So, we were able to go to the Bahamas after all...and had a wonderful time. The weather was upper 70's most of the time we were there, the house was beautiful, and the beach was lovely and super close (a 15 minute walk). Traveling with two little boys was tough, but the connections all worked (3 flights and a ferry ride). Nikita was nauseous on the last flight, and Vanya had an all-body rash (prickly heat?) at the beginning of the trip, but otherwise, we were all healthy.
We quickly settled into a routine of listening to the news and weather on the VHF (which is used by boaters) while eating breakfast, hanging out at the beach in the morning (Nikita and Igor played with the sand, Galina walked and found shells, I watched over Vanya who napped, then tried to eat seaweed), lunch at the house, nap, then dinner. Food was super expensive because nothing is grown in the Bahamas (a gallon of milk for $10; a single pear was $1.40 - at least it was delicious), but we ate pretty well. I'm getting more comfortable with cooking without recipes, and made stuff like beef stew and turkey meatball soup. We varied our schedule by going to the settlement for groceries and the weekly potluck.
My reading material seemed perfect: Sidney Poitier's The Measure of a Man. Poitier was born and raised in the Bahamas, and although the book wasn't superbly written, it provided a lot of food for thought. Some striking points:
- Poitier's memory of being in the wrong part (read: all-white) section of Miami, and being trailed by white cops who had a gun on him as he walked 50 blocks back home - never once looking back because the cops threatened to shoot him.
- Turning Earth into a wire and steel mother monkey, thereby spiritually starving ourselves. (I know this point isn't clear)
- "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Being raised without television, etc. meant that he could see how people relate to each other.
I also just finished A Class Apart, which is about my high school. A very easy read. It was fun reading about people I actually know (I was taught by both the principal and math chairman). The author (a Stuy alum, and reporter for the Washington Post) came up with the following costless ways to improve schools, based on his revisiting Stuyvesant:
- raise expectations
- foster a sense of freedom; allow the students to make their school a refuge
- involve parents
