December 18, 2002

Dear Friends and Family,

Seasons Greetings to all of you.  I hope your holidays are safe and happy ones.  Barbados continues to treat me kindly, particularly now that the weather has cooled off a little bit.  I don't think the temperatures have really changed much more than a couple of degrees, but there is a cooler breeze which makes the weather delightful.

Dan arrived for a three week visit last Thursday.  We've enjoyed lounging on the beach and seeing the sights together.  We visited Bottom Bay and Harrismith Beach on Sunday.  Both were deserted most of the time.  Harrismith Beach had tidal pools and thousands of tiny shells.  Bottom Bay had coconut palms and turquoise water  just like the advertisements.  Yesterday we visited Orchid World  an outdoor conservatory of live orchids.  I've never seen such a number or variety or orchids before.  My brother and his family arrive on Monday and Tuesday next week.  I anticipate an enjoyable and chaotic holiday with this unruly group.

I am mostly finished with school for the term.  One of the things I enjoy most about their way of doing things here is the end of the term.  For each course there is a course coordinator who is responsible for making sure that all sections are treated equally and fairly.  That person writes and grades the final exam.  Naturally as a visitor I am not a course coordinator.  For quality control purposes, a second grader spot checks each set of final exams.  At this point I must confess that I did get roped into grading one set of final exams since that course coordinator was overworked and I was the second grader for another exam.  However, this has been the easiest finals period I've ever had. 

Final exams are taken under strict testing conditions, similar to those we would see when taking SAT's or other standardized exams.  I "invigilated" four exams.  You would never invigilate your own exam, however, since you might be tempted to assist your own students thereby giving them an unfair advantage.  We did catch one young lady with a cheat sheet.  She will no doubt fail her course since the final exams are usually worth 50-60% of the grade. 

I'm still trying out all sorts of Bajan food.  I bought a "small black cake" at the grocery store one day.  Of course I was hoping it was chocolate.  No such luck.  It turned out to be a fruitcake, heavy on the prunes.  One of my Bajan friends told me that this is a traditional Barbadian wedding cake.  Give me chocolate any day!  I also had the privilege of helping to make conkies.  These are small spice cakes that are steamed in banana leaves on top of the stove.  These cakes are traditionally made around Independence Day (Nov. 30).  They are pretty tasty.  Bajan sweets tend to be less sweet and less rich than those we're used to.  I also tried baked green bananas and baked breadfruit.  Pretty bland, but the breadfruit is good if you fry it like French fried potatoes.  

I've had a number of visitors this fall and will have several more this winter.  It has been a pleasure to find new places with each set of visitors.  I still have a list of about 20 things I want to see in Barbados .  It is amazing to me that such a small island has such a wide variety of things to do and see.  I continue to hike on Sunday mornings once or twice a month.  I've begun to recruit people from work to go with me since I need an added incentive to get up at 5:00 AM !  We see a different part of the island each time we go out and learn its history, plants and agriculture.  Last week we saw a series of gabions  wire baskets filled with rocks.  They are used for erosion control and are very effective.

I am relieved to say that I have become accustomed to driving on the left side of the road.  The roads don't even seem all that narrow anymore.  My concern now is adjusting back to driving on the right when I return home!

I will end at this point with best wishes for a happy holiday season.  Rich blessings.

Sue