Booking a Flight: An Island Saga
Posted on October 21, 2009 by Suzan Woodard in Personal Experiences.
Tags: Barbados, Books, Family Travel, Homeschool, International, Internet, Overseas
Seven years ago, my husband came home with a grin on his face.
“What is it?” I asked.
“We’re going to Barbados!” he shouted.
Silence. Admittedly slow on the uptake, I asked, “Is this for our anniversary?”
“No, we’re going for a year!” he squeaked.
My husband doesn’t usually squeak.
Soon I was jumping and hooting, too! My spouse had received a Fulbright Grant to teach and do research at the University of the West Indies in Barbados, an island in the Caribbean.
Our excitement was soon tempered with the massive scope of preparation required to move out of the country with two children for a year. Do research. Make a list. Rent the house. Make another list. Schedule doctor visits, farm out the animals AND figure out the best way to handle our schooling dilemma!
Our arrival would coincide with the beginning of the school term in Barbados, but the red tape was daunting. The education system was decidedly British and the Common Entrance Exam would have loomed large for my oldest daughter. Because we were to be on the island for one school year only, we decided to forge our own way.
While my girls would eventually slide into the public school system in the States for high school, their elementary and middle school years were spent in the warm embrace of Mitchell Road Academy, a private school of about 400 students in Greenville, S.C.
If we officially left the academy’s enrollment roster, we risked losing our spots there. We hated that idea since the teachers were fabulous and the environment nurturing. After a meeting with administrators, we were given permission to use the academy’s curriculum, including their books and lesson plans. It was official! I would be an island mama, juggling homeschooling along with the mangos and bottles of sunscreen.
I also consulted with a few local matriarchs of homeschooling and ended up ordering a crate of books from Sonlight, a literature-based curriculum company, to supplement our resources. Another literary friend let me borrow a box of her chapter books.
My sixth- and fourth-graders craved books, and I confess that the book issue was my BIGGEST fear about the whole adventure ahead of us. Not knowing what resources would be available, I was afraid of running out. There would have been mutiny on my hands! (Note: One child read 35,000 pages on her summer vacation the following year, and my other daughter was not far behind.)
What I would have given to have a resource like Big Universe’s website with its 1,000-plus children’s books from top publishers and the thousands of member-created books. It would have made life so much easier and our extra luggage much lighter.
We took eight large – meticulously weighed – pieces of book-laced luggage, plus four book-stuffed carry-ons and our backpacks. (A shipping container had been our initial instinct, but we had been advised otherwise by a connection at the U.S. Embassy.)
Getting us, our books, clothes and other items to the airport before our early morning flight was a major feat. We sighed in relief when each bag was weighed, tagged and checked.
Our initial flight was late getting into Miami, so the dash through the airport to catch our second plane was quite spectacular. Shoes on, shoes off, unpack the two laptops, pack ‘em back up, metal detectors, specialized attention from a wand-bearing security guard, etc. We were the last to board our jet to the Caribbean – beet red and drenched from running with books and computers. Once we took off, I was too exhausted to care that I had a phobia about flying over water.
When we arrived at Grantley Adams Airport, imagine this ordeal in reverse. We had to retrieve all that luggage, while not losing our children. Despite the mayhem in Miami, every one of those heavy monsters made the transfer! It was a miracle – no doubt about it.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists travel to Barbados each year; however, we made quite a spectacle. The “red caps” gathered, eyeing our stash like vultures circling carrion. (No pun intended.) Fingers pointed, comments were made, and then one brave soul dashed up with his luggage wagon and asked to carry our things.
His trolley was woefully small, but he soon subcontracted a buddy to pile our luggage on his cart, too. The looks on their faces were priceless when they tried to heave the bags into place. Towels, bikinis and sandals don’t usually weigh that much! They earned their tips that day.
After a lot of explanation at Customs, document waving, and the prayers of a desperate mother, we were suddenly waved through. We’d made it!
Big Universe would have saved many backs a lot of grief that day. Volumes could have remained in the States, and vertebrae could have stayed in alignment.
This website is such a great option for families, missionaries and teachers, who travel and live overseas. As long as they can wangle Internet access, they have a 24/7 virtual library at their fingertips and the benefits of the website’s Author tool. My children could have used it to write their essays about coral reefs, tropical storms, sea turtles, island churches and other cross-cultural observations.
To be fair, Barbados did have library resources, but access was limited because we weren’t permanent residents. The girls could check out only one or two books each time we visited – which is like telling an elephant that he is getting a plum for his dinner.
In the end, we had a fabulous year of adventure and cross-cultural exchange. The schooling – books and otherwise – went better than I ever dreamed. The memories are priceless.
Awesome post! nice blog