Q & A with Will

This is Will:

Wagwan? (That means, "What's going on?")  

This is my first solo blog.  Melodie has been posting all of them so far.  First of all, thank you for reading our mission journal and caring for our family and being interested in our work here. Secondly, please share our blog with as many people as you can. The more people that read our blog the better the chance of people giving to the www.johnoubre4antigua.org Fund.  You can visit the link and donate, purchase shirts, hats, stickers, etc..  There is even going to be a fundraiser Float down Cypress Creek on June 11th.  This fund has made it possible for us to be here and it will continue to raise money to send the next willing person or family.

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Ok, so I have gotten lots of questions about the island of Antigua.  Where is it?  It's in Guatemala, right?  What's the weather like?  Is it pronounced Anti-ga or Anti-gwa?  What kind of food do they eat?  Are there American restaurants?  Is it safe?  Where are you living while you are there?  Can we call you?  Text you?

I want to answer some of those questions for you and give you a glimpse of the beautiful Island of Antigua in the country of Antigua and Barbuda.

1-  Where is Antigua and Barbuda?

Separated by a few nautical miles, the two main islands (along with several other small islands) of Antigua and Barbuda make up the country of "Antigua and Barbuda".  Antigua (the island where we are living) is in the middle of the Leeward Islands, part of the Lesser Antilles, roughly at 17°N of the equator.  Our apartment complex is 2008.67 miles from Florence, AL.  It's about 325 miles SW of San Juan, Puerto Rico and about 217 miles SW of the US Virgin Islands.  And for some of you who honeymooned or have vacationed in St. Lucia, we are 229 miles North of that island.  We are also 514 miles from Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela.  And no, Antigua and Barbuda is not in Guatemala.  There is a city in Guatemala called Antigua, but we are over 1,900 miles from there.  Where we are staying on the island is the red marker on the map.

2- What is the weather like?

Almost year round it's 82-86 degrees, Feels Like 96-99, with a possible shower.  That is the weather pattern almost every day.  It does get hotter, like in the low 90's, but with the African Trade Winds from the East, there is almost always a nice breeze.  So, in the shade, it usually feels very nice and breezy.  Out in the Sun, it is almost always very hot.  It is humid, but not like North Alabama July and August humid. However, the humidity down here is year round.  Because of the humidity and the salt in the air everything rusts.  Our salt shaker has rust on it.  Melodie's razors already have rust on them.  Rust caused a pipe to burst on our hot water heater the first week we were here.  It is a constant battle for the locals to fight rust.  Rain?  The longest shower since we have been here lasted about 10 minutes.  (Since I wrote this post a few days ago it rained really good two days in a row.  1 time it rained for an hour, the other for probably 45 minutes.  This is rare.)  The country here is in a 35 month drought (their worst since 1928), so any rain is welcomed.  From what records I can find, 60 degrees is the record low for the island and 95 is the record high.  But for the most part it will be, year round, between 73 and 90 degrees.

In the early evenings we get our favorite time of day.  Between 5 PM and 9 PM the breeze it at its best and the sun setting creates a pink tint to the sky.  We leave our windows and doors (all have screens which stay closed) open 80% of the time and that time of day the apartment gets cool and comfortable.  Dinner time is always the perfect temperature to sit out on our deck and eat a meal as a family.  I will never forget our meals together here in Antigua.

3- How do you pronounce Antigua?

  The jury is still out on this one, but most of the locals I have talked with have said An-tee-GA, instead of the "gwa" sound at the end.  I saw this in an article by a person who used local news channels to make his decision as to how it is said, "Antigua, Guatemala is pronounced "anteegwa" while Antigua, West Indies (Eastern Caribbean) is pronounced "anteega"."  So there you go.  No one here will correct you, but if you want to say it right, you read it here?  Maybe some of our local friends who are reading our blog can confirm or deny my accuracy.

4- What is the local cuisine like?

   Many dishes from this area utilize the local produce, such as bananas and banana leaves, sugar cane, coconut, pineapple, passion fruit and other citrus varieties. Their diet consists of a plethora of seafood and light meats, like chicken, which are typically grilled or roasted. Their food is a fusion of many influences (Spanish, French, Indian, and African), which makes it complex and unique.
    We have tried lots of different things here and most of our experience with local food so far has come from road side vendors (RSV as we will call them).
To my knowledge there aren't Health Inspectors here (at least not for the RSV), so we are just trusting that food is cooked correctly and is done in a fairly sanitary way.  We are kind of in a don't ask mentality at this point.  At the RSV you can find Goat Water (basically goat stew), BBQ Chicken or Ribs, Salt Fish, Breaded fish, Ducuna (a side dish made with sweet potato, sugar, and spices),  pumpkin fritters (a Bridges family favorite), banana fritters, potato dumplings, Roti (a kind of wrap with vegetables and meat), meat patties (like turnovers with meat instead of fruit), spicy Jamaican Meat Pies, lots of fruit, 4 or 5 different varieties of sweet potatoes, lots of bread, and many different types of stews and rices.  We haven't found much we don't like.  We'll keep trying!  The meat patties (see picture below) are my favorite things so far!
    There is a KFC, a Burger King, and a Subway.  We haven't eaten a meal at any of them, surprisingly, but we did get an ice cream cone at Burger King while we were at the Farmer's Market which is on Saturdays.  There are lots of other restaurants, but most are  relatively expensive.  Not that they are upscale (some are), but as our blog has shown you to this point, most everything is almost double the price as compared to what you would find in the States for a comparable meal.  The RSV are cheaper than restaurants and a couple that we have found have former chefs that cook and sell the food.  One guy we have found that is a former chef and his nickname is Hammer.  We pass him everyday and he is very friendly.  We'll stick to the RSV most of the time, especially for small snacks while driving to and from Villa.

5-Is it safe?

  Honestly, we haven't felt threatened at all.  We are a little hesitant to go down certain streets in certain parts of town, but the hesitancy is more about being unfamiliar with the area and less about knowing it is dangerous.  We certainly can't blend in with the locals because of our skin color, but the long stares we get when walking or driving the streets seem to be more of curiosity than territorial.  The crime rate is listed as "high" on most websites, but we have been told to avoid certain areas, especially at night, and we should be fine.  Crime rates in Antigua are lower compared to other Eastern Caribbean islands, but those rates still tend to be higher than back home.  We would always appreciate prayers for our safety, but we have felt very safe to this point.

6- Where do you live while you are there?

   We are living in a large group of townhouse like condos in an area called Jolly Harbour (pictured on the right).  It is about a 20 minute drive to get the church building, but our condo area is highly secured by around the clock security, fences, and gates, so everyone involved in planning our trip thought it would be a safe place for us.  There are restaurants, a market, a pool, awesome beaches, and other amenities pretty much within walking distance, so we have just about everything we need right here close by.   It is a nice place with a steady breeze, so we are very thankful for our accommodations.  Plus, it is just steps from the resort where the big group from CrossPoint stays each year, so we will be close to them when they get here in July.


7- Can we call and/or text you?

    YES!  And please!  We have really good internet at our condo, so I can iMessage for free, Melodie can text for free to both Android and iOS, and we can both talk on the phone for absolutely free when we are on WiFi, so please feel free to call, text, or email us anytime.  The phone calls, and texts we have gotten from home have been very nice to receive.  We would love to hear from you!

Are there other questions that you have?  Please, ask them in the comments section and we will check back and answer them when we can!