A recent visitor to Nassau shares her experience interacting with a Bahamian family:
"Hi Ruthann,
I hope you and your lovely family are doing well. I apologize for the delay in getting back to you; blame falls mostly on the havoc the American economy is wrecking on my job! Here is my story about our holiday....
True hospitality...
When I was doing my research for my December 2008 trip to The Bahamas, a common theme that kept popping up was the hospitality of Bahamians; former tourists all raved about how friendly and helpful the locals were, and so this is something I was looking forward to as well. While I found this to be so true of The Bahamas, what I also learnt was that true hospitality is not what you get at airports, hotels, and restaurants, because it is expected; it is what you get when regular locals open up their homes and hearts to you with absolutely nothing expected in return.
This is the great fortune that me and my friend Hashini chanced upon on Christmas Day. Just the day before, she and I decided we would treat ourselves to Christmas dinner at the Hilton or another nice hotel because distance and finance kept us away from our families that holiday. But Hashini said out loud what I was thinking too, that it would be so nice to be able to spend the great holiday with a local family, at least to take away our feelings of missing home, and also to get a true taste of The Bahamas. But of course neither of us knew anyone in the islands so we resigned our selves to a generic dinner.
However, on the day of Christmas, as we were walking around Fort Charlotte, we heard the most beautiful music, so nice it was we thought it recorded, but then decided we should investigate further anyway. It turned out to be live music at a local church and we were so drawn in that we decided to go in and listen. We were amazed by the ease and friendliness with which the people at the church took us in, welcoming us, blessing us, and even giving us presents that day! But most importantly, our wishes were granted, when the Pastor Ivan Rolle's wife Ruthann invited us to dinner at their house that day! We were so happy!
The whole Rolle family was absolutely wonderful to us. To them it was having two extra people to feed, but to us it was so much more, it was an amazing experience, it made our whole holiday all that more, and it's everything we talk about to our friends and family even more. Their daughter and friend picked us up and took us to their home in Fox Hill, where we tried in vain to help as much as we could in preparing the meal. But for the most part we just got a thorough lesson in the delicious Bahamian cooking including peas and rice and fried grouper! Given that Junkanoo was that night, we also got a lesson in the history of Junkanoo and the making of Junkanoo costumes because their cousin was taking part. The meal was delicious and we stuffed ourselves, so thankful for having had a real taste of the local food. We got to meet the entire extended family and were at once made to feel at home and a part of them. Ruthann's Guava Duff was the perfect ending and we were even sent back to the hotel with more of it!
So to all you tourists thinking of coming to The Bahamas, not only are the islands absolutely beautiful, and the list of exciting things to do endless, but the people are truly hospitable. But do remember to venture off the beaten path, explore the islands, and meet the locals, because you'll never know who will be kind enough to open their doors, and the Bahamian lifestyle to you!
Love from an island girl,"
Gayani Abeyasinghe [gayani.abeyasinghe@gmail.com]
(Colombo, Sri Lanka & now New York, USA)
