English?

People often ask us why we chose the Bahamas. Most folks know that we have wanted to exit the DC area for some time, but wonder why Nassau? Well there were a few reasons. First of all was the fact that Mark had a job opportunity here (of course that opportunity was supposed to materialize in October but thanks to the traditional Bahaminian pace of life is nowhere on the Horizon!...eek!). We had also lived in the Bahamas for a few months a couple of years ago when Mark had a contract here and had really enjoyed it and felt that it was somewhere that we could make a life. Can you imagine moving somewhere blindly and absolutely hating it?

The Bahamas is close to the US and the Miami airport is a half an hour, away which was important to Mark and I as the ability to travel is key.

Of course the majority of our reasoning centered around Emily. We wanted her to be close to her Dad (well at least a short airplane ride away), we wanted good schools (which we found) and we didn't want her to have to learn a new language so an English speaking country was key.

English? The Bahamians speak their own dialect (I guess you would call it a "patois") which is a mixture of English and Bahamian slang spoken very quickly. It is impossible to understand. It really is like living in a non-English speaking country. At the grocery store, with the contractors, on the street - when Bahamians speak with each other you are mostly clueless until they turn to you and translate. They have to make a serious effort to slow down and cut out the slang so that you can understand what they are saying. We think that most Bahamians are aware that we can't understand them. Lisa thinks that, in particular, the checkout girls are always talking about her right in front of her groceries.

So whether or not the Bahamas is an English speaking country is questionable - but when in Rome... 'dis blog is done, mon!