Booking nightmare
We were supposed to spend the day house sitting the other Kiwi boys place on the beach while Woza took them for a one or two day sail. The morning got off to a bad start when Beige, Wendy and Woza had “communication difficulties” until Woza eventually called the sail off for lack of time. Toddie and Judge didn’t seem bothered by proceedings. I tried to iron it all out with f*** all success. Hummus predictably slept through it all as he was out all night drinking.
Instead we spent the better part of the day trying to get flights to the semis and finals. The team worked well together and it was as if all the toy trowing on the boat had never happened. That is one of the beauties of this group, everyone has their moments but sulks and foot stamping never last long.
There is a lot of rumour and speculation surrounding the different methods we can use to get to the semi/final. The best one was that we could charter a plane that would get us there in just 40 minutes for only US$3000 each. All I can say is that it must have been a bloody flash plane. Air Jamaica seems to be our best hope and we struggled to get two answers that were the same from them or their website.
By mid afternoon we had flights to Jamaica for the semi booked and a flight to Barbados immediately after the semi final penciled in. The flight to the final is US$330.
Am I A Betting Man?
Now I know I am a betting man. We all are on our yacht. At the 30th over of every game we hold a pool on what the final score will be. $5EC (five Eastern Carriean Dollars equals about one pound) buys you one guess. Usually we get all the crowd around us involved and the total prize has gotten as high as $400EC. Sadly for the boys we have only won it twice. Woza picked up $300EC at the Sri Lanka game and I scored a measly $50 for my efforts when we watched NZ v Ireland in a bar in St Vincents.
The big question is are any of us prepared to bet US$330 by booking a flight from Jamaica to Barbados after the semifinal against Sri Lanka. If we win the semi the bet is a great one because flights are as scarce as good English cricketers. If we loose it is more than likely US$330 down the drain as we all go our separate ways home.
A Very Local Dinner
We have been befriended by a local lady called Dorothy who lives in a badly damaged house just down the beach from the other boys flat. She has been homeless since the category 3 hurricane Ivan slammed into Grenada at 260 kilometers an hour on September 7th, 2004. Ninety percent of their homes were wrecked along with their economy and pretty much everything else. This is what the island looked like after Ivan left:
Dorothy lives on the bottom floor of half a house with her eleven year old daughter. The couple in what is left of upstairs dabble in dealing drugs, prostitution and domestic violence. Some kids grow up faster than others I guess.
Tonight Dorothy is cooking all twelve Kiwi boys dinner. For $20EC each we get some great value authentic home cooked local food and Dorothy makes a bit of money on the side. A pretty good deal all round.
Dinner was deliscious.