Sunset in Barbados

I just finished my first semester at UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados. It was quite the challenge but turned out much better than I expected. It taught me a lot about myself, Barbados and people overall and it gave me a new appreciation for the region and especially my country- Jamaica. So while the sun sets temporarily on my first time to Barbados, this is a summary of what I have taken away with me.

I learned that there is something to being open to new things, people and adventures. I now have new friends that I never would have met otherwise. I saw some beautiful beaches (Beaches in Barbados are all open to the public and they are GORGEOUS and clean. Pictures are further down in the post). I tried new food- UWI, Cave Hill has a “week culture” where every island gets a week that they showcase the things about their island which makes it special and I didn’t try as much as I wanted but I did try some. I must say that the island that comes the closest to home in terms of preparation of food is Belize. Bajans have a specialty called macaroni pie which is essentially baked macaroni and cheese but they add ketchup. The thought is quite off-putting to my palette but the secret is to get a Bajan to home-cook it for you. My neighbours, who have become family, made some for me and my housemate, Nico and it was DELICIOUS! Oh, I need the recipe!

I learned that there is a very ugly side to competition- whether in law school, a reality show, the work world or just life in general. It has taught me to be very careful of people and to be very mindful of my things. There are people out there that do not care for you to succeed even if it has no effect on their own success. Or maybe it does and I just think differently. There are people who are quite content to try and rob you of your blessings or the results of YOUR hard work.  Also, no matter how genuine of a person you are, selfish and manipulative people are bound to find themselves in your life. It is for you to identify them and act accordingly.

My word of advice: 1) Always remember, “what is fi yuh cannot be un-fi yuh” so if you are to be endowed with something, you will be and no one can take that away. Just have faith.

2) Never let ANYONE make you feel that you should not stand up for yourself and defend your own property. They will do their best to make you out to be a villain but when you are in the right and the truth is on your side, you will be protected. “Men who act in earnest need not worry about consequences”- Marcus Garvey

Look, Ma! I’m on TV. My journey Through Island Queen (Part 1)

So I kinda sorta entered a bathing suit competition turned reality show. I kinda sorta ended up being very glad I did. Suffice it to say that I am now a star and will proceed to display the most grotesque of star attitudes. J Ok, so maybe I’m not a star but the stuff that came before it is true. I must warn you, these posts will not be filled with the Miss World pageant kind of spiel. I am nothing else, if not real. 

I entered this competition called Island Queen. Mostly by happenstance.  I saw the flyers on campus but the words “Reality television show” glared at me and I didn’t like the idea. Still, I’d found myself more open to getting new adventures since being in Barbados so I thought this would be great to experience and document via my blog. Skip to some other events when it was made clear to me that, for reasons unknown, people did not want me to enter and so my interests piqued.  Some made it clear (though I’m sure they thought they were being subtle) that they didn’t think I had what it took and some made it clear that they just weren’t in support. I tend to, at moments I can’t predict, do things just because others don’t think I should or because they don’t think I can. I can be quite stubborn and rebellious- sue me.

So when the feeling struck me to go for it- I’d heard that the concept of the show has changed, new sponsors were on board and there was more of a focus on the advocacy theme- I sought to get information. It was on the flyers but I didn’t take notice until the final day of the deadline so I was a bit worried. Many thanks to my housemate, Nicolette Wright, for her help and support from the get-go- she was vital in me getting information and getting in touch with the people in charge. So I send in my application and was told I’d have an interview the next day. I expected as much.

I did some research on past seasons and began getting intimidated because the girls of the previous cycles were GLAMAZONS. My petite figure would already have a challenge in a “regular” pageant-esque situation, I can’t imagine that they’d select me against girls of this stature. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have confidence issues with my body. I love my small frame. I am, however, very aware of how I am viewed in certain fields and in the world of modeling or anything similar, short girls are not first choice. I’ve never had model dreams so this has never affected me. And now I find myself in this scenario. *sigh* I became unsure but I still went through with it because it’s worth a shot. I figure if I get through, it’s because I’m supposed to and if I don’t, it’s because I’m not.

So I do my interview and it seemed like my personality was charming enough- I am pretty cool! Haha! *deflates head* In all seriousness, I felt good about the interview. In the days that followed, I started reflecting more on more on how I’ve heard the show was in the past and I started feeling discouraged about entering. When the motivation of being stubborn runs out, you better hope some other type kicks in because you’ll find yourself in an unhappy situation. A couple days after, I get told I wasn’t selected. Womp, womp. Actually, I felt an odd sense of relief. Blame that on me talking myself out of it. I told my housemate that “It’s a sign”- something I say A LOT- because if I was to do it, I would have been selected. Hey, at least I tried. Skip to some days after that, I’m told that I actually was selected and I was told I wasn’t due to miscommunication. *raises eyebrow* OhhhhhKAY! Aite, so now I’m stuck. I had put that out of my mind. It was clear that I was expected to just go with this news as if the miscommunication never happened. I had a couple seconds’ pause and then that voice in my head said “It’s a sign, remember?” So I was now a contestant for Island Queen 2012

A few weeks later, I met the rest of the girls. Most were Bajans and three(including myself were Jamaican). The first one whose name I remembered was Deanne because she was quite chirpy and asked my name as soon as I sat down. She reminded me of myself. SHe was petite too. Goo, small girls! Then I remembered Nisha because she has gorgeous eyes and then I remembered Daisy because her name is a flower.  I later met some more of the staff/people in charge and then came the final step- signing away my life (LOL). So it was done. I was officially in the competition. No going back now. I had a feeling I was in store for a LOT. Stay tuned for more….

You can follow me on Twitter: @Nasylum

You can follow Island Queen on Twitter: @IslandQueenBim