Skeptical from the morning before, I’m now walking around with an air horn tucked in my pack as I happily make my back to and fro The Mill today.
Paranoid, I am, as I continue to adapt and learn the sounds and motions of this highly tropical and ecologically diverse landscape. I’d compare it to that of the coast of Costa Rica, but here, its almost feels more diverse as far as the sounds and the critters I hear and see. With the exception of the howler monkeys. The premises are littered with many species of lizards, ranging in size from 4 feet to two inches.
There is a hazing period, I’m told, when one first arrives here. The hazer’s, aka bugs, aren’t holding an initiation ceremony. Instead they sneak attack in periods throughout the day and night when the newbie is least expecting, distracted by new sights and senses. I wake up each day with new bug bites spread over my ankles.
My fellow Workawayer’s confirm this is true this morning as 7 of us all work together to prep Room 5 at The Mill for paint. I set the masking material down to scratch my ankles, of which appears today to resemble a game of connect the dots. They confirm this is normal and in no time they will tire of my venom and surely move on to the next newcomer.
Today, the weather is overcast. Dani and Paul have been working hard on Room 5 at the Mill and today it’s a team effort to finish masking the stone wall and trim to prepare the shutters and walls for paint. Bella and I mask the stone wall together. Dani shows Cecile the final steps to prep the shutters. I head down the hill and through the gate to retrieve duct tape and drill bits from the wood shop. Paul answers some of my questions on drill-bit sizes, and here I learn Paul is a painter by trade. Glancing at his clothes, I ask if he came here with his clothes like that – he’s covered in paint all the way from his hat down to his shorts and his sneakers. Turns out he didn’t and I wonder if my clothes share the same fate.
The room gets prepped in no-time at all and I’m left with a couple of hours on the clock to continue my search for cabinet providers, this time expanding my search to Puerto Rico. On this day, I am still on COVID precaution. Cecile, Rasmus and I enjoy lunch, today homemade naan and saag paneer, from the center of the Mill, overlooking the sea. Dani brings us tamarind to try, a tropical fruit that makes you pucker. It’s tart, but it’s loaded with nutrients like vitamins B, C, E, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, fiber, and antioxidants.
Cecile and Rasmus are in their early twenties, a couple from Denmark, who are both taking their year off to go out and explore. In Denmark this is traditional – it’s an exploratory period intended for its citizens to ponder their career before committing. Denmark actually pays them to go to school, they tell me. Which, only deepens my envy, as a prisoner of American college debt.
Cecile and Rasmus have wasted no time at all biking to town and diving in the ocean. I tell them I’m saving my adventures for next week, once I have my blog in order.
Sweating from the humidity, I quickly change my mind, thinking of the refreshing waters of the sea that I have yet to feel. I decide I’ll bike to nearby Cowboy Beach for a dip. I find a good bike from the bike shed labeled “The Mongoose”, pack a bag which now which consists of a blow horn, beach towel, hammock, journal, book, and one bottle of water, which surely doesn’t feel like enough with this heat. But it’s all I have so I journey to town, quickly turning back for the bike shed once to retrieve a bike lock.
I purposely pass by Cowboy Beach and bike the two additional miles to town. While I’m out, I might as well stop by Lyric Sails – a sailboat charter company. Google maps takes me to a dive shop across from the pier. I enter on a quest and the associates clearly confused with my request, pointing me to the pier. Taking an opportunity to meet the locals I tell them I’m actually not looking to book a charter but rather work on one. I share with them I just arrived and that I’m staying at the Feather Leaf Inn doing a Workaway. The one girl’s face lights up. She, too, did the same Workaway. I meet Mo from New Hampshire. She too, went there and is one of the people that Ryan referred to when he said several Workwayer’s fell in love with the island and moved here. For Mo, it appears to be the scuba diving she fell in love with and now, she is an instructor at this here dive shop. We exchange numbers and I hop back on my bike towards Cowboy Beach. “No sailboat opp but I did meet a local”, I think as I ride the shore to the beach.
The beach is not like your typical beach. It’s narrow, close to the road, but buffered by a thin yet dense row of fauna. I’ve been made aware of the stonefish and sea urchins so I keep my Chaco’s on. Still skeptical about safe and unsafe beaches and areas, I’m on high alert, with my mom and grandmother’s voices in my head. In their honor, I keep my visit concise and head back one mile to my new nomadic home. As I bike up the driveway my legs feel fatigue but I power up the hill imagining one of the cycling instructor’s from my old gym coaching me through a climb up the hill requiring maximum effort. I remain on The Mongoose to the top and hop off with satisfaction.
I pretend to stare at my computer screen for some time before surrendering to my book. I hike up to The Mill for dinner and a sunset before heading back to the Tamarind room.
Great photos!