Islandistas head to the beaches of Barbados

Islandistas flocked to the beaches of Barbados during the Christmas season.

Besides the obvious like Barbados' Rihanna who swooped in for a super-short family visit for Christmas, X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke and new Sugababe Jade Ewen also have been spotted vacationing in Bim.

The latter two were among a mini British holiday invasion, as a host of non-islandista British celebs also flocked to the island - Simon Cowell, TopShop billionaire Sir Philip Green, Jude Law and Sienna Miller, among others.

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Islandistas head to the beaches of Barbados

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The importance of the UWI experience

I noticed these comments by Barbadian writer George Lamming a few days ago - pardon my delinquence in only just getting to them.
Lamming made some spot-on observations about the state of the University of the West Indies last week when receiving the Order of the Caribbean Community at the Heads of Government meeting in Antigua and Barbuda last week.
Lamming noted that with the increasing decentralisation of UWI, our regional education institution is losing the Caribbean diversity that is so essential to its character. Specifically he said:


The university, therefore, has been suffering a gradual erosion of its regional character, and we must be very careful that we may not be left with the chain of insular politics, held together by a very fragile medium…

UWI Vice-Chancellor Professor E. Nigel Harris agreed with it and traced it back to 1984 when the decision was made to decentralise the university according to campus. So it has come to pass that students, if they are Jamaican, Trinidadian or Barbadian (which is most) don't have to leave their home territory in order to study unless they are doing one of the few subjects that are still specific to a particular campus like law (Cave Hill), mass communications, geology, international relations (Mona) agriculture or engineering (St. Augustine).
Speaking to the Antigua Sun, Harris said that 'regionality is an essential part of UWI's five year plan (2007-12). An excerpt:


Within the context of the new 2007-2012 plan, regionality is important,” he said.
One method being looked at is increasing cross-campus linkages, so that even students from the campus territories are encouraged to conduct some portion of their studies in another territory.
“These campuses now have somewhere around 15,000 or 16,000 students, of whom say in Jamaica, 14,000 are Jamaican students. It would be very difficult to move them, but what we are doing is working to ensure that there is cross campus collaboration…. We are encouraging as much movement as we can of students across the campuses,” he said.

This is something I am absolutely passionate about. I am a huge regionalist (ahem ... hence this blog) and I consider myself lucky that I attended UWI in another territory besides my native island. Sure UWI had its drama (I think that is just attendant with putting a set of young people with raging hormones together anywhere) but I would not trade my UWI experience for anything ... and I say that having also gone to university in the north subsequently. UWI tops it for sure.
The thing is, with the way UWI is now, unless you live on campus or make a concerted effort, you could end up bypassing the whole experience of regionality. I have always felt a bit sorry for the off-campus students from the campus territories who never really got the full experience and for whom university was basically an extension of their secondary school experience. Because they were not pushed out of their comfort zone, they hung out with the same people they did in school and hardly got to broaden their range of friends or their knowledge of the Caribbean.
Whereas, having lived on-campus for my whole time at UWI, I have friends from just about every territory. I can pick up tomorrow and visit nearly anywhere in the Caribbean and I know I will find someone who will be glad to see me and put me up. This makes my island-hopping and carnival-going much cheaper- LOL!
But more than that, I learned. My world was widened. I got to really understand in more depth the outlooks, idiosyncrasies and backgrounds of different Caribbean countries. I got to understand the dry, limer-talk wit of Trinis and the hype and 'extra-ness' of Jamaicans. I got to understand the cadence of Bahamian accents and realise there is a world of difference between that and an American accent (which it can sound like at first).
I experienced food from different islands, shared in the news and gossip from other Caribbean countries and loved and lost and was courted by men from different Caribbean countries.
I can certainly understand the economic necessity that would inspire most people to stay close to home. Obviously, it makes far more sense to just take a bus or taxi to get to university rather than a plane. You can live at home with your parents and that saves a hell of a lot of money too - my student loan certainly attests to one of the drawbacks of going to another island - imagine if I had to pay school fees on top of my living expenses!
But ... it's so boring. That's what I tend to think when I hear about the UWI experiences of my friends who went in their own island, with the same old friends they always had and went to the same old fetes they always had.
To me ... that's not UWI. I think the university and the governments should try to do something to encourage most students to study in other islands. For one, make it easier for students to transfer and study their same subject in another territory. In my three years, I only knew two students who were able to do that.
I think, given the chance, students would take the opportunity to experience another territory. I still think that regionality has some allure. Or maybe I'm just one of those UWI idealists ... what says you islandistas?

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The importance of the UWI experience

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If only...

(photo credit: The Sartorialist)

*Sigh*... I adore this outfit. It's from the Sartorialist blog and was taken in London.

Everything about is so coolly individual - the bow tie, the brogue shoes, the stripey socks, the stripey dress that would ordinarily be rather ugly on its own but looks inspired paired with the other items.

Imagine if someone wore this fantastic outfit in the Caribbean. Individualism in fashion is not really celebrated. Being 'in style' is celebrated but having a unique personal style is often derided.

I must say one interesting exception to this is the dancehall culture in Jamaica where the stars be they dancers or performers are aggressively individualistic and flamboyant about their style.

And I happen to love that. When you see Elephant Man you might think he looks a damn fool with his two-toned hair and crazy outfits (I saw a vid of him performing in New York in a pirate's outfit - with an inflatable parrot on his shoulder and all!) but you know what - he isn't blending in. And he's an artist, a performer - he's supposed to stand out and look a little different and crazier than regular folk. He's not supposed to look like every other person that is at the fete, nor is he supposed to look like he's going to an office, he's supposed to capture your attention.



 

Doesn't that capture your attention?

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If only...

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The small graces of small islands

Living in a small island can be a study in contradictions for islandistas.

Admittedly there are times it is frustrating for us with our with more worldly tastes - personally I wish there was more theatre, more art, more restaurants, more options for partying, more career options.

Not that we're not getting there - there are more options for partying than ever before, a greater diversity of restaurants, more things to do when you lime and with the CSME, the Caribbean really is our oyster now - in fact, at least 3 of my good UWI friends (hailing from two different islands) may be moving to my island soon. And we are able to move between different islands with ease. Well, not as much physical ease as two years ago thanks to LIAT and Caribbean Star merging and BWEE 'rationalising' - rampant eye-jucking abounds in air fares these days. But in terms of social and cultural ease, true islandistas (and islandistos?) get it - the whole region is our stomping ground - we go from carnivals to music festivals, meeting and greeting friends along the way.

Anyhow, back to the point at hand which is the contradictions. On the one hand,small island life can seem restricting at times. But on the other hand, it is that same restrictingness that gives small islands their endearing graces and intimacies. In an island, you can never feel alone.

Take for example this just started work week. I have returned after a lovely, long vacation and at the bus stop and on my regular bus yesterday morning, everyone greeted me - "I wasn't seeing you in long - how you doing?"

I love that in a small island people feel comfortable and familar enough with each other still to do that. There is none of that (stifling in its own way) anonymity and detachment that you get in larger societies - if people haven't seen you for a month- so what? You could be dead in your apartment and people wouldn't notice. You could be kept in an underground bunker for years (a la Austria) and people would not be prying enough to notice or wonder.

It's not like that in most of the Caribbean. I love that it is so.

Another example. A young schoolgirl got on the bus this morning but she didn't have exact change. So when she got on, she said 'good morning' and then she asked if anyone had change for $10. While no-one had change, they made sure that they gave her exact bus fare to get where she had to go - and she had to take two buses. If that happened in another country, tough luck. No-one would pay attention to you. Moreover, people go out of their way not to pay attention to you - in other countries I've visited, people seemed literally afraid to even make eye contact, far less to say 'Good morning/evening/night' or even nod in greeting.

So there is still much to be said for small island living.

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Broodiness vs. wanderlust

I'm ready.

I'm not ready yet.

Damn it, sometimes it sucks to have the world as your oyster.

Let me explain what I mean. I'm in my 20s and if I lived in a big city instead of a Caribbean island, I'd be pretty much what you would call a yuppie or buppie (young urban profession or black urban professional). Since I'm not, I have taken up the term islandista. I think it implies a certain excellence at and dedication to the best and most sophisticated elements of an island lifestyle.

Anyhow, I'm a 20-something islandista with a good job and good job prospects - excellent really. I'm very well educated, not living at my mother, earning a decent salary (at last!), in a great, stable relationship (at last, at last, at last!). Basically I can do whatever I want to do.

I'm just not sure sometimes what that is. On the one hand, I have been feeling terribly broody and maternal these days. Every where I turn it seems another friend of mine or friend of my man's is getting pregnant, engaged or married - sometimes all three. In the last two years there have been something like 6 or 8 babies among my circle of friends and 4 weddings (well, one is coming up in August). Next year threatens to be busier.

I see ads for Luvs diapers (you know that one with the cute little black baby wrestling the teddy bear?) and I go all soft in the head. When my period comes, I'm vaguely disappointed (even though I know I'm on the pill so I don't know what the hell I'm really expecting).

While the reasonable, rational part of me says I need to get a few more things in place first like more savings, a car, a wedding, another part of me is a bit envious of my friends and associates who got 'surprised' by their babies (which is basically all of them -LOL) and are now loving parenthood. I think 'well they didn't have every single thing in place and they are making it work - most pregnancies are unplanned anyhow - why not do the damn thing?'

On other days though, I'm relieved that I still have my freedom. And even with the freedom I have, I feel a bit hemmed in by expectations (mostly my own). I envy my friends who are living overseas and travelling the world, seeing exotic places like Korea, Japan, Egypt and Nigeria. I want the freedom to jump in a few more carnivals around the world without having to think that I am sacrificing vacation time that should be used on my child. I've already spent 4 years living outside of my homeland but I could do with two or three more- particularly in a large city. It would be fabulous to be living in another country and experiencing all it has to offer - but with a job and money instead of as a broke student!

And the thing is, these feelings are almost equally strong. Some days I want nothing more than to settle down, establish myself, have a baby, get married, set up a business. Other days, I am filled with wanderlust, like I haven't finished seeing the world yet.

Is it possible to have both? Particularly as a woman? I'm a true feminist but I am also a realist. I know the sacrifices my mother made for me and the accommodations she's had to make to raise her children.

Am I ready to sacrifice like that yet for another human being? I'm not sure.

And I'm sure I'm not the only islandista feeling that way.

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Broodiness vs. wanderlust

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