Nassau: 2001

At least there is always the beach

So what else has been happening?  Well,  we have just witnessed the most interesting election in this small country’s history.  A fiercely fought election campaign resulted in a landslide victory for the opposition, the PLP (Progressive Liberal party – don’t be misled by the name, it is a left wing, ‘party of the people’ which had ruled for 25 straight years until two terms ago when mounting corruption made the people turn against it).  Rather like New Labour it has used its time out of power to renew itself and done a cracking job at winning around the young and popular vote.  Consequently the old Government was really caught napping and went from thirty odd seats to seven.  Perhaps the London PR agency the PLP employed (don’t know who yet) also had something to do with it?

I went to one of the rallies, which has to be on a theatrical par with any large-scale event I’ve ever been to.  Imagine a hot evening and about 10,000 loud and brightly attired Bahamians, in high spirits, drinking gin out of coconut shells and eating anything that could be battered and fried whilst dancing to very loud rap music.  Booming music blasted out for a gaudy stage and every so often a wave of rash promises would come from some candidate or other who would then sling a load of mud at the opposition (libel seems a rarely used legal device).

It was a blast.

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Journal update June 2 2005

Well the Internet is certainly a fascinating thing. Whilst buying DVDs on Amazon I checked out Carmen (recommendation from Daisy last night for a flamenco DVD) and under it I found lots of Carmen Electra’s striptease plus ‘nude women’s wresting’ and ‘the mating habits of the earthbound human’ which gets a five star rating so obviously someone likes it.

Daisy and her new love are coming round. I’m off for my first sailboat trip with him from Smugglers cove to Governor’s Harbour tomorrow – I am the greenhorn crew and have to admit I’m pretty excited.

We had supper last night at their home.  Daisy told us of her three marriages: one for the children; one to learn to play golf and one for keeps.  She had a prenup agreement with no. 2 who was 25 years her senior. It included that she would agree to play golf, which she did, and discovered she had a passion and skill for it.  Sadly his children didn’t like her and after a few horrid dinners when ‘gold digger’ was hissed before pudding it all went sour.

Her fiirst husband took her child so that was very messy.

M. was married previously for 30 years and was a teacher in Yorkshire then, bam!  He came one day and his wife had served him with divorce papers.  He lost everything: the marriage; the house;  his kids. He has not seen his children for six/seven years and came here because his brother has a huge house in Tarpum Bay and took him in and let him live there.

He met Daisy through an Internet dating co.

Daisy claims she was offered a free trial and that she filled in her details whilst on a girls night in back home in Canada.

M. was looking for a tall thin cello player. Daisy convinced him he was just looking for himself and she was the one for him (she is not tall, nor thin, nor plays the cello).  M. is passionate about Bach.  He can tell you every detail about him including how Bach re-tuned the piano to be able to play any composition in any key.

As the evening drew in M.  sang me a folk song/sea shanty whilst Daisy made popadums and curry.  Their little clapper board sea side house was a magnet for mosquitoes and we sprayed the screens with OFF as the mosquitoes homed in and M played melodically into the night.  He was reminising as he played and told me of a 6 ft boa that bit him a few months earlier whilst they were sleeping at the side of the house when building it (oh yes, they built it themselves).  It made his finger bleed and swell up.  I swigged back some more rum, sprayed a little more OFF and laughed.

Life in Eleuthera

Life in Eleuthera

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