The Haitians are Coming...

It’s a sure sign that we are settling on the Island when we decide to employ a Haitian to get stuck in to the garden. At $50 a day he will soon make short shift of the jungle that has enveloped our house over the last 9 months. Mark will be both his apprentice and supervisor throughout the day and the exchanges should be something to watch out for. The situation is this – most expats are used to having some servants do this type of work (housework, garden, pool – basically any heavy lifting). Bahamians won’t do this work – as they have better things to do – such as lie in the sun and sleep. So that leaves either the poor white interlopers like us or the Haitian refugees to get the job done. Most Haitians are illegal, they hop on a boat and come across in droves. We will find out tomorrow if they work like Scotsman or not.

We are learning the subtleties of the weather through the sights and sounds from our patio, namely the wind and the sea. The wind is either making the door bang, or gently rustling the leaves of our palm trees. The sea is either crashing against our retaining wall with the surf spraying on to our patio floor, or lapping at the bottom step of our sea steps and still and clear as glass.

The fragility of Bahamian living struck home again today when the electricity was off when we returned home. We thought it was something to do with our property since we have had such bad luck but it seems that the fat controller leaned over too far to get his coffee and knocked the switch for Eastern Road. Whatever it was, thankfully light was restored before dusk.

Darkness brought it’s own adventures for Ow. While we were on the patio with our evening glass of wine overlooking the ocean the peace was broken by a frantic scampering and growling sound. It sounded like a dog but looked like a cat (and must have been as it disappeared over a neighbouring wall) chasing Ow across his own patio – the nerve! Although not a serious incident we will need to keep an eye on the situation as this type of threat to our cats should not be taken lightly.

Emmy started after school art class today and will start swimming after-school next month. If she can get out of the swimming lesson classes (by passing all her tests) she can swim 4 days a week after school for one low price per term. Needless to say we are encouraging Emily to pass her tests quickly as the lesson classes are $150 month!