A day of culture... at the Bacardi tent!

Last Saturday, October 17, was the International Food Festival here in Nassau and it was quite a fun day of exploring the food, drink and crafts of various cultures. There were tents set up by many countries who have a presence here in Nassau, including but certainly not limited to: Greece, Ireland, France, India, China, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, South Africa, Chile, Brazil and many others you may see in my photos.

If my memory seems foggy, it is with good reason. The Bacardi tent. A few international beers and some Greek spanakopita and then the Bacardi tent made an appearance to polish off my drinks for the afternoon. The festival was held at the Nassau Botanical Gardens, so the surroundings were quite pretty, and the weather was sweltering aside from about fifteen minutes of rain (ominous clouds pictured). After our day long adventure (noted as one of the only things to do in Nassau besides beach/touristy exploration) we headed to tourist mecca Senior Frogs for some nachos and beer.

Today will be exciting - a wine, cheese and art party held at the National Trust. I will add details and pictures subsequent to my adventure today, which hooks patrons with all the sample wine, cheese and snacks you can handle for $25. Goal: remain capable of speaking intelligently about said art.


As an aside, here is a picture of me high-fiving the first Bahamian-born Governor General of the Bahamas. Tim and I explored the downtown Nassau area on Discovery Day; many things were closed but it was great to see the infamous Straw Market and have a donut at Dunkin'!

Vacation day...

For a day we got to experience The Bahamas the way a tourist may - all inclusive resort style. $60 got us access to the Breezes Super Inclusive resort just down the way from our place; the deal included all food and drinks; pool/oceanfront access, non-motorized water sports, trapeze and a rock climbing wall. We didn't bring running shoes which limited our fun, but we know for next time! The day was just me, Sam and her boyfriend Charlie, but we had loads of fun just the three of us. The food was great, we had good weather and even managed to sneak in for dinner - including a bottle of wine! Aaah, the all included life.

School is coming along nicely, my students are really starting to show their personality and that is turning out to be quite fun! A long weekend awaits us as Monday the 12th is Discovery Day. For information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discovery_Day#The_Bahamas. Its pretty much the celebration of good ol' CC (Christopher Columbus) discovering these fine islands and the whole of North American in general. No big plans as of yet, but a day less of school is enough of a reason to celebrate as far as I'm concerned! I have yet to be to Paradise Island or Atlantis yet so perhaps a visit there is in order.

Otherwise not much else is new, I have started about 5 hours a week after school which is good money and helps out the kids who are behind their peers. We each tutor our own kids, with the exception of one of my students who sees Sam (roommate and grade one teacher) one day a week because she needs grade one math catch up help. Sam's cats have fleas (ew) but she got their medicine yesterday before our adventure so they should be gone by now.

I miss the crisp fall days you at home are surely experiencing these days but am still encouraging visits by all to my temporary neck of the woods - Caitlin is coming at the end of November, and Laura will be down at the end of December for New Years and Junkanoo! Visitors welcome!!! :D

Yours wondering if I even still have a winter coat at home (and where it might be),
Ori