant manager (who I will call T) asked if I had ever worked behind a bar. Having watched the barmen for months I told her I could help out if she was really desparate and from that moment I ended up with a number of shifts every week. So my sitting on a beach or by a pool vacation turned into a "working" one but was well worth all the effort.
It may seem as if I was living the good life on an idyllic island with no cares or worries but there were times when things didnt go as I would of wished. I had been confronted by a local guy who told me that as I walked along the road from the hotel late at night he could come along and kill me, my answer to him was that he could only kill me once but I would die in the knowledge that Randy would make sure he died a thousand times. I was also banned from Long Beach Hotel twice, usually because the owners believed I was involved with drugs in some way, which was totally untrue but for those 6 months I had the best time in my life, meeting and making friends with locals and visitors, most who are still friends 20 years on.
So that was my 6 month adventure over now back to "sunny" England, or was it?.........to be continued.......
After returning back to England I left home at 7 am on Monday morning to go to work, which was a 99 miles drive there and 99 miles back. For that week and the next, driving all those miles, all I could think was "why oh why" am I doing all of this when I had the opportunity to go and live in a Tropical Island. So I made a decision which was going to change my life for ever, I called Randy and asked him if it was ok for me to come over for a 6 months stay.
Eight weeks after returning home I was now walking down the steps of an aeroplane and walking across the tarmac at Barbados airport. Outside was Randy to meet me, we jumped in his car and as we were driving I realised I didnt know where I was staying but Randy assured me all that was taken care of. We arrived at a house in Brittons Cross Roads and an elderly lady (aunt Joyce) was standing at her gate waiting for me. That first evening was spent with aunt Joyce, getting to know each other, as we were going to be living together for 6 months it was important she was able to trust and like me. Randy had already agreed monetary terms with Aunt Joyce, $50 bds a month (approximaitely £15), this was for room, food and she also did my laundry (by hand). This lady was a wonderful woman and I cant thank her enough for looking after me for all those months.
As Randy was the "in house" taxi driver for Long Beach he would pick me up each morning and take me over to the hotel. I'm sure you may wonder why I wanted to go to the same hotel day in day out, well at first it was a place I felt comfortable.
Moving from England to Barbados was a major cultural shock for me and living there was totally different from that of a vacation. Randy realised this and always made sure he was able to protect me. As I have said he would pick me up each morning, drop me at the hotel, then pick me up in the evening no matter what time i was ready. All I needed to do was page him and enter a certain code, so he knew it was me, and wait for him to arrive.
In Barbados time means nothing, so if you are told a time this doesnt mean things will happen at that time. An example of this was most mornings sat waiting at Aunt Joyce's for Randy to turn up, usually an hour later than arranged. After a few weeks of this, one morning I decided to spend longer in bed as I knew Randy wouldn't be there on time. Suddenly aunt Joyce knocked on my door explaining that Randy was in his car outside waiting, yes you have guessed the only morning I wasnt ready on time he was there at the specified time. I had the quickest shower ever, then running down the path half dressed. What was even more amazing was that aunt Joyce lived on a one way street, it was rush hour, and a line of cars were behind Randy all the drivers sat patiently waiting for me to get ready. That would not happen in England, the noise of the horns would be deafening but here in Barbados all was quiet.
After a few weeks of my daily visits to Long Beach, all the staff knew me by name and I was treated as part of "the family" to such an extent I was invited to the staff christmas party. That night I stood in amazement at all the staff dancing, in a way I had never seen in England, but I was apprehensive to join in having never danced like that in my life, so decided then and there to learn how it was done. The next day I was sat at the bar watching the barman dance to the music on the radio and asked him to teach me. He gave me a quick lesson then invited me out to Harbour Lights, to put into practice what he had just taught me. From that moment it was all downhill for me as I had found the "nightlife" so much so I was going out every night to different bars and clubs. Of course Randy was always there to pick me up at whatever time I was ready to go home, in fact I remeber one night he picked me up outside Harbour Lights at 2am but I didnt get home till 7am. Where had I been for 5 hours, I'm sorry but even to this day I dont know, I slept in the car while Randy did whatever he needed to do.
After a few months of Randy driving me here, there and everywhere I told him to stop wrapping me in cotton wool and let me explore for myself. Over the 6 months I did visit other hotels and beaches but always ended up back at Long Beach and on one occasion I was sat at the bar and the restaurant manager (who I will call T) asked if I had ever worked behind a bar. Having watched the barmen for months I told her I could help out if she was really desparate and from that moment I ended up with a number of shifts every week. So my sitting on a beach or by a pool vacation turned into a "working" one but was well worth all the effort.
It may seem as if I was living the good life on an idyllic island with no cares or worries but there were times when things didnt go as I would of wished. I had been confronted by a local guy who told me that as I walked along the road from the hotel late at night he could come along and kill me, my answer to him was that he could only kill me once but I would die in the knowledge that Randy would make sure he died a thousand times. I was also banned from Long Beach Hotel twice, usually because the owners believed I was involved with drugs in some way, which was totally untrue but for those 6 months I had the best time in my life, meeting and making friends with locals and visitors, most who are still friends 20 years on.
So that was my 6 month adventure over now back to "sunny" England, or was it?.........to be continued.......