Experiencing the New

Sipping coffee I stare at the bright green, yellow, orange and blue buildings in the harbor of Nassau, Bahamas. It’s a tourist’s façade of course as the city is a sprawling urban mess of straw markets with aggressive hawkers, inadequate plumbing, an overcrowded population and far too much traffic for the roads to handle. It merely has the incredible good fortune of location. A group of workers try to move an overflowing dumpster but each time they attempt to drive away another pile of garbage spills out. They don’t seem to mind as they laugh and talk as they retrieve the rubbish and put it back in the truck. Finally one finds a tarp and they cover the bed and make their way to the mountain of discarded things. It is now a bright beautiful Bahamas morning. The ocean is flat and calm. There is no breeze and the sun is hot. Seagulls are everywhere squawking as they salvage and fight for food. The dark rain clouds are now in the distance over the sea while billows of white hang behind the colors of the city. The last time I was here Sarah wanted to see Paradise Island which I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. But I love her so what was I to do? We took a mad taxi ride through parts of the city tourists rarely go. It was fascinating as our driver even stopped and picked up a girl on the way. “Don’t worry Mon,” he explained to the dark suspicious girl dressed in red as she climbed in, “Mike and Sarah are good. They be like us.” It was a great compliment. One of the reasons I’ve lived such an interesting life is I have a knack of easily sliding into whatever environment I happen to find myself. Sure I like more than others. A wild taxi ride through the dark parts of town is far more intoxicating than looking at hats in a straw market. To me there’s no difference between putting on my pompousness for meetings in Congress than to have coffee with hookers in a D.C. McDonalds. It’s mostly the same thing anyway. Another reason is my DNA is comprised of a great deal of empathy. I easily identify with whoever I happen to find myself sitting beside. I not only hear what they’re saying but see how they say it, feeling the emotion … or lack of it … behind the words. I easily navigate to the heart of the matter. And when someone else needs to have their say I’ve learned how to be quiet and let them. It began when I was in the press a lot saying whatever I wanted to say. People would react and I’d had my say so I figured it was time for them to have theirs. It’s a little harder if Sarah’s getting on to me but I mostly sit there letting her get it out, internalizing far more than she thinks and then carry it with me until some resolution is reached. We’ve planned a full day in Nassau showing the girls the world is a far bigger place than they think. It’s me they have the sad fortune of being with so it’s the Bahamas as the kiddie starting point. Later we’ll progress to the Caribbean and Central America. This is the world I love. Last night we saw a show of Latin and Caribbean music, most of it sung in Spanish. They were mesmerized by the Calypso moves and the lavish Junkaroo costumes. They were horrified at the scantily clad dancers who shook their breasts while showing their asses. In the end though, they were on their feet clapping and dancing along. Music is another thing that’s in my DNA. If you really want to understand another culture … or another person … start with the music. If it’s a place or a person devoid of melody or harmony then there is likely little to be gained from interacting with them. The plan is to leave the sanitized culture of a cruise ship, lunch in Nassau and then head to a local’s beach. An unfinished concrete dock abruptly ends at the beach and city kids do flips off of it into the sea. There are food stands selling Conch Fritters, salted fish and Kalik Beer. I’ll slide right into it all. Sarah’s doing pretty good at it too these days. Jeremy, Kristen and Chelsea are all comfortable quickly adapting to people and places, experiences and environments, angels and assholes. A large line of tourists are being disgorged from the ship after gorging on pancakes, bacon and pastries. Most are excited saying they are heading to Paradise Island. I hope they have a good time and find the things they’re looking for. Sarah surprises me by kissing me on the head. The girls wish me a good morning. “You want to eat inside or outside,” she asks them? “Outside,” they exclaim. “It’s too hot out here.” “What,” I shoot? “You’re crazy! This is perfect.” “Inside,” they yell in unison as Sarah shrugs her shoulders. “Shit!” I mumble as they go to the air conditioned controlled milieu of the masses. I’ve married into a crazy ass family that has a lot to learn.