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November 13, 2001:
Starting All Over Again:
Within a very short space of time, our downtown Straw Market and adjoining businesses were destroyed by fire, the horrific September 11th terrorist attacks plunged us all into emotional and financial turmoil, and Hurricane Michelle made a direct hit on the islands of Andros, New Providence and Eleuthera.
But the Bahamas is a resilient little nation; we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and are starting all over again.
Before Michelle struck, my husband Erskine and I decided to get away from the "doom and gloom" and we visited a couple of our Out Islands.
Check-in for Bahamasair's flight to Long Island now includes questions once reserved for international flights, such as "Did you pack your bags yourself?" We even had to show I.D. Then we passed through electronic screening and a security agent asked me to produce my keys for examination.
Once inside the Family Island Departure Lounge, everything reverted to normal, almost like it was before September 11th. Bahamians and residents, recognizing relatives or friends, joked with each other; tourists hung on every word, eager to experience the warmth of the islanders.
The Bahamasair flight attendant guided us to our seats smoothly and professionally and there was a cheerful wave from the flight deck as we boarded.
Peter Kuska and Joerg Friese, two of the hard-working owner/operators at the Stella Maris Resort, warmly greeted us and we relaxed in the lounge with a cool "Welcome" drink. Tropical breezes drifted up from the deep blue Atlantic Ocean (Long Island straddles the Tropic of Cancer).
Later, stress fell away as we joined an American wedding group at a Stella Maris "Cave Party." One hundred and forty persons can be catered to in this large natural cavern.
The delightful young bride-and-groom-to-be introduced themselves to us, as the band played and master chef Bruno produced a succulent barbecue. All of us enjoyed a reverent celebration of life that we hadn't known since September 11th.
Michael and Michelle were married under a floral bower on the brilliant white sands of Cape Santa Maria. They invited us to their wedding reception that night at the Stella Maris Inn. Bruno excelled again. After the splendid buffet, everyone mingled and danced as the band played on. It was just one of the many wedding packages that Stella Maris offers.
During the week, we swam in the gentle, sheltered, swimming holes of the Stella Maris "Love Beaches", stopped for ice-cream in a nearby settlement and took long relaxing walks.
I had my laptop with me and spent some quiet time writing, as well as reading writer's magazines and books.
One day we drove south, picked up two of Erskine's sisters who live in Mangrove Bush, Deadman's Cay, and took them to lunch at the Harbour View Restaurant, Clarence Town. You can't beat Long Island for native food. The Cracked Conch melts in your mouth and as for the macaroni cheese, peas'n'rice and coleslaw - no contest!
Shortly after returning to Nassau, we flew out again on Bahamasair, this time to Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, where we stayed for two nights in the charming, historic "Duck Inn" as guests of Kay and John Duckworth. Features of the Duck Inn are its period furniture, fruit laden orchards, lush gardens and impressive collection of orchids.
We dined that night under the stars, on the terrace of the Duck Inn. The next morning I took my breakfast onto the sun deck outside our self-catering unit, "The Hunnypot". The view stretched across sparkling Governor's Harbour to "Cupid's Cay", said to be one of the oldest settlement in the Bahamas. We walked over to the Governor's Harbour "Homecoming" festival on Cupid's Cay the next night, to sample Bahamian delicacies from the many stalls.
We only just got back to Nassau in time before Hurricane Michelle hit us on November 5th.
In the aftermath of Michelle, the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (B.E.C.), Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (Batelco) and Bahamas Water & Sewerage Corporation have been working swiftly to restore power, telephone and water supplies throughout the affected islands.
Some homes in low-lying areas of New Providence, such as Pinewood Gardens, Carmichael Road and Joe Farrington Road, were badly flooded from the constant rain throughout the storm. The Bahamas Government is offering assistance to those residents with substantial losses.
Fortunately, the properties that Knowles Realty is selling stood firm with only minor and correctible damage to some of the older structures. Sadly, many trees were downed - perhaps nature's way of "cleaning up"?
After the hurricane, when we walked outside into bright sunshine, there was a freshness in the air, "pollution-free". Since then, we've seen seagulls, doves and tiny yellow-breasted birds that must have somehow sheltered from the storm. Financial centres and most businesses reopened two days after the hurricane.
It's not easy, but we're picking ourselves up and starting all over again.
Footnote: We have been devastated to learn of November 12th's terrible plane crash in New York, just when Americans were valiantly trying to get back to some kind of normality. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims' families and friends, those injured and those with damaged property or who lost their homes.
Sections completed: Bahamas Writer's section on Time Management is completed. You can also read some of my published articles.
October
9th, 2001:
What
the world was waiting for has now happened.
Most of the Bahamas exhaled when we heard the news on
Sunday that the allies’ strike back has commenced.
Unfortunately,
I missed the impressive speeches by U.S. President George W. Bush
and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday, because of an
afternoon engagement, but I pulled the transcripts up later on http://www.bbc.co.uk
Even
my mother, who’s a staunch British Conservative, applauded
Labour party leader Blair!
While
we watch and listen, life has to go on.
I
drove to downtown Nassau the other day to register the business
name for a new publications company one of my sons and I have
started (http://www.grannyjo.com).
There
was a whiff of happiness again.
Huge modern cruise ships towered over old colonial
buildings, tourists were out in the Bahamas’ traditional horse
drawn surreys and Bay Street was buzzing.
The
temporary Straw Market, quickly erected to accommodate vendors
misplaced after fire destroyed the old market September 4th,
invited visitors into its smart white marquee interior with
colourful and tasteful signs.
I
had to wait in line to pick up a business licence application
form. In a country
where tourism flourished before September 11th and jobs
were plentiful, we are now seeing the reduction of workdays for
many employees, but the ugly head of terrorism isn’t stifling
the entrepreneurial spirit of Bahamians or the serene beauty that
brings so many tourists and investors to our shores.
Two
more sections of the Bahamas Writer have been completed - “Never
Too Old” and “Writers’ Groups”.
Enjoy!
September
25th, 2001:
I
was most encouraged by American President George W. Bush’s
speech last Thursday evening.
In fact, I was quite moved.
Afterwards, when I spoke to a friend in England, she told
me the U.K. had also been impressed by Mr. Bush’s speech.
“It shows he is a true statesman,” she said.
The
amazing thing about these tragic events is the way everyone is
reaching out to each other. I’ve been spending a lot of time emailing and phoning
people in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.
We are connecting throughout the world in a way we have
never done before.
Mark
Joyner of StartBlaze.com
emailed:
“We need to mourn, we need to grieve, but we also need to
move forward. I pray that those who lost their lives, their
friends and
their families will not take this the wrong way. They truly have
my deepest sympathies, and every fiber of my being screams out for
justice, resolution, and peace.”
He
went on: “Demoralizing our people and paralyzing our country is
exactly what
the terrorists want” and he refuses “to let this cowardly
attack change my way of life or destroy my business - the business
I have sacrificed so much for in the last 7 years.”
Mark
added: “My business will move forward. Next week we will release
a new product
right on schedule.”
He
said: “YOU were a victim of this attack. This was an attack on
your freedom, with the aim of paralyzing your way of life and the
way you conduct your business”.
He
encouraged everyone to join him in doing their part to get the
economy – and our spirits – roaring back, by: “Marketing
your products today with no sense of shame”; if there is “a
purchase you've been putting off... Put it off no longer. Make
that purchase today”; “Buy one product from one of your
competitors”; “Buy one thing that you don’t need, but have
wanted for a long time”; and “buy a few shares with ‘going
long’ in mind.”
His
final words were: “Join with me to stop the virus of terrorism
and spread the news of prosperity and hope.”
Margie
Boarman emailed me from Charlotte Hall, Maryland, saying: “These
terrorist attacks have truly devastated the entire world”, but
that it was “heartwarming” to read my piece entitled “All
the World is Waiting’”, in a newsletter she received from the
Bahamas. “I feel like even though we are far away, we are still
very close.”
Margie
added: “I was very upset to read about the fire set in the Straw
Market. It is sad to know that your island is affected by
these attacks due to the decrease in tourism. I pray that
things will return to normal soon and people in the Bahamas will
not suffer too badly from their losses.”
Margie
was referring to my news
of the devastating fire we’d had on Bay Street just a week
before the terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Thankfully, we had no loss of life, but the fire destroyed
the Straw Market, Ministry of Tourism offices and several adjacent
businesses. A
temporary structure has been erected until a new Straw Market can
be built and the straw vendors have received financial assistance
from the Bahamas Government, as well as the private and business
sectors.
Margie
and her husband had visited Freeport, Bahamas, and fallen in love
with the island. “The people were so very friendly to us.
I plan to return to the Bahamas with my husband and two
sons maybe in a year or so; we've been talking about perhaps
visiting Nassau.”
Our
Bay Street disaster paled in comparison, of course, to the
horrific events in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington.
Margie
told me that although they are still mourning over the tragedy in
the U.S., it is comforting to see the nation come together and
work through the ordeal. Relief
efforts are coming in from all over the U.S. and other countries.
American flags are displayed everywhere, on homes, cars and
businesses, to show support for the victims and their families.
Margie
said one of her best
friends works at the Pentagon and heard the tremor of the initial
hit at the Pentagon. Since there was remodeling work going
on in that section of the Pentagon, she assumed the crew men were
just working. Later, she learned one of her best friends and
co-worker whom she had known for 13 years was killed in the attack
and his body never recovered.
Said
Margie: “We continue to learn of thousands of citizens and their
stories of how they were personally affected by these acts of
severe violence.” However
“Our American spirit will not be broken due to these attacks and
we will continue to stick together and pray in these trying times
along with our friends in other countries.”
She
felt President Bush is doing “the best job he possibly can both
physically and morally” and that it is very comforting to know
he has “good family values and morals”.
She
ended: “I just
wanted to take the time and let you know I enjoyed reading your
article and it is so comforting to know we have so many friends
all over the world including you all there in the Bahamas who are
thinking of us. I ask that you and fellow Bahamians continue to pray for our families
and the victims of these attacks. We will get through these
difficult times.”
Colleen
Arko from Wisconsin, emailed: “We have been to the Bahamas twice
and love New Providence and its people” and she wrote: “We are
so very sorry to read of the great fire which destroyed your straw
market & tourism center! We must remain strong even in
the midst of people with horrible minds from one thing or
another...I read ‘It is when we are wounded by our own
hands, or by the hands of others, that love should come to cure
us.’ Oscar Wilde. This is so true...we are all
people with the same feelings and hopes for ourselves and our
families, let's be strong and united as good human beings!”
On
a more cheerful note, I had email from a fellow writer in Canada.
Arthur (“Art”) Montague (http://AMontague.homestead.com)
wrote:-
“I
am a Canadian writer who shares your positive feelings for
sunny Nassau. I have book marked your attractive web site for
future visits. Good luck with it!”
Art
has a good web site and he says I’ve inspired him to update it.
He’s modest though.
“It is a homemade job,” he told me.
“I knew little of the internet two years ago when I
decided to write full time.” Art is an inspiration to all of us, don’t you think?
Some
of Art’s published fiction and non-fiction can be read on his
site. I particularly
like his fiction. It’s
crisp and entertaining.
Three
sections of the Bahamas Writer have now been completed –
“Becoming a Writer”, “Where to write” and
“Resources”. Much
more coming soon. “Stay
tuned”!
September 16th, 2001: All the world is waiting.
After one of the many church services held here today, when we Bahamians expressed our grief for our American brothers and sisters, Erskine and I went for our usual Sunday afternoon walk around the spectacular Atlantis property on Paradise Island.
Last Sunday it was pretty quiet as this is traditionally the "slow season"; today it was like a "ghost town", except there was no grey, only a few swim suited guests, empty white beaches, bright manicured grounds and a sad looking staff whose working hours had been reduced.
Cab drivers, who usually milled around the majestic entrance with its bucking horse fountains, gathered nearby deep in quiet discussion, the passenger doors of their taxis hanging open. Jet ski operators ventured onto the hotel property, smiling hopefully at the few guests that strolled by. Hair braiders and vendors packed up despondently and trundled their wares away from the beach.
In the casino, where dealer's tables are normally hidden by the thick crowd of customers, Bahamian croupiers stood forlornly waiting, and only one shrill winning bell came from the neat empty rows of slot machines.
Flights to and from the Bahamas are getting back to normal, with a higher level of security of course, but many vacationers are still hesitant to travel.
We pray that American President George Bush will make the right decisions, that those responsible for Tuesday's horrific attacks will be brought to justice and tourists will soon return again in droves to our lovely shores.
September 12th, 2001:
I never thought I'd be writing an entry for the News section of Bahamas Writer so early in the construction of the site, but the heinous September 11 terrorist hijackings and attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have so devastated us all in the Bahamas as they have throughout the world, that I wanted to say our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have lost loved ones and friends or received injuries in this terrible disaster.
Many of us might be wondering what is ahead of us now. I think this is the time to write down where you were and what you were doing when this atrocity happened, if you were close to or knew anyone connected to the tragedy, and your feelings. Not only is this therapeutic, but we must never forget.
I can only repeat my final paragraph in the first section "Becoming a Writer", which encourages "writers everywhere to keep on writing, no matter what".
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