A Bahamian Thanksgiving

Blessing food on Thanksgiving

The school getting interviewed by local TV on Thanksgiving

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: a great job, speeding to work on my scooter in the warm morning light, new friends, new projects, and living right on the sea.

I ended up going to FOUR thanksgiving meals...I had stuffing coming out my ears by Monday morning.

The school Thanksgiving

The first meal was at school: we had a big meal all together. The second meal was at Marlene's cousin's house. The third with the Allen's family. And the fourth with Kari's house. It was quite weekend of feasting.

Thanksgiving at the Allens

I helped Vicki on Saturday wash the salt off the windows and get a Christmas tree for the house. It's always nice to do a little manual work on Saturdays.

And I worked ona draft for the first chapter of my book on beauty. I presented it to Marlene, David, and Vicki. They were very kind and encouraging, and basically just wanted me to keep writing and not get bogged down trying to perfect what I've done so far. So I'll be working on chapter 2 this week.

My church- St. Matthew's

Evening commute

A posed picture of me teaching Math

Evening commute..."Another day in Paradise".

People Helping People

Here's David on his TV show People Helping People.

It's been a quiet week in Nassau...

It's been a quiet week in Nassau. People are talking about a big new resort that China is investing in (2.4 billion dollars) and will provide many people with jobs here called Bahamar. They are going to tear down three existing hotels and build it right through part of my commute. Supposedly they are going to start digging up the road in a few months.

After practicing their song at the church

School is going well. Kelly was out sick most of the week, so it was fairly quiet around the office. The kids were practicing a song they will sing tonight for Kari's going away party/service at his church. And I've been working on the kids' final examination study guides.

The Allens have had a quiet week as well. David goes to different islands to do work with counseling centers there once week. And Vicki has been wrapping up her term this week at the college.

I spent a couple evening this week with an older lady named Suzanne Black. She is a friend of the Allens and is a local white Bahamian who has spent a lot of her life with the upper crest of Bahamian society. She has lots of class and refinement (in that respect she reminds me of my grandmother Mimi a lot). She's taken a liking to me and she's told me all about her life: 'overcoming' two battles with cancer, being a member of some prestigious clubs in London and New York, being the president of the richest club in the Bahamas for a few years, and her rocky family life. She took me out last night to a nice little restaurant down the street called Indigo's for dinner. It reminded me of the Tree House Cafe on Bainbridge-- nice quaint place.

On the bus to church with the students

I also met up with the pastor of the emerging church, Christian. He was actually a very nice guy and we had a great conversation about art and beauty. He's a rather eccentric artist/musician type with a thought or opinion about everything. I hope we can find some more time to hang out. 

My book on Beauty is coming along slow and steady. I'm at the research stage of accumulating quotes and ideas to flesh out later. It's a great project to be working on here. The Allens have tons of books-- poetry, theology, history, etc. So I've been using their bookcases as a library. Plus David has been great about recommending authors and books for me.

I was on a run yesterday morning and I decided that it was time to cut my beard. The season was over. My students haven't seen my face yet, and I'm sure they will freak out like 11 year olds do.

And I'm totally loving my scooter. There's nothing better than cruising along the ocean. Sometimes I go right along with the waves, and it feels like I'm surfing on the road. It's great fun.

This Sunday, after I went to my church at 7am, I head out west to the richest Anglican church on the island, St. Christopher's. It is in a country club, and I had to promise the security guard at the gate that I wouldn't 'cruise around' the club before or after the church service. It was a small church and had a bungalow feel. But after going there, I'm pretty sure that I won't be back. I didn't feel like I would fit there very well.

I'm looking forward to this coming week- I have a concert to go to, a meeting with my pastor at my church, and THREE thanksgiving dinners to go to at different places!

Three Month Aniversary in the Bahamas

The Oyster Bar

 Unlike sub-Saharan Africa, the Bahamas has distinct seasons. And with the cooling, it is pretty much perfect weather now. It's like the most perfect day on Bainbridge Island in mid-July, every day here-- mid 70s during the night and peaking at 80 during the day.

David at the Oyster Bar

I'm settling in well at the Allen's. Last weekend was the best weekend I've had since being here. It was a perfect balance between rest, work, and fun. David and Vicki like to go out to the little cafe on the Sandyport canal for boiled fish and johnny cake. It's always very relaxing and David ends up talking with pretty much everyone in the restaurant by the time he leaves.

Then I helped Vicki do some cleaning and did some writing in the afternoon. I've started in on my book and will be slowly chipping away on it over the next few months.

Then I met Kari down at the Catholic cathedral in town for their annual street fair. It felt like a quaint small town festival in the summer. It was great to just walk around and see all the kids running around, listen to the band play local favorites, and watch the old women play bingo.

Sandyport

On Sunday I went to the 7am service at St. Matthew's Anglican Church like I do every week, and then went back to the Presbyterian Church for their 10:30am service and listened to a new friend of mine preach (someone I met last Friday at one of David's lectures). He was a good preacher and it was fun to hear someone my age in the pulpit. (Unfortunately he's a missionary on one of the other islands and only comes to Nassau once a month so I won't see him often.)

Sunday night David, Marlene, and I went out to a jazz concert at Marlene's cousin's house. It was wonderful! They had big back patio that sat all thirty of us. There was great food, lots of interesting people to meet and talk to, a little dancing, good music, and a perfect warm night with the stars and moon overhead.

View from the balcony at sunrise

Perhaps one of the best things about my new living situation is that I now have my morning prayers over the most beautiful scene I could imagine: sunrise on the Caribbean. It's so majestic and contemplative...the predawn light making the clouds golden and purple, and then the first rays of light sparkling on the turquoise waves. Amazing. 

Getting around on my scooter is great. I'm feeling more comfortable weaving through the thick traffic. It's a beautiful commute along the ocean, past all the big hotels, through downtown Nassau, and past my church.  I am usually on the road right when the sun has risen and I have to wear a hat under my helmet to block the eastern sun from my eyes.

And as for school, it has really evened out and I've found a good rhythm that doesn't stress me out and the students are thriving in a schedule that is more predictable. We had our first PTA meetings last week, which went fine. I had about half my students' parents come out. They had a long lecture by this guy who had given all the students an IQ test and had all sorts of numbers and stats to decipher for the parents...for a 'reasonable price' of course. After his little shtick I tried to help the poor moms relax and told them that the most important thing in an education is the development of the whole person: relationally, spiritually, and personally, and that all those tests couldn't determine what really mattered.  They were all hard working women who were mostly concerned about their kids not completing their homework, and I think they left feeling more relaxed.

Steaming Coffee

The discipline issue is much better and once we've established the boundaries, the students are much more behaved once they've tasted the consequences a few times (usually their parents giving them a good spanking).

We finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe last week and now we are listening a dramatized audio reading of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I'm going to try to persuade them that books are better than movies, but it will take some clever persuasion to convince this lot!

New Season...New Life

Well the anticipation is over. I've moved to the Allen's and I've got a new motor scooter. I feel like I'm living in the lap of luxury. No more toiling away on the side of the road on my bicycle as the cars zoom past. No more lonesome nights in a little apartment.

On Wednesday I went down to the Yamaha dealership near Paradise Island and talked to a salesman about a scooter. It looked good. I went back on Thursday and bought it and got insurance. Then on Friday, Kari and I went over on our lunch break and I drove it off the lot. I was somewhat nervous that I wouldn't know how to ride it, but within a few miles I was feeling relaxed.

I drove it into the parking lot at the school and started honking the horn. My students had been very excited that I was getting a scooter, and they all came pouring out the door - awe and wonder written all over their faces. As I walked in the class after I parked the scooter, all the kids gave me admiring looks and a few gave me high fives.

The sunlight is shining through

Later in the afternoon we all filed outside. "Someone go get my water bottle from inside." I shouted over the excited chatter. We all gathered around the scooter to pray, and spontaneously some of the kids started praying the Lord's Prayer in Latin. It sounded so beautiful. I then sprinkled water on the scooter and blessed it and prayed that God would protect me on it and that it would be a 'vehicle' for life and blessing. 

So now I'm riding along in style out in the sun under the palm trees everyday. Having a scooter feels so liberating...being able to get around anywhere on the island whenever I want...not be dependent on other people to give me rides. It's great. "Oh boy," David said when he saw if for the first time, "it's like a pretty little toy you get for Christmas sitting there under the Christmas tree!"

And now I am a resident of the "Bahamian Riveria"! The Allen's house is located right across the street from the grocery store so I can walk to get groceries. And I can go for runs through quiet private residential roads. Cable Beach is a more

The outside of the Allen's house

wealthy community and it's much more relaxed than my previous location. Even I never felt really threatened in my old house, there was an underlying sense of danger all the time that never let one really relax: the dogs, the fireworks at night, the loud rap music blaring from distant neighbors. I must admit I will miss the sound of the roosters and the cooing of the doves in the morning. Those doves always reminded me that the Holy Spirit was everywhere surrounding me. But in any case I will enjoy feeling entirely safe and at ease now when I'm home.

My commute will take me past a few big hotels, through downtown Nassau where the cruise ships stop, past my church (St. Matthew's Anglican), past the library, and onto the school. I haven't done it yet, but I'm anticipating that it will take about 30 minutes with the traffic. But the hour commute is well worth it!

The "upstairs" balcony

I feel that I'm in a much more sustainable situation now and looking forward to the new lifestyle. I was struck this morning in church by the passage, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." In some ways I think that I'm entering into a new season of comfort that I pray will be fruitful and a time to flourish.

My huge over sized bed

A nice little sofa in my room

The Allen's Coy pond right outside my room

My little license plate

Island Life

Kelly as "Luther" on Reformation Day

            The past week has gone by very well. I’m feeling much more settled and competent at school, and able to be flexible without too much stress. The kids are also much more settled and we’re not having nearly as many people acting out. We celebrated "Reformation Day" last week and my class all dressed up as people you changed the world. I dressed up as Ghandi (since I only have one costume, I wear it for every dress up occasion). We had a couple Queen Victorias, a Napoleon, a Florance Nightingale, a George Washington, and a Marie Antoinette. Kelly dressed up as monk in the fully brown monk's robe complete with a hood. I kept laughing at her the whole day...she looked ridiculous, but was just as serious and busy as ever in her robes.

            I spent the weekend again at the Allens. This weekend they put me to work staining their teak outdoor furniture, installing new smoke alarms, and putting a new fountain in their coy pond. They are still healthy people, but just getting a bit older, and having young blood around to lift things and do projects around the house seems to be a great blessing for them. I printed off some of my Waldwyck lectures and gave them to David. He loved them. I had really thought anyone down here would be in the least bit interested in cosmic liturgy, sacramental ontology, or theological aesthetics, but David sure is. So we had plenty of time to sit gazing out at the sea and muse about this or that. 

            Viki and I went out Saturday night to Mario’s Bowling Alley. It’s the newest thing apparently, it was packed with kids dressed to the nines. Viki’s sister in law and her husband were celbrating their 54^th anniversary, and rented out a private room with a few bowling lanes. I’m sure I was the youngest person there. It was full of very pleasant and very old people. I had a lovely time chatting with old ladies and working on my bowling game.

            I went with them to one of the big evangelical churches here called Calvary Bible Church. True to its name it your typical low church decorated in the late 1970’s style. David was invited to preach and he did a great job of it. He talked about the culture of death in the Bahamas, and how different it is to the culture of life in the Kingdom of God. I think he did a good job of shaking people up regarding the real state that the Bahamas is in right now.

            The search of a scooter continues. Marlene has been helping me, and today we went around to different stores and looked into the options. The price tag will be anywhere from $700-$2000. I’m praying and hoping that God will provide just the right scooter at the right price.

The Sultan of Monaco

 

            Things move slowly down here…for better and for worse. I guess it’s all part of island life.