Drinks and Desserts

HEY EVERYONE! WELCOME BACK AND THANKS FOR CHECKING IN! 

Day 3:

On Day 3 we drove to Shete Boka National Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Shete Boka Hiking Mountain!

We drove to Shete Boka, which was towards the tip of the island. It was basically a straight line and we were STARVING! Now all over the island—like most places with an abundance of Latin and Caribbean influences—there are shake stands everywhere. Now shake actually isn’t a milkshake it’s a smoothie and the fruit there is the BEST! Back on track now lol

We stopped and got some shakes to fill our stomachs and then stopped to eat at a restaurant. I can’t remember the name but it used to be a slave plantation that was abandoned once freedom was given to the slaves. Once again, Liz is the whitest of the whitest lol She has never had oxtails or goat or anything of that nature so we both ordered curry goat with rice, salad, and plantains.

Once at Shete Boka, we were given a map of the 4-5 lookout locations we could go to, although one was closed off for the day. You could drive and park and then walk over to the area or you could just walk. Since we specifically went for hiking we decided to walk. First off, I clearly did not pay well enough attention to know that there was a trail and walked overexposed and dead coral. Which was hard as hell and hurt my feet lol Once I made it to the lookout point and saw the trail I was SIIIIIIIIICK! But anyways lol There water was blue and refreshing as heck. There was a man made bridge formed between the two rocks and the coral. Poor Liz fell down the stairs and I swore she died lol The water, views, sea creatures, birds, giant iguanas, caves, and nature, in general, made everything—all the walking, sweating, sunburn (we put sun protection on about 8 times lol but it wasn’t enough for us)—more than worth it.

-One part of the man-made bridge with different words and names formed from big rocks, THE TRAIL WE DID NOT SEE (all the little rocks are old dead coral), bones and dead coral fossilized in the rocks, me sitting on a branch in the grassy plains part of Shete Boka. TONS of Iguanas were running around and I tried to get pictures and they ran away so fast!

After Shete Boka we went down to a shopping outlet that had a private beach called Mambo Beach! Almost everything was closed and there weren’t many people out. We did, however, sign up for a next day all day tour to a Bat Cave and two beaches! Afterward, we went to the main mall—which is also their biggest mall—called Sambil Curacao. Inside there is a trampoline park, mini golf, a movie theater and plenty of great shopping. We walked around a bit did some shopping then got pizza and fried chicken for dinner because I couldn’t take being hungry anymore lol After we went to the grocery store to get snack foods and local pastries and finally headed back to the Airbnb since we had to be up at 6:30am.

 

-Living my best life at one of the overlooks GLOWING! The words between the man-made bridge some said names like Jeanine, Lil Rome, I love You etc., The mini beach that was tucked away and past the forest. Me walking on the trail that we were too ridiculous to see lol, Another view of the hidden beach but there was like a secret walkway to actually get to it. There was a cave with seating and a sign that said enter at your own risk! It was actually very nice on the inside because all the water splashing on us! But be warned, it is extremely slippery on the inside and on the outside path.

Day 4:

We woke up early and proceeded to drive down to Willemstad to the cruise port to get breakfast at Greka (because it was the only place open before 7am) and wait by the Giant Curacao sign to be picked up to start the tour. Our tour was through Does Travel and Cadushi Tours. Our tour guide through the company was Lisa, who was very funny, polite and just all around great and very comfortable to talk to. We paid $60USD for the tour, which was 8 hours with pick-up and drop-off, a cave tour, an hour driving tour to 1 beach to swim with sea turtles, then another mini-tour to a different beach that had lunch (not included but on their website it says now included), then a few stops on the way home. The first stop on our tour was to Hato Cave. Hato Cave is a bat cave, that enslaved black people would go and hide in to escape slavery. The cave has artificial lighting throughout but when they turn them off, it becomes so dark human eyes cannot adjust to it, so at night they would sneak out and get food and go hide back in the cave.

-Me outside of Hato Cave at the start of the Trail. Various pictures of the cave, a small opening with a blue light for the bats to hide out at, Stalagmites. the opening where the slaves would hide out until the sun started going down. More formations and discoloration, the opening to Hato Cave and the Trails.

Hato Cave is a very beautiful and majestic place and we got to take pictures in only 3 areas and our cave tour guide was very lovely and taught us so much! While there we met a white couple who were from Upstate New York from both of our hometowns which was very nice, and also showed us how small the world truly is. Attached to Hato Cave is a nature trail, but that wasn’t part of our tour tickets and we were on a schedule so we didn’t walk it.

After Hato Cave we drove to the top of the Island back towards Shete Boka on an hour-long bus tour, learning about the chattel slavery of the island, the different cuisines, why the homes are colorful (check out the Instagram page @drinksdessertsblog to find out why!), and how they got their independence and other great facts about the wildlife and beaches. Once at Playa Piskado (West Punt), we had to pay for chairs (which is common and also at every beach and also kind of expensive -$12-50) and we went out into the water. Liz went into the water before I did because I was more concerned with getting a chair and putting our things away.

The water at all the beaches are so clear and blue it was marvelous, truly no lie! I was in the water with the sea turtles and the fish for about 10 minutes when I looked up and saw Liz get out of the water and start reading. I was so confused but I let it go as I continued to swim around and talk to a mother and son duo from the island who was on the tour with us. The mother actually worked for the tour company and her son came back home to visit from college. I then saw Liz inspecting her leg and as I tried to walk over to her, there were huge rocks with coral and sea moss covering them. I ended up slipping on it and hurt my arm and once I got out the water and made it over to Liz she was bleeding and her leg was all scratched up, turns out, Liz slipped on the same rock and scratched her leg up really horribly. It was burning and over the course of the next two days, it got kind of brown looking. We spent more time in the water for about an hour before sunbathing so we could be dry on the bus.

-The water from the top of the deck before all of the turtles and fishermen come. The giant turtles waiting for the fishermen to clean their catch. More beach vires, swimming with the sea turtle (I got to touch a few). LIZ'S LEG BEFORE IT BECAME CRAZY LOOKING!. The deck. The bathrooms and vacation homes.

We drove to the next beach about 30mins away called Porto Mari. Along the way, we were able to see a statue of a black power fist with broken chains hanging from it that was gifted to the Island of Curacao by a local artist (all information will be on Instagram @drinksdessertsblog) to commemorate the freeing of slaves and the revolt at Kenepa. At Porto Mari, we had lunch, cocktails, and swam all over that beach. Liz’ leg started to hurt a lot so she sat down for the majority of the 2 hours we spent there after lunch but not me lol I was all over that water looking at the sea animals and creatures and touching the starfish!

Eventually, it was time to go and I was a bit sad because one of the tours had a stop at a beach that we were able to see Flamingos but it wasn’t our tour. On the way back however Lisa (our tour guide) saw some Flamingos at Jan Kok, which we drove past and we were able to get out take pics, walk around and see another statue. It was so much fun especially because I only had on my neon yellow bathing suit and looked so contrasting next to the flamingos.

-Willobough Restaurant that we ate at. The Flamingo bay but I had no real shoes on so I didn't walk that super skinny muddy walkway to see it. Liz's bacon and cheese sandwich. There was a tower watch before going down to the beach. The Trail of Resistance statue (check out @drinksdessertsblog on Instagram).

We got dropped back off at Willemstad and embarked on a journey to find more souvenirs and street foods. We got empanadas, churros, fries, and seafood wraps and salad (well I did), like 3 shakes each, ice cream and then we got these little dutch donuts I’ve only ever had in Canada called Oliebollen. They were filled with raisins and made fresh right in front of us! The best part of it was that they had supreme Oliebollen which was split in half and filled with tons of custard! After that, we went home to clean ourselves and up and cook dinner. I made fish for myself and steak for Liz and ate the fish with my seafood wrap and fries.

-OLIEBOLLENSSSSSSSSSSSSS omg they were so good! I love custard everything and mines were deep fried fresh and the custard was also super fresh! The man only spoke Spanish and he had a helper with him who was making the churros crazy fast. I have tried to remake these and have failed miserably!

WELL, THAT’S ALL! CHECK BACK ON MONDAY FOR THE FINAL UPDATE!

 

DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT THE PODCAST THIS SUNDAY!

 

POST 3

As promised! I am back and ready to update you all.

Well for starters I had to take a break and get my life together before I could even start recording the podcast or write posts for the blog. That being said, I am well energized and ready to get this thing rolling with weekly updates.

So my last post was during the last 8 weeks of graduate school which were intense and insane, and to top it off  I had just started working two part-time summer jobs (both ended two days before my graduation). I clearly had too much on my plate and to make matters “worse” (but not at all really): I took a 6-week vacation immediately after graduation! Scroll down below to hear about my wonderful and well needed first trip to the Caribbean…. CURACAO!

We were in Curacao for 4 full days and 2 half days and we did A LOT! I will not post all the days at once so make sure to check back every 2 days for an update!

Curacao is a Dutch Island that gained its independence in 2000. It was a huge slave port full of afro-latino black people, who pride themselves on their colleges, history, and culture of rebuilding themselves time and time again. The people of Curacao are very proud people: from their colorful homes and personalities, to their Curacao alcohol, to their great food and—more importantly to me—their skin color and language. It was amazing to not be the “minority” since most places (in and out of America) I have visited I was the “minority”. I was able to buy make-up in my shade and darker, was able to go to multiple BSWs and then some!

Day 1:

I went on this trip with one of my best friends, Liz!! We left really early for the airport when it was still dark outside and honestly? I just remember trying not to throw up from eating too much Carl Jr.’s! Lol Anyways we checked in at the airport and my passport was not working in the machines. The sad thing is it did not work in any airport on this trip and I was triple security checked twice!! The flight was smooth and we flew over the Dominican Republic and Haiti and we were so close to it we could see houses and everything. We landed and the Island was instantly hot and beautiful and the black people were plenty. After getting our money in their currency, we went to get our rental—from stupid ass Sixt.

This is the second time I’ve used Sixt and this is the second time I’ve been pissed at them. It was one worker and only two customers in front of us and it took us over an hour to even get to the counter to start the rental process. The man was speaking quietly at parts and when I asked him to repeat himself it was always something freaking shady he was trying to get me to agree to and he asked me if I wanted an automatic car and I said yes. Welp, turns out automatic there means stick shift and we had to pay an extra $100 for a manual automatic car and I turned into a middle-aged suburban mom on the man. After we got our car we drove to the Airbnb and checked in with the groundskeeper who only spoke spanish but it was fine because I understood him even though it took a while for him to understand us.

-The outside of our Airbnb

When we got settled in and put everything away we (mostly me lol) toured the grounds. The host knew I was there celebrating my graduation and left us two small bottles of champagne and a card congratulating me. Afterwards, we went to go find food and it was so difficult because it was a weekday and everything closed early and after driving to 4 different restaurants we ended up at Popeyes and honestly it was so dang good! I never had Popeyes so fresh and it was totally worth the driving around!

Day 2:

We headed down to the main city of Willemstad. We were actually confused about the area and realized that Willemstad, Otrobando, Selina, and Punda was one giant area. We went down to where tourist hang out (we didn’t know that at the time though), and got breakfast at Grekas—2 big empanadas and some juice, Liz had coffee or whatever lol The workers in Curacao rely on tips more than we do here in America. We made sure to tip everywhere we went and it got confusing at times because that included museums and other places of the sort. Afterwards, we walked around the area filled with shops, the water, and super colorful homes and buildings. It was like literal rainbow sunshine and it was glorious!! Not only is Curacao known for its colorful homes, but it’s also known for their HUGE COLORFUL ARCHED MOVING BRIDGE (Queen Emma Bridge)!

-Breakfast, Colorful homes/Buildings (taken from the top of Rif Fort), Queen Emma bridge during the day, Queen Emma Bridge at night, the buildings at night, shopping

We walked around the little Island port buying various shakes and foods. There were PLENTY of stores and souvenir shops all around the tiny Island. Along our walk there were indoor (the building was semi-open kind of like a parking garage) and outdoor souvenir stands and farmers’ markets. We walked around the shop and Liz! My poor sweet Liz, who is as white as white can be and who grew up in a mostly white town, never had most of the fruits we saw lol We bought papaya and guineps and Liz enjoyed them both but she wasn’t use to eating them and teaching her how to eat them was an experience in itself. I bought a reversible Caribbean doll, which took me back to my childhood days in NYC with my Jamaican great-grandmother. I was so excited I almost cried, to be honest.

Liz and I are huge on making sure we learn as much as we can about wherever we go and we wanted to go to a museum. The Maritime Museum spoke about chattel slavery on the island and how it truly lasted until today. It was very informative information not only about slavery but about how Curacao came to have its current growing economy and exist as such an ethnically rich and diverse homeland to so many people.

We then headed over to Rif Fort which is where cruise ships dock and there are hotels, shopping, more souvenir shops, and FOOD! We ate at some place called the Sopranos and I got more ice cream. Rif Fort also had late night dancing and an outdoor party on one of the nights we were there but I can’t remember which night.

-Museum from the second floor, Lunch, Museum -original piece from a slave ship, Entrance to Rif Fort, The indoor farmers market, our drinks at Rif Fort, The open area where food trucks set up shop

We stayed there until the sun went down, headed home to freshen up for dinner and went BACK to Willemstad to a really great restaurant called Restaurant & Cafe Gouverneur De Rouville. It had a very “romantic” feeling and the food was amazing. I had pork ribs and fries and scalloped potatoes; Liz had chicken with grilled pineapple and scalloped potatoes. For some reason on this trip every alcoholic beverage I tried to drink made me sick including the two drinks I had that day. Liz drank mine and said it was great so I guess it was just me.  

-Our dinner and the restaurant!

SO THAT’S ALL FOR NOW! THANK YOU FOR READING AND CHECK BACK ON SATURDAY FOR PART 2!

ALSO, THE PODCAST WILL BE DROPPING THIS UPCOMING SUNDAY! 02/24/2019

 

 

The Power of You: Part 1!

Now, I know you’re wondering: Shae what are you talking about? But just hold for a second and I’m going to tell you!

The Power of You simply means knowing who you are and being okay with it. It means being able to admit your faults, change what needs to be changed, and using self-awareness to your advantage. I get a lot of questions from friends, teens I mentor, clients I work with, and – more importantly – myself, on what it means to be okay with being you. One thing I always say to others is: be okay with being with yourself – flaws, imperfections, mental issues, physical issue, and everything else – because at the end of the day the only person who goes to sleep with your last thoughts is you.

I spend a lot of time alone. Now yes, I do have friends (lots of them!) but I LOVE being alone. I’ve been told I have JOMO: Joy of Missing Out. That might not sound like a good thing to some people, but embracing that joy has changed my life for the better. I used to search for myself in other people. This hindered me from going out to explore, it made me lonely for myself and it made me even more depressed than I already was. And truth be told, I was super freaking depressed, to begin with.

Yes, I said it! I, Shae.Carrey – a black woman – suffers from depression. I know many of you are thinking, so what? Plenty of people are depressed! But I’ve had it forever and a day. I am not talking about adulthood and being lonely, I’m talking about being a child and suffering. Depression is a horrible soul-sucking disease and I haven’t shaken it yet and honestly, I don’t even know who I am without it. However! I do know who I am today. And knowing that I am now at peace with it. If there is one thing anyone who knows me can tell you, it is that I have stayed true to myself, my faults, and will own up to it.

Owning up to my faults meant I had to get rid of my biggest fear. If you have depression then you know it is EXTREMELY hard to motivate yourself to do something that you have gotten so used to doing, i.e. to break out of your box. I encourage you to start small, maybe you don’t like to eat alone, so go over to McDonald’s and get food and sit in the back corner alone for 5 or so minutes, you know build up to it. Most people try to make you do the bigger things such as go outside and force yourself to talk to a stranger and that maybe worked for them and it was what they needed, but all of our needs are different and most people don’t need the bigger things. Ultimately, it just boils down to them wanting to see that you did something, instead of acknowledging that people break their comfort zones every single day in many different and small ways and it’s just simply none of their dang business.

For me, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) was my comfort zone and my box. I used FOMO as a reason to hang out with friends who didn’t have my best interest at heart, and when I look back at it, I was put in danger more times than I could count simply because I didn’t want to miss out on what was going on. But after one incident where I got jumped, I put my life on pause to assess what I like, what I dislike, and realized, nah this ain’t for me and I never want it to be for me again. I continued on with that friendship but eventually, we grew apart and now we don’t speak but I will always consider this person and their family, my family, but it was more important to me mentally that I did right by myself and them.

After assessing myself, I started to use my FOMO and turned it into JOMO, when it came to things I am not into. I hate drinking, I hate clubs, I hate partying… but I love activities. I love going to events like Naked Sip and Paint and just hanging out with my friends and eating. In college instead of partying, (which once again I hate, mainly because I hate people all in my space, it freaks me out) I went to the bars instead. I like bars over clubs and lounges over bars because it allows me to dance if I wanted, play trivia games, have a drink while sitting down, eat food, and make friends. I used to worry about missing out on getting drunk because I never drank until I met the right people, and even my partying friends who tried to convince me eventually gave up because it is EXTREMELY hard to turn my “no” into a “yes.”

I used my likes and dislikes to my advantage. Going to bars allowed for me to have actual conversations with not-as-drunk people, it gave me the opportunity to network, and now I still contact those people and host things for them. I used my fear of being alone and turned into a love of being alone. You know what that did for me? It allowed me to go to the movies alone every 2 weeks, to go shopping alone, to eat alone; but more importantly, it allowed me to explore alone. JOMO has allowed for me to really get to know myself and it was very scary at first, but I had to start trusting in myself that I could do it. That I could be alone and not feel alone, that I always had me to fall back on. I cried a lot, self-harmed a lot, but I also took to exploring a lot. I would go outside and walk for HOURS! Literal hours all over my home city.

-photo from blavity.com

I ended up going to different coffee shops and trying various desserts and drinks and discovering that I love desserts that involve custards and hated the flavor of passion fruit and dragon fruit. I realized that I absolutely love painting and art and sculptures (although I am no good at it) and that I am not a big fan of cubism. I didn’t do this with my friends; they didn’t want to. They wanted boyfriends and I just wanted boys to leave me alone, they wanted to party, and I just wanted to bowl. But guess what? When you start realizing who you are, you meet the right people. I met the right people and we went bowling, to the movies, to museums; helped one another through a crisis, respected each other when we said no and, more importantly, we were all okay with being alone and knowing who we were even as teenagers. I have never had an issue with saying no to my friends, I just had an issue with not looking cool. I was bullied growing up and that shapes you for the rest of your life – oh goodness, do not get me started! But once I stopped trying to look cool, I started to really blossom, really speak up.

By being alone, I was able to find my interests in the world, and it turns out I’m ridiculously political. I never thought I would be into politics; I just knew I was nerdy, into comic books, Harry Potter, Octavia Butler, Angela Davis… but never thought I would be marching around the streets of NYC screaming Black Lives Matter and rolling my eyes when cops approached me. Yet here I am! It took being alone, exploring the world, traveling to different cities and states ALONE, different countries ALONE to realize I am this person: I am strong, and I am okay with being alone.

I am defined by my past, present, and future. I’m multifaceted. I am not just this angry black woman, I am also this soft black woman; this culturally enriched, but sometimes culturally ignorant black women; that I have more to learn and that some people will dislike me no matter what, and I cannot worry about that anymore (not that I truly worried about being liked, just respected). I only need to worry about liking myself, and that it is 100% okay to be selfish even when it involves family and close friends. This did not happen overnight, this took years, YEARS! And it’s still happening, it’s still a journey, I am still evolving, exploring and living my life how I see best fit for me.

I wrote this because I am living in my truth now. If this was last year I would have denied all of this. But it’s okay to be alone, it’s okay to explore your life on your terms. Is it not easy no, but it is absolutely worth it.

 

 

This was just a little precursor for the rest of the Power of You series that will be written out over time!

Thanks for reading! Next post I will be reviewing my first full Curlfest experience.

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my blog and podcast site! It’s your girl, Shae.Carrey, and I am here to take you on so many journeys, you’ll start seeing your life change for the better. But first, a little background on me and why I started this blog and podcast. Podcast will be posted soon so please keep watch!

My name is Shae.Carrey and I am a 26-year-old, natural hair wielding, high self-esteem having, movie and tv connoisseur lover of the arts and graduate student (with only a few weeks left!). I consider myself someone with their life together, but boy has it been a long and tiresome journey to get here. I dibble dabble in just about everything: I bake, I make-up, I twerk, I educate, I learn, I funny, I geek, I nerd, I hair, I fashion, I read, I write, I travel, I host, I friend, I encourage, I support, I speak, I podcast, I plan, I party, and most importantly, I work on my growth.

I aim to be a director, producer, and writer for films and television shows, with my main interests being sci-fi and drama mystery genres. I also want to have my own talk show and that’s where my podcast comes into play. As a little black girl, it was very important to me to know that I could grow up to do it all; but for a while there I didn’t think I was going to live long enough to see my life flourish. After lots of bumps and potholes and curved lines in the road, however, I am finally realizing that I can no longer let fear hold me back.

So after plenty of practice, much-needed encouragement, and the inspiring representation of Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah, Crissle, the ladies of Yes, Girl!, the hosts of The Real, and many others, I have decided to start this blog and podcast. I firmly believe we are never done growing and even if our lives are at their best, we can always learn something or offer guidance and become the role models we needed when we were younger. This way of thinking has allowed for my mental health to start going in the right direction and or me to start wanting to be better.

I will be giving out ideas, recipes, and tips for crafts, baking and cooking recipes, natural remedies, natural hair and face masks, travel, budgeting, meal prep, advice of all kinds, how to align your mental wellbeing with where you want to be in life, and much more. I am here to document and learn from my journey, help you on yours, and move us all towards our best selves and future.

That is to say this …

The truth shall be revealed, received, examined, questioned, and it will not be sugar-coated! Stay Sweet!

– Shae.Carrey