What I Ate, Saw, and Did: Nassau, Bahamas

This was my second time visiting Nassau, Bahamas. The first time was in 2010, and it was for vacation purposes only. It was a quick get-away trip in the middle of summer to get away from the monotony of work and life as usual. The second time I was there was only a week ago, I went as a student to provide speech and language evaluations. There was some down time for extra-curricular activities as well.

What I Ate: (Restaurant names in the caption)

Oh Andros Restaurant

Grio Haitian dish (pork) and fried plantains with rice and peas.

Conch fritters

Oh Andros is a Haitian-owned restaurant in what’s known locally as Fish Fry. Fish Fry is also known as Arawak Cay (located on West Bay Street), it is a gathering place for islanders and visitors seeking Bahamian food such as conch salad, conch fritters and fried fish made fresh.

The food pictured below is from Bahamian Cookin’. I visited this restaurant back in 2010 and I was glad to see it was still there with renovations! I enjoyed the broiled grouper, plantains and rice and peas (although the rice and peas were tomato-based, I preferred the rice and peas from Oh Andros)

Bahamian Cookin’ Restaurant

My friend had more conch fritters with fries and rice, macaroni pie, and rice and pies. Macaroni pie is the same thing as macaroni and cheese except the pasta is typically the larger, thicker pasta and the consistency is more pie-like, if that makes sense. It sticks together more like a pie.

Official beer of the Bahamas

Cracked conch

Drifters Restaurants at Fish Fry

 We got a boat of roasted corn, chicken wings and fried conch fritters.

What I Saw:

Lobby of the British Colonial Hilton

View from private beach, British Colonial Hilton

Nassau Straw Market, downtown

inside Straw Market

Government buildings, downtown

Street art

 

What I Did:

We worked at SeaHorse Institute, a school for children with severe disabilities. From Monday-Thursday we provided hearing, language and speech screenings and evaluations for families in need.

Work area

Riding through Nassau neighborhoods:

My Summer in Photos: 2013

It’s hard to say goodbye to summer, but alas…I’m back on the journey as I enter my second and final year of grad school.

I stayed pretty local most summer, with occasional trips to New York City and Virginia Beach to keep sane. I worked at Shake Shack, finding myself bolting from work after shifts to keep away from using my employee discount and gorging on some burgers and custard. What is custard? Only the next best thing to ice cream. If I was to describe it, it would be rich and creamy dairy goodness. It’s exactly what summers are made of.

I also moved across the hall, into an apartment with some worthwhile amenities in this city life struggle. I now have an on suite bathroom and a washer and dryer in my apartment. Life is good.

Below you’ll find some moments that commemorate summer!

Starting with the soundtrack… Daft Punk

City Mangoes

Brooklyn sights

A NYC day with Summer

t Shaved ice

Looking for a birthday dress.

Doing homework on my birthday. 😦

 

Clever books

Summer Screen before…

Virginia Beach, late May

Pho, my new Vietnamese noodle soup obsession

Standing for something good in uniform

The burgers teasing me!

Shake Shack custard

March on Washington. 8-24-13

 

Toast to a successful fall!

 What are your most memorable summer moments?

A Limerick for Me

Someone wrote me a limerick. Poetry is the way to a girl’s heart.

There once was a girl who liked fried chicken 
Especially if it was finger lickin’ 
With great flare 
She cut off her hair 
But she still could make one heart’s quicken. 

Sam, I Am

Click for credit

A couple of weeks ago, I sat at the bus stop on my way to school.

There was a white man with dark hair and glasses sitting on the bench. He smiled. I smiled (that generic hello, older adult smile). He looked to be in his late 50’s.

He initiated conversation. I responded.

He spoke with a strong accent and I was curious. He asked me where I was from. I told him to guess.

“Latin America.” BINGO.

He informed me he was from Italy, started his own company here. I don’t recall the details. He asked me if I liked Italian food.

“I love food period.”

WAIT.

Is this man coming on to me? Why must I be so paranoid? Why can’t an older man just be looking for a friend?

Conversation continued.

He told me all about the different types of lasagna’s from different parts of Italy. Not like in America, where lasagna just refers to a generic type and the only difference is what you stuff in it.

Would I like to try his food sometime?

“Ok.”

So I took Sam from Italy’s number. His last name was so long, I just took his first two letters. “El”

Maybe I should have taken his complete las name, to Google my paranoia away? Am I being too paranoid? What happened to following your gut instinct on someone’s trustworthiness? I don’t get the creep factor from this gentleman.

Sam from Italy lives in my neighborhood, so I have run into him about a handful of times already. Most recently, he was walking his dog Beba.

He seems like a nice grandfather figure. Am I being naive or should I ask him more personal questions when I see him like who he lives with, etc? And not take his dinner invitation, at least not alone?

What about the question of culture? Are we too paranoid in this American culture? Could a homemade dinner invitation mean something different in Italy than it does in America?

Feedback welcomed.