I just got back from the Caribbean...and can't seem to sleep.. since that's very disturbing..me being me, who's normally able to sleep anywhere and anytime irrespective of jetlag or prior napping. I've decided to take my mind off it and write this out...besides, there's the added benefit of reliving my week of absolute beach-bum bliss!
So.. it all started when my labmate Karolina and I decided to apply for a travel grant to attend this stem cell biology conference in Antigua. We didn't really expect to get it..being only a few months old in the field and all..but figured it was worth a shot.. so a few hurried experiments, data compilation and 2-page long essay application later we were informed that we'd bagged the grant. A lot of jumping and screaming, high fives, jealous colleagues, reams of visa and ticketing paperwork (the crappiest thing about being Indian is that you need a visa to visit even a tiny little speck-on-the-map island) more hurried experiments, piles of data, a ridiculously time consuming poster, hurried shopping and packing and 3 months later we were on a plane headed to the V C Bird international airport, Antigua.. 4 days before the start of the conference.
Antigua's hot and humid as can be expected of a sub tropical island- Air so humid it's like inhaling steam, the faint tang of salt water, fish and seaweed, heat that weighs on you so you feel like you're dressed for winter, and the cacophony of insects, birds, lizards (bleah..shudder) and frogs. There was a ridiculous number of horrid, leaping lizards..and Karolina was so taken by them she took a million pics!
The people were laid back and relaxed..it took a while to get used to the accent and cadence but once we learnt to ignore the ' oh mah lordy' and 'sweet gawd' and 'darlin' and 'lurve' that appear several times in a sentence, the english was pretty easy to understand. They're quite friendly and helpful and we never felt unsafe and had a really good time.
The Capital- St Johns had a definite Indian small town feel to it... in fact I felt like I was back in Adugodi or someplace. Narrow roads half blocked because of parked vehicles, random vehicles of different makes and sizes...awful drivers, roadside vendors selling pirated DVDs, confused looking tourists, public buses that drove you to your destination..be it your resort or the closest vegetarian restaurant.. if you fluttered your eyelashes and looked bit helpless. We visited the local fruit and veg market and tried out the famed Black Pineapple- major letdown- it wasn't even remotely black and I've definitely eaten sweeter ones back home! But Karolina was enchanted! Europeans..bah!
We hit a new beach everyday.. sometimes several..Antigua's supposed to have 365 beaches, so there was plenty to choose from.. each was different..in the texture of sand, type of shells, the presence or absence of birds, the colour of water, the depth, the waves..the clouds, the shade,the foliage, even the way sun hit the water!..you get the picture..several subtle differences adding up. Naturally we had the time of our lives just laying about, talking to the occasional passer by, wading, lazing.
All in all a brilliant trip..looking forward to the rest :D
