Hillary Lee - “The captain is on his way”

As I mentioned in my first entry, I knew very little about the Bahamas. To illustrate how little my family knew about Bahamas let me tell you, my mom thought I was taking a cruise ship to Bahamas, she didn’t know there were airports. Also, I didn’t know Bahamas had multiple islands. I thought it was just Nassau. After learning about basic cultural etiquettes I arrived in Bahamas. The first time I experienced the “island time” was right after the tour with Valdez. As a group of us waiting for the ferry to take us back to the Paradise Island – where we were staying – we waited 45 minutes for the captain of the ferry to arrive. We were seated and waiting for about15 minutes. Then, the crew told us “the captain is on his way.” And 30 minutes later, the captain arrived. When I heard the captain is on his way, I thought, “Ok, it must be another 5-10 minutes.” This concept of “island time” was so different. Back in US when you hear something is “on its way” you think 10-15 minutes, not 30 minutes. The biggest recommendation that I can make to people going to the Bahamas is learn to appreciate the “island time.” Don’t just be focused on where you’re trying to get to. Focus on now. Who you’re with. Enjoy the time you’re having now, rather than planning for the time you’ll have later. Because if you do that, all you’ll be doing is being antsy and frustrated. Look outside the window for the view that Bahamas will give you. Talk to the person in front of you rather than checking your phone – you especially don’t have any other option if you didn’t have roaming on your phone and the location doesn’t offer WiFi. Enjoy your time now. And then when someone asks you “How are you?” you can reply “Right here.”