This past Saturday I went down to Paradise Island to lounge on the beach for the afternoon, but due to hurricane Earl, which is passing about 500 miles away, the water was a bit choppy and it started 'sprying' ('spitting') and I left the beach early. I needed to do some laundry that afternoon, but the tropical downpour had already started. I decided to brave it anyway, so I packed up all my laundry into plastic bags, hung them off my handle bars, left my swimsuit on, and away I went on Sweet and Smooth (my bike) through the downpour to the Wash House about 5 blocks away. I must have looked like I had gone through a hurricane myself when I walked into the big laundry room drenched to the bone. But like after every downpour everything dries out in about an hour after it rains, as did I.
Anyway, Kari, my colleague, invited me to a fund raising 'ball' that his organization was sponsoring. I wore my Sunday best and showed up to a mostly empty room on the second floor of an Anglican parish hall. Kari was at the top of his game. His mother was an MP (a government representative for many years), and Kari certainly has his mother's gift for public speaking and captivating an audience. He was the MC for the evening and eloquently guided the group through the evening.
There were door prizes (I won a battery-less squeeze flashlight), wine, catered food, plenty of speeches from budding politicians (all in their early twenties), and talk of excellence and 'class'. It was great.I loved being there. It was a totally different culture--all the inside jokes, the authenticity and sincerity of everyone there, and the ethos of optimism and respect.
Kari's organization is called "The Brotherhood Society" which is interested in doing community service for men in the Bahamas, and help cultivate more 'cultured' young men.
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