Continue reading ‘A New Lesson Learned In Anguilla’ »]]> I have a secret to tell you: I can be really really dense sometimes.

I mean, I think I’m of at least average intelligence (after my morning caffeine, anyway) but I’ve noticed that my brain can be pretty stubborn about absorbing things when it feels like it. I can’t even count the number of times that life has had to beat me over the head with the same lesson over and over again until I finally GET it.  (I just hope that I “get it” more often than not!)

I’m telling you this because, on my most recent trip to Anguilla, I managed to learn something new as a result of being “bombarded” with one version or another of a single phrase throughout my visit. I had never heard this phrase before on Anguilla or anywhere else, really, but I had four different people say it to me in four completely separate instances just on this one trip. Coincidence? Maybe.

What was the phrase, you ask? Well, it was

“Why you actin’ like you a stranger?”

The first time I heard it was in a conversation with a friend who said something that could’ve been taken in two different ways just because of the particular phrasing that was used. I knew full well that my friend was intending to say something nice, but because I’m such a comedian, I chose to feign offense at the second interpretation which could’ve come across to some as a mild threat.

After my oh-so-dramatic expression of horror that such terrible and menacing words should be said to me, my friend laughed and responded with “Now you actin’ like you a stranger!”. My initial reaction to that (besides laughing at my own very good joke, of course) was just to think to myself “Oh, that’s so nice. This person considers me to be a good friend!”, but I can’t say that I really thought anything more of it at that point.

The second time someone said it to me was after I arrived at another friend’s house, and one of her family members was sitting outside on the front porch.  I hadn’t met this family member yet, so I just politely asked for my friend and waited at the bottom of the front steps. When my friend came out, she said “Girl, why you standin’ out in the sun like you a stranger?” and she quickly escorted me up onto the shady porch where I was greeted with laughs over me being so silly as well as some very nice hugs.

Again, I was flattered to be considered a friend to someone else, but I also thought about what a coincidence it was that I had heard this same phrase twice in just a few days when I had never heard it before. Was it something common that I had just happened to miss all these years? Hmm.

The third time occurred after I had just finished a nice meal while sitting at the bar of a restaurant. I was on vacation and was wearing a dress with no defined waist so, needless to say, I had just stuffed my face with waaay more food and drink than was probably ladylike. (This is one reason I sometimes like to sit at bars for meals – so no one but the bartender will judge me for the sheer volume of food that I can down in one sitting.)

A good friend that I had met on my very first trip to Anguilla showed up at the restaurant to have a drink at the bar. He sat next to me and we chatted and caught up for a bit. He couldn’t stay for very long, but when he asked the bartender for his check, he asked to have my meal put on his tab!  I said “Oh, no! You don’t have to do that!”, to which my friend responded “I know I don’t have to do it. I want to do it.”.

It was a very nice gesture, but all I could think about was how much food I had ordered, so I continued to protest by saying “Thank you, really, but I can take care of my check. It’s really not necessary for you…” at which point my friend, with friendliest look of minor annoyance that I have ever seen, abruptly interrupted me and said “Stop actin’ like you a stranger!” and he paid for my meal. There weren’t really any laughs this time, and to be honest, his reaction shook me a little bit. I hadn’t intended to offend my friend, but it was clear that I had done it anyway. I decided that it would be best to just thank him for being so kind. He smiled, said “You’re welcome.” and left.

At that point, I started thinking more about this phrase and what it meant that I was hearing it so often. Clearly it’s a really nice thing for someone to say, but had I somehow been acting inconsiderately and offending my friends? A bit of worry set in.

The last time that I heard these words on this trip was on a particularly cool night on the island. I was wearing a sleeveless dress and was feeling downright cold in the breeze that was blowing through the restaurant in which I was eating. I mentioned how chilly I felt to my dinner companions, and one of them jumped up and left the group. He returned with one of the brand new oversized shirts that he had planned to sell for his business. It was big enough for me to pull over my dress and cover my arms. (I may have looked ridiculous but, hey, I was warm!)

I thanked my friend profusely for saving me from the cold and asked him how much he sells the shirts for as I pulled out my wallet to pay him. He said “Why you actin’ like you a stranger?” and motioned for me to put my money away. I felt badly for taking something he could have made some money on, but he just wouldn’t hear of me paying him for the shirt. I thanked him for being so nice to me and I let it go…outwardly, anyway.

So, since I got home, I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means when someone says “Why you actin’ like you a stranger?”.  The most obvious explanation is that someone who says this to you considers you to be close enough friends that there’s no need to act so formally with them, as you would with someone you don’t know at all. It’s a way of saying “You should know me better than to think I would treat you like someone I barely know, because we’re closer than that.” In some instances it can be said as a lighthearted comment as in my first two examples, but in cases where people are trying to do something nice for you as in the last two instances, it can convey some slightly offended feelings.

From my own experiences on Anguilla, in the smaller circles of which I’m a part, I see that good friends still do nice things for each other just for the sake of doing something nice. It’s not to get something in return, to chalk up an IOU for a later date, or to prove that they’re a better person than someone else. No. They offer and do these things just for the sake of doing something good because that’s just the way it’s supposed to be. Personal relationships are incredibly important in a small island setting and nice sentiments like this can play a big part in preserving close community ties.

I’m ashamed that this concept is as foreign to me as it is but I live in a world where, sadly, this kind of attitude and the close friendships that it leads to are very rare.  When someone does something for you here, something is pretty much always expected in return. It’s for that reason that I worry so much about looking like I’m taking advantage of someone when I accept a gift or a favor. I worry about how I’m going to even things out so I don’t come across looking like a mooch or, worse, entitled to being showered with freebies.

So, it’s that thought process that carries over to Anguilla when I visit, but I realize now that it’s completely out of place with my closest friends there. The phrase “Why you actin’ like you a stranger?” has taught me that 1. I need to have more faith that people can still be truly kindhearted in this world and 2. I have to learn to be much more gracious when I’m lucky enough to be on the receiving end of their kindness.

I can still continue to do nice things for my friends as well, but I shouldn’t look at it as paying them back for what they’ve done for me but, instead, just as a sign of appreciation that they’re good people and that they’re in my life.

I know, I know. It’s all so very sappy, right? Yes. But sappy is good when you can regain some faith in humanity, isn’t it? I know it’s going to take me some time and effort to change my mindset to think as my friends have taught me, but I hope know they’ll be very understanding as I make the adjustment.

I knew that I loved Anguilla because the closest friends that I’ve made there are some of the best human beings I’ve ever known, but “Why you actin’ like you a stranger?” gave me some deeper (and beautiful!) insight as to why that is. I’m so lucky to have found them.

Thanks, Anguilla, for another great lesson.

Continue reading ‘Yes, I’m Heading Back to Anguilla’ »]]> *Update 3/14/2013: I have been told that arrests have been made in all of the most recent robberies on Anguilla. I’m relieved to hear it and now feel a bit better for the safety of all who live on and visit the island.

I’ve had several different versions of this post sitting in my drafts folder for over a month now. I had intended to somehow address my personal feelings about the recent incidents of crime in Anguilla, but I felt that my thoughts had always been too scattered to come up with a decent post. Now that I feel like my brain has settled down a bit on this topic, I’m going to try one more time:

Word of the crimes that have occurred in Anguilla in recent months has left me in a twisted state of anger, sadness, helplessness and fear. I worry for my good friends who have been victims of or witnesses to this crime and I wish there was something I could do to help them. As an outsider, though, I don’t feel I can do much else besides express my concern and pray.

Yes, crime happens everywhere. It is certainly more prevalent here at home in the Washington, DC area than it is on Anguilla – there’s no doubt about that. Occurrences on AXA, though, affect me more for two reasons:

1. Over the years of visiting the island, I have, probably unwisely, settled into a mindset in which I believed that nothing bad could ever happen on Anguilla. It’s paradise, and bad things don’t happen in paradise, right?

Now, though, this unrealistic image of my favorite place in the world has been shattered and it is absolutely heartbreaking for me. I know that this is really my fault for having unrealistic expectations and I need to come to grips with the fact that Anguilla has the same problems that exist everywhere else in the world.

2. When anything happens on a small island like Anguilla, it’s more likely to happen to someone you know than when similar things happen at home. In larger populations, if we’re lucky, it’s easier to isolate ourselves away from the “badness” because we usually don’t know anyone involved. On Anguilla, though, it’s a lot more personal.

Since I first visited the island, I’ve had too many conversations with good friends about their direct experiences with crime on AXA and it distresses me. You see…I’m a worrier. It’s a bad habit that I have when it comes to people I really care about.  I think about my friends having to live and work every day in places that I now suddenly see as being so vulnerable because of recent events. I know it’s not healthy to worry about things out of my control but, I don’t know, it’s just seems to be how I’m built. I try to keep it under control, but let’s just say that I’ve never prayed so much in my life.

Do I worry about going back? The truth: Yes.

I feel that my reaction is the same as if something bad happened to someone in my own neighborhood, which has unfortunately been the case, recently. There’s someone out there doing bad things, and I don’t want to take a chance at becoming another victim. I’ve changed my activities here accordingly.  If my local police department finds, arrests and punishes this person then, yes, I’ll feel better, but I’m not sure that I can so easily go back to that same level of comfort I had before. Maybe, if enough time passes without another incident, I might begin to forget my fear.

Will I be going back to Anguilla any time soon? Yes.

In fact, I have just booked my next trip and I’ll be heading back in a few weeks. Just like at home, though, I will definitely take more precautions and will make careful choices as to what I do while I’m there. Safety is a big concern for me when I travel.  I can’t ignore what has happened, but I definitely still think it’s possible to enjoy myself safely in a place that I love so much.

I’m glad to hear that there are efforts being made to fight the crime situation on Anguilla. I hope that they are successful and that Anguilla’s reputation is not too severely damaged in the long run. It’s not fair to judge an entire island based on the actions of a few bad people, but the truth is that this kind of publicity is hard to play down when trying to attract new visitors.

There are plenty of AXA-regulars who have declared their intent to return despite what has happened, me included now, so we will do our best to continue to support the island however we can. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good solution, though, more for the sake of those that live on Anguilla than anything else.

Continue reading ‘Laundromats on Anguilla’ »]]> I know, I know. Anguilla is marketed as a high-end, luxury travel destination to which you can fly in on your private jet and stay at lavish resorts where your every whim is catered to night and day…and it definitely is, if you have the money to spend on that kind of experience.

For those of us, though, who love the island and aren’t quite able to adopt the lifestyles of the rich and famous, there are more mundane things we need to think about when we travel, like how to avoid airlines’ checked-baggage fees and how to get the barbeque sauce stains out of our shirts in the hotel sink. (Interestingly enough, dark rum does not appear to permanently stain clothing and if you just let the item dry out, the alcohol will evaporate and leave no lingering scent behind. Don’t ask me how I know this.)

On my last trip to Anguilla, in December 2012,  I managed to pack fewer items of clothing than I needed for the length of my stay and I needed to do some laundry around the middle of my visit. I am fortunate to have some friends on-island who are kind enough to offer their washers to me whenever I need them, but I don’t always like to bother them while they’re working or when their families may need to use the machines.

So, I went in search of laundry services on Anguilla and was happy to find a few places that I will definitely be using on future visits. Now, many hotels will wash and dry your clothing while you’re off enjoying some time on the beach, so if you’d prefer that on-site convenience, you should definitely take advantage of those offerings. If, however, you’re willing to spend some time going off the beaten path, one of the following laundromats might be of interest to you:

R&R Services Laundromat in Island Harbor

(Convenient to the Shoal Bay East area and the Eastern side of the island)

R&R Services Laundromat in Island Harbor

Turn at this Anglican Church in Island Harbor onto Rupert Phillip Rd to get to R&R Services Laundromat

When I was asking around about laundromats, one of my friends gave me the vague directions of “Try the one in Island Harbor. Turn at the church.” Now, for a local, this might be enough information to get them to the right place, but I had to make a few wrong turns and stop and ask for additional directions before I found it (which I didn’t entirely mind – adventure!). I provided more detailed directions in the box above so you are able to find it more easily than I did.

When I arrived at R&R in the middle of the day on a weekday, it was closed. As I stood outside the locked door wondering what I should do next, a young gentleman who happened to be walking along the road asked me if I was looking to use the laundromat. When I said that yes, I was, he walked past me a bit more, tilted his head up in the air without breaking stride and yelled “Aaay Rock! Da lady wanna use da laundry!” in no particular direction.  I hadn’t seen anyone else around so I was surprised to see another guy walk out from behind the buildings to meet me. I waved thanks to the passer-by and, while I shouldn’t have been surprised at how he helped me, I was. This is why I love Anguilla.

Rock (short for Rocklyn) said that he’d be happy to open the place up for me since he happened to be working around back that day. Usually, they are open M-F 5pm-9pm and Sat-Sun 9am-9pm, when he and/or his wife are off from their day-jobs, though he does plan to have it staffed full-time during the week at some point soon. In the meantime, he said that anyone interested in using the laundromat outside of their regular business hours can give him a call at 264-476-4388, and he’ll open it if he is able to do so.

In December 2012, everything in R&R Services Laundromat was immaculately clean and looked practically brand new. There were two washers, two dryers and a large folding table in the middle. Additional amenities included baskets for use in the laundromat, seating, a TV, a fan, and a restroom.

Inside R&R Services Laundromat

Also available for purchase are laundry detergent, fabric softener, and bleach but you can bring your own if you prefer. To use the machines, you’ll need to buy tokens from the person behind the counter – one for each washer load and one for each dryer load. In December 2012, it cost US $5.00 per load to wash (self-serve), and US $5.00 per load to dry (self serve). R&R also offers a drop-off service, for US $7.00 per load to wash and US $7 per load to dry, where they will wash and dry your clothes for you and you can pick them up at a later time. I would highly recommend that you call ahead to make sure they will be staffed for this service at the time you’d like it done.  Note that all prices are subject to change. Please call to confirm current prices.

Token, Price list & Token Acceptor at R&R Services Laundromat (put the token in short side down) – All prices are subject to change.

I’d consider my experience at R&R to be a pretty good one…well, aside from the slightly embarrassing moment when I couldn’t figure out how to put the token in the machine, that is. That’s why I included the token acceptor photo above – so you can avoid the same moment of minor humiliation. (Remember: put the token in short side down!) To his credit, Rock was so helpful and polite that he didn’t even laugh at me even as I stood there cracking up at myself. (Hmm, I wonder if he thought I was a lunatic…not unlikely, and not entirely inaccurate.)  Rock was very accommodating, the machines worked perfectly and my clothes were clean afterward. What more could I ask for? I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend R&R Services Laundromat to anyone in need of wash & dry laundry services.

Laundromat at Tackling Apartments in Stoney Ground (aka Tackling)

(Convenient to The Valley and the central part of the island)

Laundromat (& Internet Cafe) at Tackling Apartments

I didn’t actually use the laundromat at Tackling Apartments myself, only because I found R&R first, but it was recommended to me by several friends and it seemed to have everything you’d need to get your laundry done: Four washers and five dryers (including one commercial sized dryer).

Four washers inside the Tackling Apartments Laundromat

Five Dryers Inside the Laundromat at Tackling Apartments (one not pictured)

The machines at the Laundromat at Tackling Apartments were a little older than the ones at R&R, but most of them were in pretty good shape. This laundromat also requires the use of tokens which you can buy at the desk right inside the front door, where detergent and fabric softener are also available for purchase.  The young lady who was working on the day I visited in December 2012 said that they charge US $5.00 to wash (self-serve) and US $5.00 to dry (self-serve) one load of laundry. They also provide a drop-off service for US $7.00 to wash and US $7.00 to dry. Again, you may want to call ahead, at 264-498-4544, to make sure they’re staffed when you need drop-off service. All prices listed are subject to change. Please call to confirm current prices.

I would probably do my laundry at this location if it was closer to wherever I was staying. They’re also open more hours during the week, so it may be convenient to some for that reason. The staff members that I spoke to were very helpful and happily answered all of my questions.

Some might consider US $10 for a load of laundry (wash & dry) to be a bit high, but when you consider how much it costs to check a bag on an airplane these days (often US $25+ per bag, one way), taking only a carry-on and doing a load of laundry or two during your trip turns out to be much more economical. You might also consider doing as the locals do it and hang-dry your laundry after washing, if you have the space wherever you’re staying, to save even more money. Remember that both water and electricity are both precious commodities Anguilla and anything that you can do to conserve both is appreciated by all (do full loads, hang dry when possible etc.).

I did find a couple of other laundromats on island, but some were un-staffed with broken token machines and some full-service-only places were not able to provide a price list. I’m sure there are other good laundromats that I haven’t found yet, but I will update this post if I find new ones to recommend. For the time being, though, I hope that the suggestions above are helpful to anyone who wants to save a little bit of money on their next trip to Anguilla.

Continue reading ‘Rebuilding IslandObsessions.com’ »]]> Dear friends,

Some of you may have noticed that IslandObsessions.com has been down for the past few days. Over the New Year’s holiday, the site was hacked and was essentially wiped-out. As a result, I had to rebuild much of the blog from what backups I had and the rest had to be done from scratch. The site is almost back to “normal” but you may find that some parts are missing or not functioning exactly as they did in the past. I hope to get things completely straightened out in the very near future, so please bear with me!

Some subscribers may have received some older duplicate posts via e-mail and I apologize for that annoyance. It should not continue to happen from this point on, but if you do continue to receive old posts, please let me know in the comments below and I will fix it as soon as possible.

Believe it or not, I have actually found this rebuilding process to be a rewarding one. I was devastated to find that my blog had been attacked and that all of the content into which I had put so much time and effort had just vanished into thin air just like that. With that, though, came the realization of just how special writing all of these posts have been to me and how passionately I feel about the subject matter:

I love writing and I looooooove Anguilla.

So I have worked painstakingly hard over the past few days to bring back every word of every post, every image and every link contained on these pages. IslandObsessions.com is just too special to me and I couldn’t let it disappear.

I am so thankful to everyone who has come to read my ramblings over the years and I am especially appreciative of those who have let me know their thoughts on my writings via comments, Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. It means a lot that there are people who return time after time to see what’s new and who even deem my posts worthy of sharing with others.

Thank you all for making this blog so worthwhile to write and I hope that you continue to find it enjoyable!

-Patty

Continue reading ‘“Whelks”: A Local Favorite In Anguilla’ »]]> One afternoon on a recent trip to Anguilla, I was hanging out on a quiet beach with a group of friends enjoying one of my favorite island pastimes: just lounging around enjoying happy conversation, tasty food and some nice cold drinks.

At some point one of our buddies disappeared and we couldn’t figure out where he had gone. After a short search, I spotted him in the distance out on a rocky part of the beach. He was bent over, pulling things out of the water and putting them into a bucket of some sort.

I asked my friends what he was doing, but they didn’t even really look to see. They just shrugged and said he’d tell us when he came back. Since I haven’t even come close to developing the level of patience that my Anguillian friends have (working on it, really I am…) and because I just couldn’t contain my curiosity, I decided that I had to find out right then. So, I walked down to the rocky beach area and asked what he was up to.

A Rocky Beach in Anguilla

It turns out that he was collecting what he called “whelks” (or “wilks” as it is sometimes spelled), which are a type of sea snail, to take home and cook up.  (Please read the discussion below about what their real names are so you don’t get them confused with their poisonous namesakes!)  He had grand plans of boiling them up into a nice soup and he seemed really excited about the prospect of the delicious meal he was going to make.

I took a look at some of the “whelks” up close:

My friend was picking them off of the rocks. The white arrows in the photo below point to some kind of shelled creatures on the rocks under the water, but now that I’m looking at it closely, I realize that I can’t clearly see the characteristic black and white/light markings as the ones above, so I can’t be 100% positive that these are the same as the “whelks” above. It’s possible the ones in the photo below have something covering their shells and that the ones above were washed off. (If you have any info, please let me know in the comments below!) In any case, the snails that were being collected were situated much like these in the photo below:

“Whelks” (maybe?) in Anguillian Water

And in no time, my friend had filled his jug:

A Jug Full of “Whelks”

Satisfied with his loot, my friend picked up his container and we walked down the beach to return to our original spot.

When we arrived back at the group and the others saw what was in the container, some kind of jubilant frenzy ensued! Someone grabbed the jug from my friend’s arms and got all excited about a WHOLE entire bucket full of whelks! and “Let’s eat ‘em right now!”. The poor guy who collected the snails had to chase people around as they played keep-away and hide-and-seek with his precious whelks. He tried to convince them that they would absolutely NOT be eaten until he cooked them at home in that soup he was still dreaming of, unfortunately to no avail.

“Come on. We gonna put ‘em on the fire, tssss! tssss! They gonna be nice!” exclaimed one of the other friends. (Where “tssss! tssss!” is the sound of whelks getting grilled, of course.)

The best deal that the snail-collector friend could manage was to tell them to leave some for him to take home. Poor guy. With that, about two-thirds of the jug was immediately emptied and the snails were put on the grill.

Grilled “Whelks”

I’ll tell you, I’ve never really been a fan of even the thought of eating snails but…well, did I mention that the drinks we were having that day had alcohol in them? (Kinda goes without saying on a beach trip, right?) You may also know, from previous posts, that I am…ahem… somewhat susceptible to the powers of some Anguillian friends’ peer-pressure (but they’d never steer me wrong). So, yes, I tried the “whelks”, and they actually tasted really good! We pulled them out of their shells with toothpicks and the tines of smaller forks. They’re tender and a bit salty, which makes sense having just come out of the sea. Like some other seafood, the overcooked ones do tend to get a little rubbery but they’re still really tasty.

I’m told that these particular “whelks” can also be eaten raw, after being washed off with seawater. I’m sure there are endless other ways to serve them as well, but I haven’t heard about them yet – I hope to, though!

From what I understand, these “whelks” are not as easy to come by as other seafood in Anguillian restaurants and stores, so the common mentality is “If you see them, buy them, because you probably won’t see them again for a while”. Apparently, they do show up as specials in restaurants from time to time, so keep your eyes open!

The next time I got to a computer and was thinking about them, I looked up “whelks” online to find out more information. When the first article I read said that whelks are poisonous, I nearly had a heart attack! After I regained my composure though, I realized that it had been quite a long time since I had eaten them (several months), and that since I had had no ill effects since then, I was probably going to live.

I asked an Anguillian friend of mine about what are known as “whelks” in Anguilla, and he said that the real name for them is the “West Indian Top Shell” (Latin name Cittarium pica). The whelks that are poisonous are from an entirely different family, Buccinidae or “true whelks”, whereas the West Indian Top Shell are in the family Turbinidae. The two are not even closely related and the “West Indian Top Shells” are not considered to be poisonous. Phew!

Unfortunately, because of their popularity, these West Indian Top Shell snails are also suffering from being overfished, and so the populations in the Caribbean are decreasing.  As a result, some islands have strict regulations on when they can be collected, i.e. not during their reproductive season between June and November and some islands do not allow collecting them at all.  I have asked around and have been told that it is not illegal to collect West Indian Top Shell snails in Anguilla. Since, however, they are endangered, I have chosen not to identify the specific beach where these whelks were found, but I can confirm that they were not collected during the reproductive season.

Now, I do not recommend that a novice should just go out, pick some random mollusks off of some rocks in the sea and try to eat them, especially since there are similar looking ones that could really harm you if you do! (I don’t know for certain if the poisonous varieties exist in the waters of Anguilla but I, personally, wouldn’t take the chance.)  If, however, you know someone who can accurately identify the correct species or you come across whelks as a “special” on a restaurant menu in Anguilla, you should definitely try them!