Bermuda Cup Match 2018

Hello my darlings! I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA. I haven’t been doing much traveling or writing... But for good reason! I started a new job so I didn’t have any time off available to travel and I was saving every penny for my new car. But all is well! My car is parked right outside of my house and I’m proud to announce that I’m back at The University of Tampa as an Admissions Counselor.

I’m blessed to be able to do two things that I’m really passionate about for a living: I'll be traveling to California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Hawaii encouraging and recruiting high school students to further their education at my alma mater. The plan is to do a few mini adventures and a little blogging along the way. So stay tuned for that! I start traveling for work at the end of this month.

Now that I’ve caught you all up on my life, back to the topic at hand: Bermuda! My journey to Bermuda all began over five years ago when I met one of my dear friends, Jaylen, (not to be confused with my nephew, Jalen) my sophomore year at UT.

 

  

Jaylen is Bermudian and has always had amazing things to say about her home. Before I met her, I had only heard crazy stories about airplanes and boats mysteriously disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle. So let me fill you in: Bermuda is NOT a Caribbean island. It’s a group of low-forming volcanoes in the North Atlantic Ocean… Just about 665 miles east-southeast of North Carolina.

Bermuda is a British Territory but it’s self-governing, with its own constitution and its own government, while the United Kingdom is responsible for defense and foreign relations.

The island has 64 miles of coastline and a total area of 20.6 square miles. There are two incorporated municipalities: the City of Hamilton and the Town of St. George. It's also divided into nine parishes. Bermudians drive on the left hand side of the road and tourists cannot rent cars. But they can rent mopeds or take public transportation.

In 2010, the population was 64,319 persons and the racial makeup was 54% black, 31% white, 8% multiracial, 4% Asian, and 4% other. Native-born Bermudians make up 67% of the population, compared to 29% non-natives. The predominant language in Bermuda is Bermudian English. It has characteristics of British, West Indian, and American English. They have the cutest accents. I love it!

Bermuda has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, which is mainly fueled by offshore financial services for non-resident firms, especially offshore insurance and reinsurance, and tourism. 

Bermuda's cost of living is one of the highest in the world. World Bank economists have estimated that the overall cost in Bermuda is nearly four times that of the United States. The average monthly net salary is $5,109.68. The average rent in Bermuda is over 134% higher than the US. An average home costs close to a million dollars. Although there is hardly any poverty in Bermuda, the low income level is around $27,000 per year. In 2007, only 11% of Bermudians were below the low income level. 

To give you an idea, a Toyota Corolla in Bermuda is approximately $37,000. I just purchased a 2018 Toyota Corolla and it was $18,000 here in the US. Note: Only one car is allowed in Bermuda per household, but each member is allowed to have a motorbike. One gallon of gas is $7.91 and a gallon of milk is $13.21. About 80% of food is imported. Bermuda has no natural resources such as oil, gas, or gold. 

Bermuda College is the only option for higher education, which offers associate degrees and certificate programs. Bermuda does not have any four-year colleges or universities, as students usually attend four-year universities in the United States, (Hence, how I met Jaylen) Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Bermuda has a humid subtropical climate and is snow, frost, and ice-free. It's mild in the winter, fall, and spring, and HOT in the summer with high humidity, well over 85%. The only source of fresh water in Bermuda is rainfall, which is collected on roofs and catchments… The law requires that each household collect rainwater from their roof. This is why all of the homes have white limestone roofs.

So, now that you’ve got some fun facts about Bermuda… Let’s get into this trip! Every Bermudian I’ve ever met has raved about this event called Cup Match. I had no idea what it was, but I just knew that I HAD to go. Well, five years later… it finally happened. 

I bought my plane ticket in March on Expedia and it was about $390 roundtrip from Tampa, for those who are wondering. There are handful of hotels in Bermuda and they range from $250-650 a night (per Expedia). My trip was AMAZING. I honestly had the time of my life. Keep reading to see and read all about my adventures!

Wednesday August 1, 2018

Jay and I counted down the day of my arrival for months. She’s in a graduate program at UT and was at home in Bermuda for the summer. I left work a half day and went straight to the airport. Per usual, I got “randomly” searched while going through security and then someone else said they thought I was Beyonce. Huh? LOL.

My plane departed Tampa at 3:30 pm and arrived in Miami around 4:30ish. Then, I got right back on the same plane and departed for Bermuda. The flight was about three hours and I sat in between the cutest little girls. They were originally from Maryland too, visiting family in Bermuda. Such a small world!

Once I arrived in Bermuda, I went through customs where the agent asked me if I made my last name up… Now why would I do that, sir? -_- I gathered my suitcase and out the door I went! Jaylen and her mom were waiting outside for me and boy, oh, boy was I excited to see them!

The airport is on the far eastern side of the island and their house is in the west, so we traveled back in the other direction. Jay and her mom pointed out different sights and parishes as we drove through. The island mainly has all two-lane streets. There’s one “highway” and a few traffic lights. I love island life. It’s just so calm. Even in the darkness, I was so at peace.

As we were driving, I noticed this noise outside and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I asked Jaylen and her mom what it was and Jaylen said it was the radio… I said, “No it’s not!” and turned the radio down and rolled the window down further. I said, “It sounds like a satellite or something!” They both immediately burst out in laughter. They were so used to the sound that they didn’t even notice it! As it turns out, Bermuda has whistling tree frogs that make this calming noise at night. Jaylen said she’s never even seen one before. Once we arrived at the house, we ate something and settled down for the night. We had to wake up early the next morning for Cup Match!  

Thursday August 2, 2018

Cup Match is an extremely popular national holiday. Bermudians take this seriously, people. It’s an annual cricket tournament between rival parishes St. George’s in the east and Somerset in the west.

We both set our alarms to go off at 7:00 am so that we could make it to the field for the first ball and we both snoozed them… Numerous times. Once we got up and got ourselves together, we traveled down the road to Somerset Cricket Club for Cup Match. I got to see Bermuda in the daylight and it's absolutely beautifulllll! All of the houses are different pastel colors with white roofs. Everyone is so cordial there! Whenever you walk past someone, they’ll say “Morning!” “Afternoon!” or “Evening!” Sooo nice! It's also SUPER clean. I swear I didn't see one piece of garbage on the ground. 

When we arrived at the club, we had to walk through security and up these terrifying steps to the camp. They were like walking up a ladder. The stadium built a massive extension for this event. People set up individual camps with platforms and space for people to set up lawn chairs. Some people decorated theirs with their team’s colors and made bars and all kinds of stuff. 

Cup Match is a two-day event of drinking, eating, and more drinking. Jaylen’s boyfriend, Ryan had a whole water cooler full of Swizzle… FIVE whole liters. Swizzle is Bermuda’s national drink. It’s basically a whole bunch of rum mixed together like punch. I babysat one cup for the entire day ;) It’s a marathon, not a sprint, ya know? If you’ve ever done any sort of day drinking in the heat, you know it’s important to stay hydrated. I drank a bottle of water every two seconds. No hangovers here!

For those of you who have no idea what cricket is (like me)… Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players. I’m not gonna go into detail because I will probably explain it all wrong. So, my advice is to just Google it lol I watched it for two days straight and I’m still confused. It’s kind of like baseball… Only different. It’s interesting!

The match lasts for two days so you need something else to do to pass the time. (I may or may not have taken a little power nap or two) There were numerous food vendors set up. I had fried shrimp, fried fish, french fries, and pizza and it was SO good!! 

For breakfast, Jaylen had boiled codfish and potatoes. It's a traditional Bermudian breakfast that consists of salted codfish, boiled potatoes, bananas, boiled eggs, and avocado. Some people eat it with butter sauce and some eat it with a tomato sauce. 

The tradition of codfish breakfast started during the 18th century when codfish was brought to the island from Newfoundland, Canada, to feed Bermudian slaves. The fish was inexpensive and plentiful. This has become a staple for Bermudian breakfasts. Also, Bermudians put mayonnaise on everything. Codfish breakfast, hotdogs everything lol

On the way to get lunch, a man stopped me and had a conversation with me about how good it was to see me and he was glad I made it to the match. Jaylen was standing next to me with this puzzled look on her face. She thought this man was a random stranger who mistook me for someone else. Let me tell you how small Bermuda is: This man was the father of the girls who I was sitting next to on the airplane! HAHAHAHA.

There was also a tent with lots of tables set up for a gambling game called Crown and Anchor. Basically, there’s a table with different card suits on it, you put your money down on the suit you want to bet on, and the table runner rolls the dice. If your suit rolls, you get money. Sounds easy enough, right?

I stood off to the side and watched a few times at first. Then the man running the table give me $5 to start with. I won! And then I won again! After a few rolls, I had won $100... From nothing! I decided to quit while I was ahead. Jay is still salty and said it was just beginners luck lol

Around 7 pm, the festivities winded down and we head home. It was a long day and we had to wake up early to do it all again the next day.

  

Friday August 3, 2018

The next day, we were up bright and early ready for day two of Cup Match. We made it to the field just in time for the first ball again. The second day was much more crowded than the first. It was a struggle walking through the crowd.

As I mentioned, this is a VERY big deal in Bermuda and hunny, some of these people came out like it was a fashion show, okay?! Remember the two flights of terrifying steps that we had to walk up? Tiny little ladder steps that you could see the ground through. Well some fancy ladies came to visit our camp in skinny stilettos! I would never. Quite frankly, it was far too hot outside for all of that, but to each his own. More power to ya, sis!

The day was filled with more cricket, food, and drinks on drinks on drinks. It was sweltering outside but I saw all of my friends from Tampa, which was really nice. We all sat around and laughed and joked and drank like one big happy family.

Jaylen, her boyfriend, and her whole family were rooting for Somerset, so obviously I was too! They blew the other team out of the park. So at the end of the day, everyone was happy!

After the match, we went to a party at Snorkel Park Beach. It was a good time. The DJ was great! I was falling asleep standing up after a few hours, though. (Don't judge me, it was a long two days) I went home and slept like a baby!    

Saturday August 4, 2018

I slept in on Saturday and got some much-needed rest while Jaylen went to dance practice. When she came back, we went to the beach at Warwick Long Bay with our friend Kasheema, another Bermudian UT graduate.

The view was absolutely breathtaking. It wasn't too crowded and the water was so blue and clear. The pictures don’t even do it justice. The waves were kind of rough but we went swimming and it was a blast! We had so much fun and gave our livers a much-needed break.

After our swim, we stopped and got snowballs from a little stand. It felt just like home in Baltimore! (They don't have snowballs in Florida... Boo!) Then we went back to Jaylen’s house and had a mini-cookout with burgers and hotdogs on the grill. I’ve been whining about wanting a burnt hotdog all summer and I had to go all the way to another country to get one. LOL!

  

  

Sunday August 5, 2018

The Non-Mariners Race is usually held the Sunday after Cup Match at Mangrove Bay in Sandys Parish. It’s a boat race comprised of vessels that people create just for the event. This year, the event was cancelled but it didn’t stop people from going out on boats and rafting up together.

It’s like a huge party. Our boat was complete with a DJ, food, and lots of liquor. We got there around 10 am, but the boat didn’t leave until noon. (We got the wrong memo... Awkward) It was so much fun! We blew up inflatable pool rafts and jumped into the ocean. We swam around to other people’s boats and met up with Jaylen’s other friends. Unfortunately, there aren’t many photos because I couldn’t take my phone into the water but I snapped a few before we went overboard.

Funny story: When it was time to swim back to our boat, we thought the boat was leaving so we swam like our lives depended on it. We were yelling, “Wait for us! Don’t leave!” As it turns out, the boat wasn’t leaving. We sat there for what had to have been 20 minutes after we got back. We had a good laugh about this after the fact. 

Once we got back to the boat, we danced the whole way back. Another funny/gross story: A girl cut me on my foot with her toenail and it was so sharp that I started bleeding. If you know me, you know that I’m one of the most dramatic human beings ever. I just knew I had a staph infection or something terrible. Someone poured Grey Goose on it to clean the wound. Only me. I’m a mess. BAHAHAHAHA. After we got back to the dock, we went to a friend’s house and had another cookout. I love a good burnt hotdog!

Monday August 6, 2018

I concluded my action-packed vacation with brunch with Jaylen and her mom. It was a perfect end to an amazing couple of days in Bermuda. Jaylen and her family were wonderful hosts. I encourage you all to visit too! I will certainly be going back! ;)

As always, thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave me a comment and share with everyone you know! Until next time!

-A