Lady in Waiting

what's a girl to do?!

I've been "commuting" between UK and Barbados for over a year now and lived in BGI permanently for the past 3 months whilst waiting for my husband's UK settlement visa to be sorted. I'm not allowed to work so have limited funds and apart from when friends from the UK are on the island I hate to admit it but I'm getting a tad bored of going to the beach each day.

Any tips on what else to do other than the usual trips into Bridgetown, Holetown, Speightstown and every other place on the island called a town which doesn't resemble one? There's only so much of The View, Judge Judy and Dr Phil I can watch on tv before I go nuts!

pgtips

How about doing an online course. Or studying part time. It seems your brain is not being used, hence the boredom. There is only so much lounging on the beach you can do before boredom seeps in. Have you thought of taking up an art course. There is lots of beautiful things to paint in the Caribbean. Start a blog ? Can you become a volunteer somewhere ? There is lots you can do to alleviate the boredom, but you have to be prepared to expand your horizons.

Lady in Waiting

Hmmm, thanks for this...didn't think about the volunteer options. That is something I will look into.

bamiskados

Hi, not certain what kind of activities have your interest, if you are environmentally consious, check out the future centre trust( counterpart caribbean) on facebook.
They are located at Edgehill, St Thomas, have different projects going at various times and is also a great way to get to know people, Also check the hikes from te National Trust.
To get the snowball rolling. Good luck.

Cuchullain

Check out the Barbados Sea Turtle Project (I think that's what it's called anyway)..... I'm almost sure I read somewhere recently that they are seeking volunteers to patrol the beaches, at night and during the day, to monitor turtle nests. I think it's just for the summer months..... Could be worth a look!!

Foxy_fromCanada

Also the Hope, ARK and RSPCA if you like animals.

Look for the British & Canadian Women's Associations... not sure if the American one is still running.

bamiskados

Another great way to get to know people, if you don't mind getting up early is the Farmer's Market at Brighton Plantation in St. George. Every saturday morning.... starts at 6.15 until about 10, Good place to get your veggies, nice craft and food stalls and proper coffee. Great atmosphere and social networking.
I love to go there.

Sunniebgi

The American Women's club is still very much alive and well..

Re the volunteer thing.. don't want to be the downer in all this, but be careful what you volunteer for. years ago, I knew the wife of a colleague of my husbands. both were from the UK. he had a work permit.. she didn't.. She was qualified in something and wanted to continue working.. but knew she couldn't get paid. she tried to find a practice to do some volunteer work part time, no pay in her specialty. She was told if a bajan could do the job, volunteer or not, she couldn't do it.

Now, having said that. The British Women's group have a few volunteers who go to the QEH in the children's ward every week.. reading and playing with the children there. (someone told me they had some issues recently with that particular issue but I'm sure they still are doing it).

I agree with the Hope, Ark, RSPCA, future centre etc... just still be careful where you go and what you are willing to do

shines

If you like to exercise then there are a load of options

Running/walking - there are the Barbados Hash Harriers http://www.barbadoshash.com/ who meet weekly in different parts of the country and run/walk then socialise afterwards. You get to see a lot of Barbados this way.

Also Hike Barbados http://hikebarbados.com/schedule.htm, another good way to see the country and meet people.

Also lots of sports groups if you are into anything specific.
http://www.sportingbarbados.com/sportassoc.cfm

HTH

Serendipidy

Sounds like you might be on the West Coast - shout Yellow Sunset as she is up that side and in the same boat as you and is always saying she wants to do more so perhaps you two could keep each other out of trouble (give her my love if you do shout her and dont let her near the rum until after 6pm lol_

Lady in Waiting

Thanks for the tips everyone..very helpful. I will be considering all of them.
I'm on South Coast so should be able to find something less mind numbing!

mark.alexander

Excersise, Excersise, Excersise and then Excersise some more. Set a goal. I found also that being there, you can get bored very easily.