WOW, what a night! Up at Shirley Heights the crowd was pumped, and Itchyfeet kept everyone up and dancing. Was there a steel drum band playing? I asked. You don't remember? Someone said. Well, things got a little foggy toward the end of the night. I guess having to be awake at 3AM Sunday to catch the 4.5 hr flight to Antigua, two trips to the airport, ('cause I forgot some luggage), a drive to the police station to get a drivers' permit and some wobbly pops, all added up to some foggy memories at the end of our first day in Antigua. So when in paradise, just go with the flow.

I awoke to the sweet smell of chocolate-baked something but did not see anyone eating. I wandered into the kitchen and there it was, a very large thick moist-looking chocolate cake. "Can I have a piece?" I said, "NO! don't touch it!, it's for my son's birthday party today." That was yelled to me from multiple sources from the livingroom so I can only tell you it was made clear that if I touched the cake, there would be hell to pay. But it looked so good, and I had the morning-after-the-crazy-night-before munchies. I guess I'll have a fruit or something. I know that I am afflicted with finger-in-the-icing syndrome, but I resisted this one time.

Later, we left to go to my hosts son's school, cake in hand. We all piled into the car with cake in hand, but not my hands, and I had to keep in mind which side of the road to stay on. A couple of times I wanted to veer over, but soon the driving was old hat, mostly because of our last visit to Antigua. Well, we made it safely to the school and all the kids were outside changing classes and getting ready to eat lunch. The school uniforms of turquoise looked sharp on everyone. The kids were all friendly and said 'hello' as we walked to class, stopping at a bench outside to light the candles.  I stuck my head through the window and said 'hello' to the children sitting at their desks. My host's son saw me right away and said "Hi Grant", then some of the other kids joined in..."Hi, Grant". A rush of pure joy and happiness came over me. It's hard to describe, how seeing my friends' child with all his friends can evoke deep emotions. It may be that my minds picture and memories of being in class, along with the picture perfect setting of a one-room classroom, touches a nerve of happiness left long buried in time.

Sometimes I have to take a step back and realise where we are, a beautiful tropical island wealthy with culture and friendly people. The visit to the school immediately connected Elizabeth and myself to the island. We felt like we belonged there in that moment to the people, to the place, to a side of life we should visit more often, being good food for the soul. Well, I was so busy taking pictures, that I never got a piece of that cake. It was being passed out to all the kids, and I admired each and every one of them.

That said, it was time to see some big beautiful boats, so down we went to English Harbour later.  We took lots of pictures and saw the worlds' longest single-masted ship, Mirabella V, along with many other yachts of high calibre.  Then we picked up our friends' daughter at the Montessori School, picked up their son later at his aunts, dropped the son off at karate, and a few other things in between. Boy for a small island you sure have to drive around a lot! Watch the potholes!

'Till Tuesday's adventure...

 ***This is a Part 2 in a series.  Stay tuned in upcoming weeks for more stories about Antiguan life from a Canuck's point-of-view.