7 Facts about: The Bahamas

Sandyport Beach, circa 2010

Things you may or may not have known about the archipelago that is know as the Bahamas.

7. Lucayans (Indians who are believed to have migrated from South America) ruled the Bahamas for several hundred years before Columbus arrived in 1492. When he did arrive, he abducted and enslaved all the Lucayans to work and they died in the gold mines of Cuba, or diving for pearls in shark-infested waters. Spain had little interest in the islands, which had no precious metals or stones.

6. On October 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus (in search of China) changed the world when he dropped anchor on the island known as San Salvador (Holy Savior). The island was claimed for the King and Queen, Ferdinand and Isabel.

5. On July 10, 1973, the Bahamas became a sovereign nation, being previously under British rule.

4. Its government is based on the Westminster model– including Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, a 2 chamber Parliament and an appointed Governor General, representing the symbolic head of state.

3. The archipelago (cluster of islands) consist of 700 islands, most are which uninhabited.

2. One of the local delicacies, known as the “snail of the sea” is conch. Conch is the firm white meat of a mollusk, and cooked any way you want it. It comes in conch fritters, conch chowder, conch salad, conch burgers, and even cracked conch. (Source)

1. Tourism is the driving force of the economy in the Bahamas. The tourism sector is worth an estimated $2.3 billion. A new resort mega resort, Baha Mar, is scheduled to open in December 2014.

EXTRA FUN FACT: The Bahamian tri-color flag: black stands for a unified people, gold is for the natural resources of the land and aquamarine is for the country’s ocean water.

Hispanic Heritage Month: The African Contribution

At 28 years old, I’m still learning about my history as a proud Afro-Costa Rican!

Los Afro-Latinos

by Kim Haas

One of my greatest pleasures is the study of Afro-Latino culture. In September, I had a wonderful opportunity to write about the African contribution to Hispanic Heritage for one of the oldest black newspapers in the United States, New York Amsterdam News. The newspaper, which was founded on a $10 investment more than a century ago, has a distinguished history of being at the forefront of covering major issues and events involving people of African descent.

What an honor to share the article with you!

Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 – Oct. 15, offers an opportunity to illuminate what is too often overlooked—the African influence and tradition in Hispanic culture. Today, approximately 150 million Latin Americans have some African ancestry.

For more than 500 years, Africans and their descendents richly contributed to the fabric of Latin American society. During the Middle Passage, an estimated 12 million enslaved…

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Voicemails I Don’t Delete

Hey missy, it’s your momma. Calling to check on you. Call me whenever you get a chance okay? have a good day. Love you.  

Tracey no tengo internet en la casa por eso no ha oido de mi y me fui y se me olvido pagarle su celular. Ojala que no se lo hayan cortado. Estoy llamando de la casa de abuelita. I’m leaving tonight to go back to San Jose. During the week I’m gonna see how I can make the payment for you and emm…I’ll try calling you somewhere during the week, ok? Bueno mamacita cuidese…bye.

Uhh..Tracey dame una llamada cuando tenga chance por favor. Ok. Thanks. Bye bye.

Yo maing, why is your phone off? I’m gonna be at Chris’, it’s like almost 6:30 but I’m on my way to Chris’ cuz we’re going to have dinner at his mom’s house so…i… probably won’t be able to talk later. I don’t want to be rude and all in the phone, all up on the phone. Anyway, let me know what’s going on.

Tracey! It’s Anna. I’m sorry I missed your call earlier I wasn’t paying attention. Um. Yea. Call and bother me. That sounds good. Yayyyy we’re almost done. I can’t wait. One more day. Alright. Bye.

Ey Tray-cey. Uh, It’s your neighbor Brian. Um, yea so about the security deposit (laughs). I. Don’t. Know. I mean, I know I gave him one, like, years ago when I first moved in and I mean he should give it back to you. If you’re asking for it back and there’s no damages and all that stuff, which I’m sure there’s not. However I think I owe him a couple hundred bucks in general so I’m not, I’m hoping he’s not asking me for the rest of the rent and I’m not asking him for the rest of the security deposit back, if that makes sense. Yea so if you gave him one, he owes it to you when you move out. Alright? Talk to you later.

Hey mama it’s me. I’m just calling you to let you know that we leaving now. Okay? Um, I love you, and I gonna try to give you a call later on if I can. If I not, you know I love you and I will talk to you when I get a chance, okay? Love you, talk to you later. Bye.

Hey Tracey, its Kristie…hiiiiiiiiigh. Um, give me a call when you get this message I sent you an e-mail and a couple of texts regarding Juan Jose. He danced with you at the wedding and he was really taken by you I’m trying to be neutral but um, right.. you’re not on Facebook so he can’t really contact you on his own. And I have your number but I don’t want to really give it to him without your consent. So call me, text me, and e-mail me let me know if it’s okay. Okay babe, take care. And. Congratulations on your grad school acceptance. That’s an awesome university. Can’t wait to talk to you more about that. Bye!

Hi Tracey Good Morning. When you called me the other day I was doing some catering at Tarrytown. I guess I’m just trying to return your call, and give me a call so we chat later on, alright? Have a blessed day. Thank you.

Tracitaaaa! I just saw you called. I’m getting my nails done so I didn’t have my phone handy but call me back okay I said hiii Tracey! Alright call me, I just got here. Alright.

Hi. Um (clears throat) just calling to say hello. Um haven’t spoken to you in a while. Calling to see how you’re doing. Hope all is well. Okay. Bye.