Post #117009 by Trader Woody on Wed, Sep 29, 2004 6:55 AM

On 2004-09-29 05:46, cheekytiki wrote:
I think the reality is that its a very small place thats very detatched from the rest of the world with the mentality that goes along with it. Everyone knows everyones business, there aren't the comforts you would expect at home and (as the Cook Island Moari admitted to me themselves) they are very lazy people.(I hope that offends no one as I have also met some very hard working Moaris as well). The rainy season when it pours every day for months and the Humidity is un bearable. But thats Island life things are done at a slow pace, but it can be infuriating if you are someone used to things being done right away.

Yeah, I did 6 great weeks on Barbados, researching for my dissertation. While I loved every minute of it (apart from the couple of minutes when one of the people I was interviewing grabbed me by the throat!) getting my tasks completed was incredibly difficult. The pace was incredibly slow, and everyone who had a job seemed to have a couple more pals hanging around just chatting.

By the end of the 6 weeks, I realised I was missing all sorts of weird stuff - mainly the kind of things that were good for the brain, like a decent newspaper.

I was offered a job out there on the jetskis and I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if I'd have taken it and not returned home to finish my degree. The reality is I probably would have stayed another month, caught the first cheap flight back and then begged for the place on my course back.

Trader Woody