So it’s been a couple years since I’ve been surrounded by the craziness of an American Christmas. Namely, the early date which all things Christmas appear. We went to the grocery store last night: the Salvation Army bell-ringer was out front, we were forced to listen to nothing but Christmas music while we shopped, and the candy aisle was halfway filled with candy canes. And the last time we went to the mall (I think it was three weeks ago?), it was all decorated for the holiday as well.
Last weekend was possibly the busiest since we arrived in Nassau, but it was definitely the most fun. On Saturday I went with a group of friends to Jollification, an annual craft and Christmas fair. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but there was some really nice stuff. I’m not sure where these artists and craftspeople are hiding out most of this time. And it seemed like a good potential venue for Witty Designs if I can get my act together and get some designing and sewing done before next year.
We had our first big get-together at our Nassau house yesterday. The guest list got a little out of hand, so I was actually glad that only about two-thirds of the group showed up. And Shawn was glad that meant about half of his favorite cookies were left over. One of the highlights of the event was when someone said, “Hey, look what your dog’s doing!” Those are not words I’m ever happy to hear.
Nassau is a weird post in the Foreign Service world as far as housing goes. Housing at most posts comes complete with the standard issue Foreign Service furniture. It’s kind of weird to see pictures from people’s homes around the world and think, “Hey - I have that exact same living room set.” However, in Nassau, all housing is landlord-furnished. As you could guess, this can either be really good, or really bad.
I’m disappointed (or kind of grossed-out, really) to learn that winter is the time of year that all the rats on the island come out to play. There seem to be a lot of them. And they are large - I saw one this morning that was 8-ish inches long, plus tail. You would think that all of the roaming potcakes would keep the rat population under control, but not so.
I survived my first solo trip to the grocery store this morning! Besides the fact that I hate grocery shopping in general (regardless of what country I’m in), this is a big deal because it meant that I drove somewhere by myself for the first time since moving here.
It’s Friday (good), but I’m up early (bad). Shawn had to go to work early this morning, which means that the dog got up early, which means that I needed to get up early. His early departure also meant that Shawn did not make the coffee this morning (really bad), so forgive me if I’m not exactly coherent. I also woke up this morning feeling like I got too much sun yesterday - like my skin is stretched too tightly over my body (also bad). I firmly believe that you should never really feel your skin. And as much as I like having a “healthy glow,” that’s countered by the fact that I’m terrified of looking like a piece of worn-out leather when I’m older. That and skin cancer.
As we get settled, it seems like not much of any excitement is going on. We did go to our first movie in The Bahamas today, which was rather exciting. The fact that they show first-run American movies (in English) at all is more than we’re used to. And to top that off, the prices aren’t even bad - $6 per ticket, and I think we only spent $10-ish at the concession stand. So even though things are “boring,” here are some pictures I took of downtown Nassau last week:
Today we took Laika to the beach for the first time to formally introduce her to the Atlantic Ocean. She was pretty unsure at first, planting herself on the beach, then looking distressed as the waves washed around her and caused her to sink into the sand. But after about 20 minutes of wandering on the rocky part of the beach, she decided the water was pretty fun to splash around in.
Visit my Etsy shop
