Before my busy week cooking in the villas I spent a couple of days in Barbados. It sounds like an exotic destination of white sand beaches, rum and song but to residents of other Caribbean islands going to Barbados is a chore – the US Embassy, the British High Commission and other embassies are all there. I came to get my US visa replaced from my lost/stolen passport and to get a UK visa. And to sample a few local dishes, and of course the local beer.
Here are the highlights of the trip:
Island hopping to get there – The local Caribbean airline, LIAT, flies to Barbados from Tortola but has to stop in St. Martin, then Antigua, before landing in Barbados. It took about 4 hours on small turbo-prop planes. As one islander put it, “A whole bunch of up den down den up den down nonsense!”. It was not as bad as I expected.
Being harassed at the airport in Barbados – “Philippine nationals need a visa to enter Barbados,” said the immigration officer. I said I didn’t get the memo and was led to the back room where all the other hoodlums were “held”. I wondered how long would this take as someone was waiting to pick me up from the airport. One guy in the “holding area” started asking me, “Are you Chinese or Japanese?” I am tired of answering this question so I ignored him. US$50 and 25 minutes later I had permission to enter Barbados for 2 days – congratulations to me! I had asked the immigration officer if I could get a multiple entry visa for another $10 and he asked, “Why?” and I said, “I may like it here and may want to come back being that I live on the next island over.” (Actually, I live a few islands over and I was thinking, “Chill out, brother-man! I just don’t want to be bothered by this if I have to return to Barbados!”) Needless to say, I did not get the multiple entry visa – he said I have to apply for that online. I walked on back out to the airport and as I did the guy that asked me if I was Chinese or Japanese shouted, “Well how come Chinee-man gets to go out before us?” or something to that effect. Jackass!
Banks beer – The local brew. Light and refreshing – a nice, easy-drinking warm weather beer!
St. Lawrence Gap – Nice area of bars, hotels and restaurants. I stayed at Time Out at the Gap which was a bit rundown but great for 2 nights. They had a nice bar by the lobby, but on my first night I ended up at Cafe del Sol (for mojitos) and at a reggae bar close by with 2 for 1 Banks, cool music and weird art. The music was so good at the reggae bar, I wondered what Jamaica would be like if it is already like this in Barbados. Walking back to the hotel while planning my trip to Jamaica in my head, someone asked me if I wanted some coke or weed and a woman for the night – I guess I look like the type when I travel. Or that is just how touristy St. Lawrence Gap is? In any case it’s a great area for a night out.
Eating roadside grilled chicken – Foregoing the drugs and the hooker, I decided on roadside grilled chicken by a bar doing karaoke night. I wondered if shots will ring out once someone sings “My Way” and then I thought wrong island. Anyway, the chicken smelled so good on the grill and was tasty, the Bajan hot sauce I asked for to go with it was nice and spicy, the macaroni pie (mac and cheese basically) was rich, the karaoke night seemed fun even if I was just observing… and the phone camera I had did not do justice to the whole experience of it.
Flying fish – No pics of this but flying fish was everywhere in Barbados. In sandwiches, fish and chips, grilled, fried, hot, cold, breakfast, lunch, dinner… The Hilton Barbados puts it out cold smoked and hot with capers on their breakfast buffet. It was good – if a bit chewy.
Bridgetown – Shuttling between embassies on day 2, I saw a bit of Bridgetown but not much. It’s a busy town (or city), with lots of old buildings left back from the British colonial times. Bajans (or Barbadians) are keen on preserving all these old structures even if they hark back to the harsher days of slavery and plantations. Sugar was big business back in the old days in Barbados. The picture is of an old house I saw while walking around waiting for the British High Commission to open.
The US Embassy Experience – Where do I begin to narrate the sordid process of getting permission to enter the US of A? Shall I begin with the surly, locally sourced staff that yell at you so things are orderly on the premises? Or should I describe how it feels to be herded into a room like cattle while being made to wait for hours and forced to watch glorious videos of the US and her people? Or should I narrate how the consul pushed my numbered application back to the bottom of her pile, called me to the window and asked me questions but did not wait for me to finish my answers, then grilled me on how and why I lost my passport (“The police report is there, Ma’am.”) while slinging my documents back at me through the narrow slip in the window, then asked me twice how long I lived in the BVI, before slipping a yellow piece of paper saying that my visa is denied. I almost yelled at her when I began to reason, “But I was just there last year!” She covered her mouth while saying the same verdict through the microphone, as if to save me the embarrassment of getting a denied visa from the audience behind me, but it made no difference. Trip to San Diego in the summer – cancelled! Trip to Mexico through the US in October – cancelled! Trip back home to Manila through the US – not going to happen and 40% more expensive through London! Weekends in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas or St. John, the island right in front of my apartment so close I can kayak to it if I wanted to – not going to happen! I was left wondering why my visa got denied or whether the consul just was suffering from PMS that day.
Bajan beaches – Rushed back to the hotel to go for a run/ walk on the beach. I realized I had not gone to the beach in front of the Time Out since I arrived the day before. It was a nice beach with lots of activities in a busy area, but not as clean as BVI beaches and the water not as clear as TCI beaches … or was I just pissed off about my visa?
The trip back – I spent the night before drowning my anger in Banks beer while researching how to get to Mexico without passing through the US from where I am (Tortola-St.Martin-Antigua-Santo Domingo-San Jose,Costa Rica-Mexico City … a real expensive pain in the ass!). Woke up early the next day and got to the airport in time. On the connecting flight to Tortola from Antigua, we had to change planes, and as we did it started pissing rain. It rained for the whole 5 minutes I was on the tarmac waiting to board. It was pouring down and I was drenched. When I got in the plane and as soon as I fastened the seatbelt, the rain stopped. At the Tortola airport I learned I needed to get my new passport stamped again since I had lost the old one, and how annoying small talk about being a chef with the customs officer is. To top it off, I had to work that evening too because we were busy – a bad ending to what could’ve been a good trip.
So Barbados is a nice country. I would go back … well, it seems that I have to go back because that’s where the US Embassy is. But I would also go back to experience everything that I missed – driving around the island to the other beaches, learning to surf, Oistins Fish Fry night, eating at better restaurants, more partying at the Gap, seeing museums (Concord museum as recommended by one of the cooks at work) and plantation houses, maybe going diving. It would be worth another trip, except for having to go through another US Embassy Experience.
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