You can take the girl out of a Type A culture but can the Type A ever, ever be vanquished from the girl? After living in Barbados for three years, I wonder. I’m not one iota more mellow than I ever was. Fortunately, here in Barbados I am blessed with frequent reminders of the beauty of living life less...

In the town in which you live, imagine the police gently but firmly telling schoolkids to tuck their shirts in. It happens here in Barbados and is one reason I love this place. Decorum and deportment matter. Everywhere in the world, citizens decry the increase in crime. This is true here in Barbados as well....

Jerry is my supplier. He slips me a small package, well wrapped in a discreet plastic baggie. The first time he gave me one of the small packages was under the cloak of darkness; I wasn’t sure what it was. I ran upstairs to my apartment and unwrapped the little treasure. I wasn’t sure it was my...

The unzipped-jeans-to-reveal a bikini, common in Miami Beach, is a fashion that has not yet appeared in Barbados. I didn’t really notice how enormously fat and slob-ish (the two NOT being related) so many Americans had become until I moved to Barbados and began to live in a culture that is a size the...

A monkey I met last week in Sandy Lane. Happy to pose for me, but no more; I just don't have the charisma my friend Sharon has. Barbadians see a monkey and roll their eyes; they know their furry brethren can be a nuisance. A Yank like me sees a monkey scurrying around so adorably and thinks it’s...

Not the item in question, but there do exist sunglasses as tool/tools as sunglasses. So there! Scene: St Lawrence Beach Condominiums, St Lawrence Gap, Christ Church, Barbados When: Two weeks ago Characters: Window installer and me Background info: Barbados has a 99.7% literacy rate, one of the highest in...

Out of the window of our Caribbean Air flight from Barbados to Jamaica yesterday, I snapped the beautiful coastline of Barbados with my iPhone. This is far north along the east coast, the Atlantic Ocean side of the island. My generalizations about Bajans in Barbados continue … These are, of course,...

Like all groups of people, Barbadians have a personality and traditions unique to their culture. It’s only 8 a.m. but already I’ve encountered a couple of them. So while I sit here in the Barbados airport awaiting flight to Jamaica with Greg, I’ll share a few with you. 1. Barbadians call...

Gosh, Barbados is wonderful place to be.  Such good-natured souls, a low crime rate, a fabulous climate, beauty all around, and, if not everything, then most of what a city girl like me needs to be comfortable. What Barbados may lack in department and upscale grocery stores it makes up for in creative...

Brooms: $10Bds. The broom lady's smile: priceless Driving down the street near Belleville the other day, I spied this lovely broom-maker. HAD to stop. With her homemade sign and sunny smile, she charmed me completely. Bought a broom, made with dried palm fronds — she was charging $10Bds ($5US),...

It’s far easier – and strangely more satisfying – to stomp our feet and decry surly service in Barbados than it is to praise.  That means Barbados Free Press won’t likely pick up this post (although I thank those good folks for the attention they’ve given my various and sundry...

My husband Greg called me yesterday afternoon around 3:00.  He had just turned into the Gap.  “Come downstairs right away,” he said urgently.  “Bring your camera.” Barefoot, I ran downstairs and out into the street just in time to see a troop of children rounding St Lawrence Gap at...

In the United States, the extreme of political correctness is bestowed upon those “putting on weight” (i.e., getting fat).  And in the US, who isn’t? Have you been to a shopping mall there recently?  Oy vey.  We Americans talk about diets and weight-loss endlessly – but when a...

Many of the vendors on St Lawrence Gap have made street-selling their career.  Some have been selling their goods for a good decade or more.  I occasionally find an original and charmingly rough-hewn bauble I just can’t resist. Like Seth’s.  Seth is not only a street vendor. He’s also a...

Ricardo’s our own personal rock star here at St Lawrence Beach Condos.  He’s young, attractive, easy-going, personable, capable, responsive, and liked by guests.  He’s so well thought of by our guests, in fact, that he’s often mentioned in the reviews they write on TripAdvisor. ...

From the “silver lining” file … I goofed.  Every photo I post on this blog is one I took myself or purchased from istockphoto. Except one.  It was a photo of a verdant island valley, by Barbados photographer Keith H. Clarke (stunning site; please visit it).  Very kindly, Mr Clarke wrote...

The date: January 15, 2009 The place: Beautifully restored 17th-century plantation home called St Nicholas Abbey, Cherry Tree Hill, Barbados The persons involved: A friendly Bajan young man and a middle-aged female American tourist given to blushing What happened: A colorful dialect oops! I took my friend...