While I was growing up in London, the Caribbean conjured up images of Paradise – paddling in warm canvas blue seas and devouring the tastiest delicacies. Yet when I was eleven I found myself convulsed with tears at Gatwick Airport as my parents readied to relocate the family “back home”. Paradise melted once I became a relocator instead of visitor.  Shrieking crickets allowed only a fitful rest and mosquitoes were ravenous. At the village corner I’d try to ignore crass catcalls only to be drenched in island expletives. And on my first day at school when asked to read aloud, students collapsed in laughter as my proper accent juxtaposed with their sing song tone.

Accent – bridge or barrier?
Writer and independent publisher Linda Deane believes the accent is the first barrier to be overcome. “My British accent is still very strong and I find people are either fascinated by it or attracted to it, or they use it as shorthand for deeper reasons to keep you at arm’s length and in the case of the market vendors or taxi drivers, to try to rip you off!”

Linda stayed on in Barbados after a vacation when she 18 (she subsequently returned to England before going back to Barbados). She chooses to live in the Caribbean over anywhere else in the world not only because of the warm weather but because racism is not a daily occurrence. “But island life is alarmingly insular. It should be mandatory that every able Barbadian adult lives and works outside Barbados for at least six months to see how the rest of the world lives, operates, thinks and feels. Something as basic as learning not to turn up your nose at a menu item just because it’s not Bajan; to be wider- and freer- thinking; and to be willing to experiment and be open to ‘differentness’ would be beneficial. I want my children to have that open mindset which, to me, sadly, is not naturally or automatically, a Barbadian thing.”

How do those born and reared in the metropolis by Caribbean parents see themselves? Writer and editor Robert Edison Sandiford is Canadian-Barbadian. “Both at once though the mix is not necessarily fifty-fifty.  In many respects I’m obviously Canadian but that has to be qualified because it’s not what came first in my home.  The qualifier is the Barbadian part of me.”

Relishing a broad identity
Waveney Warden considers herself a “Bajan-Brit relocator” and she relishes her broad identity. “I have both Bajan parents and I enjoy knowing two very different cultures, and having the benefit of dual citizenship.”

For Waveney the lifestyle in Barbados – sunshine, beach and outdoor life, fresh locally-produced food, fresh fish and meat – is healthier. “Also bills are much lower. There’s no heating, TV licence or council tax.” And she loves the outdoor living, “eating on my patio, sitting outside on an evening in December with a glass of wine, looking at the sea view in front of me. And in a smaller society, you tend to know a lot of people. However, getting on in Barbados is definitely a case of who you know; this can be both a positive as well as a negative.”

Linda also loves having the beach at the back door even if she does take it for granted. And compared to England she senses that “if you lose your child in the educational system in Barbados, rescue is easier.”

Sense of belonging
Waveney, who moved to Barbados in 2000 when she was 35, feels a sense of belonging in Barbados regardless of what some “bad-minded locals” may say. “However I do see myself as different to Bajans which is obvious because I come from another culture, but that does not hamper my sense of belonging.” Linda agrees. “I think it’s only natural that we’re going to be seen as different: we are. Our minds, our outlooks have been shaped differently.”

For Robert, “I’ve had people embrace me because of my different perspectives, and I’ve had people reject me upon hearing my accent.”

When I made the trip back to London to study and work some 10 years ago, I’d proudly declare my ‘Barbadianess’ to classmates. Besides, in a class of students from Greece, New Zealand, Venezuela and Italy, Barbados was more exotic than “South London, mate!” When some curious Caucasian Brits would ask where I was born and grew up I’d say London, partly to quietly prove I had as much right to be there and to belong as they did. But they’d counter, “Yes, but where are you from originally?” So there was a sense of otherness that was constantly being pushed upon me, and in some ways I began to assume it.

I now see London as a place of stimulation, nostalgia and excitement. But I love it in slices now, for the short term.  I cannot contemplate rearing a family nor growing old there. But Waveney, who has a career in housing management, is returning to England for a year. It is temporary, she is quick to add, to raise funds before returning to Barbados. “I do not think I could live in the UK permanently anymore, primarily because of the bad weather.”

The Caribbean may boast a tropical climate but there are occasional cold fronts too. You might sense it in a non-acceptance at work, or in social relationships such as the challenge Linda encountered in cultivating strong bonds with “born and bred” Barbadian women.

Caribbean Contribution
So why have they stayed on in the face of this unwelcome attention? For Robert, money is a factor.  As he explains, “I don’t have enough of the stuff to make it back home as comfortably as I would like.  I’ve developed contacts and contracts here in the region – in teaching, editing, publishing, writing in particular – that would not translate to Canada.  So this is where I’ve decided to make my stand, for now.  But that’s the other thing: I have found my material as a writer and purpose as an individual here in Barbados, so I’ve figured that staying can’t be all bad, right?”

I stay because I know I have a contribution to make – that and the fact that there are few places in the world I would rather live. The Caribbean is now home, firmly.

The second-generation relocators

Cynthia Born in Kent, England
Why I moved to St Lucia 
Coming to live in the Caribbean was something I made up my mind to do when I was just seven years old. I visited St Lucia at that age and spent time with both sets of grandparents. Since then I have spent many years coming back and forth on holidays. Thankfully I had a good relationship with my extended family and had formed several friendships over the years. So it was quite an easy transition, bearing in mind I was always out here on holiday, familiarising myself with the place, and having fun.

Island experiences
When I came to live in the Caribbean, it wasn’t easy to get a job in the field I wanted, and I had to do various other things until the one I wanted came through, so I really had to be persistent and at the same time patient in not giving up my goals. I personally felt welcomed when I came to live in St Lucia, and do feel St Lucia is home to me.

Robert Born in Montreal, Canada
Why I moved to Barbados
I moved from Montreal to Barbados fully in 1997, after marrying.  One of the reasons to come here had to do with work: because the Mrs. would have needed French to work in Quebec, and freelance opportunities for writers/editors seemed scarce at the time. Barbados seemed a good place to settle – for a while, at least. 

Island insights
I would prefer to have my daughter go to school in Montreal and was actually hoping to get back, somehow, to make this so.  But she started school in Barbados this September.  There’s simply an openness of spirit in Montreal, in Canada, that I have yet to find consistently here in Barbados. 

Differences between Canada and Barbados
An amusing difference is that when Bajans talk about it being cold in winter and put on a sweater (or coat!), I laugh.  Cold, to me, is anywhere from -20 C and lower.