As the Sun Set Over the Bay

You’re probably beginning to wonder just from reading my blog whether or not we’re actually on campus doing ministry. I assure you we are, it’s just that what we do on free days is generally about 10 times more exciting than campus times. This weekend’s excursion was no exception.

We took a boat ride on a catamaran out to swim with sea turtles and snorkel on a reef. The boat left Bridgetown harbor around 3:30 Saturday afternoon. Everyone sat on the net at the front of the boat for the sail out to the turtles. It took us a while to get there, but the time was well spent sipping pineapple juice laughing and doing fun things with digital cameras.

Fun with Cameras. That's Kelly acting like a seal.

When we made our first stop, everyone knew immediately which stop it was. There, off the front of the boat were two turtles in the blue waters. We were excited of course as we grabbed snorkels and masks and jumped in the water.

Dude Crush.

I got to pet one, but after a while my ears started hurting so I got out of the water, at which point I was asked to hold a rather cute baby, so I did while his parents swam with the other two kids. After a lengthy swim, we left for the reef. I wish I had pictures of that, but digital cameras and water don’t really mix well. There’s a sunken barge out there that was pretty cool to see, but by the time I spotted it the sun was beginning to go down, and we were ready to leave. We bounced along the surface of the water, the waves getting larger as the sun sank lower. Despite the roughening seas, it was very peaceful. The catamaran was driven by wind power, so there was no motor drowning out our thoughts, only the splash of the evening sea against the hull of the boat, and the wind in the sails.

Everyone. Taken from the mast of the ship by the captain.

All the students went to Oistins for dinner, and the staff had “Date Night”. Even though everyone was fairly wiped out, we still had a good time. I had the marlin and chips.

Mmmm...Marlin.

So yeah, that was all good. But more fun than Oistins was the ZR (pronounced Zed-R) ride there and back. There are two modes of public transportation in Barbados, government owned bus, and ZR, privately owned vans licensed by the government. The thing about ZRs is that there is no limit as to how many people you can pack into one. Hence, if you spend more than a day in Barbados, you will inevitably see a van with a wacky horn and a dreadlocked driver fly by you packed full of uncomfortable people. It’s only $1.50 Bajan to drive anywhere along the route between Silver Sands and Bridgetown, but there is also no guarantee that you will get your own seat. When traveling with a large group, you will likely end up in separate ZRs. It is almost guaranteed, however, that the driver will try to get all of you in one. On this particular night, we went in separate ZRs, but they were both very full even before we started loading people into them, there were already 12 or 13 people in the one I got on. There were four people packed into the back row, another four in front of them, and another four in front of them, and three in the front seat (including the driver). The door guy/money collector stood hunched over, holding on for dear life. You might think this is impossible. But no, I disagree, I personally have been in a ZR with almost 30 people. On that occasion, I had someone on my lap (thank goodness it was someone in our group), and Kelly was on the lap of a little Bajan man singing along with the reggae pumping through the speakers at the top of his lungs.

When we first got to Barbados, we called them G-Buses, a nickname they’d earned from the Spring Break group. What does the G stand for you ask? Ganja. Yeah. Apparently someone saw one of the drivers smoking a joint while driving over spring break. And with the way they drive, they’re either high or insane, we of course chose high.

A ZR in Bridgetown. Empty, as I'm sure you can tell.

Anyway, we really have been having a good time on campus. We’ve seen 22 people come to Christ so far. The students are really open to talking to us about spiritual stuff and just talking in general. Once you get past the initial who are you and why are you talking to me? it’s smooth sailing. I’ve found that a lot of people are already Christians, but they’ve never heard that it’s just Christ that gets you into heaven, not getting baptized or going to church. I think half of the people I’ve talked to are in that boat.

Here’s a couple of pictures I took on campus.

This is the view from the back side of campus, amazing, isn't it.


Here's Dan talking to some guy.


This is us praying at the end of the day. Clockwise from me: Me, Clarissa, Erica and Dan.

We had a toga/costume party on Wednesday night. Fairly uneventful, but fun nonetheless. It was great trying to come up with costumes without taking our bed sheets. My roommates and I went as M&Ms. I was the brown one.

Yummy. L to R: Leah, Clarissa, Katie, Me, and Dana.


Here's everybody. The guy in the red board shorts is Jimmy, trying to act like David Hasselhoff.

And now, for some random pictures…


A sticker I saw on a locker at UWI. I happen to agree.


Totally unplanned that everyone wore pastels that day, no lie.


No, they're not gay, just caught up in the moment, I mean, you've got to hug someone when the Righteous Brothers are playing.


Put those boys on the back of a magazine or something!


Older picture. Me on the jumping cliff at Crane Beach.

Anyway, more stuff has happened, but I'm kind of running out of time, and well, I haven't put the pictures on my computer yet, so yeah, you'll hear about that when I get to it.

So Here's What's Been Happening

Lots of stuff has been happening in the last week. Saturday was a free day, cause it was kind of rainy and we were supposed to go on an island tour, but since it was rainy we didn't. Imagine that. The boys made breakfast for the girls: french toast [freedom toast???], eggs, and fruit from a can. They were very proud of themselves.


Breakfast with the Boys

Most people spent the day doing laundry and grocery shopping. Me, in my wisdom and stubborn nature, did not want to pay $7 US for a load of laundry, so I decided to do it myself in the bathtub.


Laundry Day

After spending all of Saturday up to my knees in clothes (literally), I hung them to dry on the porch. Little did I realize that the rain that kept us from going on the island tour would keep my clothes from drying...for 4 days. I think a pair jeans are still a little damp, not to mention smelling like mildew. After a couple of days of frustration, I decided to let it slide, so now it's more of a joke than anything. Needless to say, I will have my clothes laundered by someone else, preferably someone with a washer and dryer.

Sunday we went to an Anglican church, which was frankly really different for me. There were these two birds fighting on the pulpit for must of the service, which distracted me from the really nasty wine taste that was left in my mouth from communion. There was a baby that got baptized, and the father looked like P Diddy or something. We had more sessions Sunday afternoon, and a lot of hanging out.

Monday we went on our island tour, even though it was still kind of gloomy. We drove past a bunch of rich peoples homes on the west coast.


Barbara Streisand's yacht club on the west coast.

Here's some more pictures, I'm about to run out of batteries or I would tell you what they're off. I'll try to do that some other time.


The girls at north point. Front Row (L-R):Tara, Clarissa, Erica, Leah. Back Row (L-R): Me, Kim, Dana, Katie.


Bathsheba.


Rocks in Bathsheba.


St. John's Parish Church.


Someone taking some Biblical advice.

I'll post more later.

News from the Front Lines

“There’s toenail clippings on the ground.”
“Ooohh, snacks!”
Hilarity ensues.

“Barbados, that’s kind of tropical isn’t it?”

Ah yes, the joy of roommates!!!

Crane Beach. Rated 5th Most Beautiful Beach in the World!

Every time you hear about a place, it sounds like paradise. If you’re talking about Barbados this is mostly true. And then of course there’s the matter of the heat and humidity, oops, I mean, everything here is wonderful, and no, I don’t feel like I need a shower all the time. But seriously, it is very beautiful. My apartment complex, Magic Isle, is on the ocean, and I can see the waves from my window. Nightly I am lulled to sleep by waves crashing on the sand and the crickets singing to one another. It really is beautiful.

Friday night we went to this place called Oistins. The fishermen go there to sell their catches and nightly they grill up some fish. A DJ plays the Barbadian National Anthem, followed by bad dance and reggae mixes of 80s songs. The fish was great, caught fresh that day, and cooked to perfection. The restaurant, if it could truly be called that, consists of picnic tables surrounding on three sides a tarp tent and a stage for the DJ. The cooks fry and grill fish under a colorful fish made of Christmas lights strung across the street. Around the outside of the picnic tables are simple stalls selling Banks beer (Brewed in Barbados), various imported beers, and sodas. The mood is festive as people wait for their fish and chips and dance to the reggae music. Guys from our group received impromptu dance lessons from the Bajan waiters as they strode by with other peoples orders. I got the flying fish, a local specialty, grilled, not fried. It quite tasty, and I was glad to get a flavor of something truly Bajan. A group of people went down to the shoreline and looked at the fishing boats; small and unassuming alone, but in large quantities rather impressive. The darkness cloaked them, making it difficult to see much detail in the boats further from the shore except for the white stripe above the waterline.

The fish in lights at Oistins

Saturday was spent mostly in meetings, although we had some free time in the afternoon. I spent most of it doing Four Laws practice, and checking e-mail at the internet café across the street. I did make it out to the ocean, but only for a short time before having to go back in to eat dinner and prepare for the evening session. That night, the students went out to some coconut trees near the beach (since it was after 10pm and we were not allowed off the Magic Isle property) and just hung out. We’ve done this for a few nights now, and the act has been dubbed “Liming at the Palms.”

First night of liming. (L to R) Big Phil, Scott, Philipe, Katie, Dana, Me, Dan

Sunday after church we went to Crane Beach, rated the 5th most beautiful beach in the world (see above). It was great. There was a cliff to jump off of. I don't think most people would think I would be the type to jump off a cliff, but well, I did, and it was fun, monster wedgie and huge waves aside.

Here's Scott jumping

Here's me jumping

After a long day at the beach, we went to Bubba's for dinner. In Barbados they have this drink called a Shandy Twist. Technically, it's alcoholic, but it only has 0.9% alcohol in it. Even the very legalistic Bajan students don't consider it so, hence, neither do the staff. So we all got Shandy Twists at Bubba's.

My first drink (all 0.9% alcohol content of it)

So anyway, that's that. I'll post some more words and pictures at a later date. Maybe some of the University of the West Indies (UWI) where we're spending much of our time. Oh, and if you were wondering, we've seen more than ten students pray to receive Christ in the last five days on campus! It's amazing, I know.

Basking in the Sun

Hey, don't have much time. I'm in Barbados in an internet cafe, and I'm running out of time, so yeah. Got here last night, it's hot, very hot, but there's a breeze, so it's ok. Um, if you want to get in touch with me, e-mail me. I'll probably start sending out mass e-mails with updates before too long, so let me know if you want to get them (laura.copenhaver@gmail.com).

I have yet to get burned, but I haven't actually been on the beach yet, so yeah, I'm sure it will happen soon.

I'll compose a post on my lappy and bring it to the cafe some time. Pictures to come soon..hopefully.

I love you all.

News from the Home Front

So it's been a while folks. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is I've been working for the past week at Donation Services at Lake Hart, and the time I am at home is spent doing reading, sleeping, eating (no carbs...boo) and watching tv. Oh, and harassing the brother, but that's more of a hobby than anything else. My room has is currently in a state of disarray, having been packed with my belongings which were already in the room and my belongings which were in my room in Tallahassee. So basically, I have two rooms worth of stuff and no where to put it. It sucks really. You might not think it to look at me, but I like having a fairly neat room (fairly neat, not spick and span, cause that's just way too time consuming...and I hate dusting). Access to my desk is really limited, as it is blocked by two crates, a back pack, a suitcase, and random articles of clothing depending on the time of week. Somehow the rocking chair migrated into my room, so now the already limited floor space is limited even further. So basically, I don't have anywhere to put my stuff. I have yet to unpack my suitcase entirely because my drawers already have stuff in them which I will have to dispose of in some way before putting the clothes I really wear into it.

On a totally different note, I've lost weight, can you tell? More than 30 pounds since December. I've been on the South Beach Diet since I got home, and I really am missing the carbs, but I'm not missing the pounds, so I will persevere (until Barbados, then all bets are off). I'm at work right now, by the way. We ran out of things to do. Hurray. So back to the weight thing, I've gone down a pants size, so that makes me happy.

This whole post is really just kind of blah, so I'm gonna stop, because I'm getting bored writing it, and if it's boring me, dang, it must be boring you. Sorry. Get over it.

End of an Era

There comes a point in every professor's life and career when they get fed up with repeating the same material to students every new semester and finally throw in the towel and retire. My favorite professor has reached that point and will turn in the keys to her office at the end of the summer semester. Several of my classmates and I have been trying to convince her to hang around for just one more year and spread some more knowledge our way. Sadly we started our campaign to get her to stay shortly after she turned in her paperwork. Good job us.

You're probably wondering what makes her my favorite professor. Well, it's a number of things really, but mostly it's because she likes us and is willing to joke around with us. That, and she's just so darn cute when she giggles about the less than scandalous material in the 19th Century literature we've been reading (less than scandalous by today's standards that is). Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just so cute when she talks about "flaming passion" and thinks we need an explanation. It helps a lot that she loves my class. She said we were among her favorites in her 30 years of teaching. Go us.

So anyway, Dr. B- is retiring and we've been getting our fair share of the things she would like to do before she retires. Among those things:

1. giving away her office furniture to various students
2. passing on her two favorite jokes to the class lover of jokes (who just happens to be me, gosh, you tell one pirate joke...)
3. calling her class (pardon the phrases, it's a direct quote) "sons of bitches" at some point in time.

She has given away much of the office furniture, and has actually used "the phrase" in addressing the class; prompted by yours truly. So staple your pants to the chair, children, because I must relate this story.

It was last Wednesday that she first revealed that she wanted to say "the phrase" to her class because an old retired professor from FSU had once said that to her class; she was also giving away the chair that she had gotten from that professor of legendary status. She discussed with us how she would use it, and we decided that it should be in a quick reprimand for the next tardy person through the door. Well, someone was tardy, but she couldn't get it out. Class progressed uneventfully. We were all disappointed at not getting to hear "the phrase" put into use, but we knew our day would come. Friday's class rolled around and I was running a bit late, maybe a minute or two. When I walked in, Dr. B- was answering someone's question and did not have the chance to say anything about my tardiness. I stood next to my desk and waited for her to finish answering the question then said graciously, "Dr. B-, I was late. Don't you have anything to say to me?" Then Dr. B- said, "Why you [the phrase] need to be on time to my class!" She smiled broadly and laughed as her last few words were lost in the laughter from my classmates behind me. Several people theorized that I had waited outside until I was late in order to obtain the desired effect, but no, I was actually late and had only thought of saying something as I walked through the door. Dr. B- made sure there was no offense taken by the comment and I of course said there was and that I would be taking a rather lengthy swim out into the ocean after class if anyone wanted to join me (the mode of suicide chosen by Edna Pontillier, the main character from Kate Chopin's The Awakening).

The whole episode was great fun and it makes me all the more sad that she is retiring after the summer semester. So here's to you, Dr. B-. We'll always love you and your quirky sense of humor.

I Think I Can, I Think I Can...

Well, a week and a half left of school, then finals week then FREEDOM!!!!! Before freedom: 1.5 weeks of studying, writing, reading, more writing, more reading, more writing, and some table building. If you don't see me, I'll be in my room typing furiously while getting my Vitamin D from artificial sun lamps. Due Monday: Anthropology paper. Due Wednesday: Women in Lit paper. Also Due Wednesday: Acting 1 paper. Women in Lit can be postponed, I just have to do a little more work, but I would really like to go into finals week with nothing to do but study for my one and only test on Friday. All that free time could be used to hunt down whoever schedules final exams and beating them down for scheduling my only exam on the last day of finals!!! AGGGGGHHHHH!!! Second semester in a row! Anyway, I'm done with my little hissy fit now.

Anyway, today was quite a bit stressful and had nothing to do with the mountain of homework facing me in the next week. I began my day with the knowledge that it was going to be hectic. You see, aside from being my long day anyway, Wednesdays are my day to cook, and furthermore, we were having guests for dinner. Not for dinner, but well you get the point, and isn't that an over worn joke? So instead of the regular 17 people that I have to make dinner for, it was upped to 21. Hurrah. The extra five people meant an extra bag of chicken that had to be cut up when two would have been more than sufficient. I made Chicken Linguini in a garlic basil (and whatever other spices I felt like throwing in there) sauce. Thankfully, we got a garlic press, so the past misfortunes with garlic chopping were not repeated. I did however, have to chop some onions, and let me tell you, the tears were flowing. Anyway, dinner was a relative success and would have occurred on time had it not been for us forgetting to put the garlic bread in the oven until 6 o'clock. Astonishing isn't it, me of all people forgetting to do something.

I had planned to go see Romeo and Juliet tonight at the Fallon Theatre, but I was so tired after dinner that I didn't want to fall asleep during the show, cause that's rude, and I have some sense of theatre etiquette...unlike some of my roommates, but that's a different story for a different time.

So I spent my evening doing homework instead. I didn't get to watch Lost or Alias, which saddened me deeply, but I did get some work done, so it's okay I guess. I'll watch them over the summer. Or maybe I won't cause I'll be in Barbados. I worked on homework and reading the my Barbados information notebook (which I should have done AGES ago) until around 12:20 (and played some guitar too) at which point I realized that it's Wednesday, which is bathroom cleaning day, which means I forgot to check bathrooms at 10 o'clock. So I'm fining myself for not doing my work job. Yippie.

But surprisingly enough, the day wasn't that bad. There have definitely been worse days as well as better days, but you have to roll with the punches, and I think I rolled pretty well all considering. Anyway, back to work, or sleep, whichever comes first.

If you need me, I will be unreachable for a while, I'll have dropped off the face of the planet.

[And if you're wondering why I didn't post for a while, it's cause I was working on something else.]