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Posts tagged “Tortola

TORTOLA Chapter 2-Introducing Kelly, Chuck n the Party Girl Yacht!

So here I was in the British Virgin Islands, soaking up everything it had to offer from the beautiful sun, to eating fish right out of the ocean to the wonderful island people and their culture and loving every minute of it. Now I understand the meaning of, “Ire mon, ire.” lol Work was alright, not exactly my cup of tea but I made it work for me. Then one night I was intrigued when I caught a glance of another hot blond in the bar…not only blond but platinum, with a fitness physique. Feeling slightly territorial (I grew accustomed to the notoriety of being the only blond, white woman on the island lol Tortola isn’t known for having a lot of tourists as some of the other Virgin Islands) I wanted to see who this mystery lady was and why was she on Tortola?! Not to mention I thought it was crazy that I felt like I was looking at my own reflection! Hmm….was their a connection? Time to investigate!

Once I made my way over to her table to introduce myself I notice that she had slipped away for a moment leaving a male companion just sitting by himself. I introduce myself and we start to chat while waiting for her to come back. Then Kelly comes over to table, introduces herself and makes room for a big bottle of champagne heading towards the table. As we all engage in conversation we all just connected instantly. Kelly and I did have so many parallels in our lives and it started to feel like we knew each other forever. And her partner, Chuck, was also such a down to earth, charismatic man and we all enjoyed just hanging out for the evening sharing stories and sipping some bubbly.

Kelly prefers hanging out in strip clubs cuz of the laid back atmosphere; she used to be a dancer herself and enjoyed the environment so that’s why they ended up at this club oppose to somewhere else. Kelly and Chuck were quick to make friends with the club owners and a few other people and we all decided to meet the next afternoon for a few drinks at a local sports bar. They would be in Tortola for the week and it’d be nice to hang out with people that you get along with so well. After a few days of getting together, Kelly invited me along with a few other staff members from the club to go boating the following afternoon. “Sure! I’d love to!” The next afternoon we all go to the dock to meet Kelly and Chuck and were a little surprised that they weren’t there. In their place were two men in a speedboat who told us to hop on, they were bringing us to where Kelly and Chuck were. I thought that was a little strange for a day of ‘boating’ but just went with it.

Well as we’re ripping through the Caribbean Ocean we start to slow down. We began to come closer and closer to a yacht…a 146 ft yacht…with a crew of 9 people and the name, ‘Party Girl” written across the side. I was thinking to myself, “NO WAY. WTF, seriously?” and then started laughing to myself. Sure enough THIS was our stop! As the two crew men help me on to the yacht there’s Kelly ready to greet us in her see through purple shirt with pasties on underneath and the tiniest g-string I’ve ever seen. As soon as I see her I burst out laughing and say, “Nice ‘boating’ Kell. I like your ‘boating’. I’m thinking Sea Doo, maybe a little speed boat, that to me is boating LOL Anyways, I like your boat.” 😛

She smiles at me and directs me into the living room to get a drink while waiting for everyone else to get on board. I later learn that Chuck was an extremely successful owner of a well known franchise. It was a pleasant surprise. Honestly, it was nice and refreshing to meet someone of his success and stature  and how incredibly humble, kindhearted and fun he was. Let the partee` begin!!

For the rest of the night we all had such an amazing time, diving off the yacht, hottub, tubing, jello shots, pole dancing, eating, eating and more eating. I did run into a bit of an issue with a guy who had really taken a liking to me. He started following me around and almost was at the point of being a little aggressive and was agitated that I didn’t share the same feelings he had. As the party was winding down on some of the ship and winding up on the other ;), Kelly and Chuck snook me into a more private area where I’d be away from that guy and where we could just relax from all the people who were starting get unmanageable, a lil wild and wasted. WaaaWaaa! lol

We ended up laughing the night away and deepening the friendship we were already building. When the morning came Kelly and Chuck invited me to stay onboard and sail with them to St. Maarten where they were meeting 5 of their friends from Florida to spend the weekend there. Something in me just said YES! Usually I’m quite guarded and would never sail with strangers lol But I did feel a good vibe and there were going to be 14 other people onboard as well, so I felt pretty safe. And of course I called home to let my family know where and who I was with. And that was it for my work stay in Tortola. My contract was coming to an end anyway so the timing couldn’t have been better. I briefly got off the yacht, went straight to my room, packed my things and was off on yet another magical adventure! Chapter 3 COMING SOON! 

 


Tortola, the British Virgin Islands Chapter #1

About two weeks prior to departing for a booking in Puerto Rico my agent called me to tell me that she didn’t think it was the best time for me to go there and wanted to postpone or cancel the contract. The owners were putting a lot more effort into a newer nightclub that had just opened up and she didn’t think it’d be in my best interest to work there while their attention was divided and letting things slide at the club I was supposed to be working in.  However, a spot just opened on another Caribbean island called, Tortola, and had asked if I’d be interested in going.

I would be the guinea pig with this new booking of hers, she had sent one girl previously and that girl only lasted a day! That girl worked one night then went back to her room, packed her things and took off unannounced. But this girl had a reputation for just randomly bailing out of bookings without notice and being quite a flake. So it wasn’t clear if it was her or the booking that prompted her leave like that. Welcome to the wonderful world of dancing! lol The club was still eager to have a Canadian girl work there and wanted to work through any challenges or diffferences that there may have been. My agent then procceeded to ask me if I minded dancing for ‘Island people’  seeing that they would be the majority of the clientel. “Of course not! I’ve performed all around the world for many different cultures and embrace each experience I get to have. Black, white, Asian…an audience is an audience,” was my enthusiastic response. So I then confirmed it, packed my suitcase and off I went!

 

I was put up in a beautiful hotel with my room right off the beach and the owners of the club treated me with the utmost kindness and respect; I felt comfortable right away and loved this laid back, Caribbean feel. Whoo hoo-paid vacation in paradise! After arriving at the club I could see why the previous girl may have been intimidated, when I first saw the club it was like a shack. But in the Caribbean, every thing’s a shack! lol And then there were these Island men who were huge and very forward.  I kinda felt like I was a bit of an alien at one point. They were intrigued by my porcelain skin and blond hair and was constantly being poked and prodded; kinda like when you have show and tell at elementary school and I was the new toy. Because I was so different they were more interested in trying to touch my hair then watching me dance. I experienced a similar reaction in China. But these men were also SO respectful, passionate and warm. They were just curious. It was great to experience this other essence of masculinity.

When the dj and owner asked me what music do I dance to I jokingly said, “ÀC/DC or Metallica!” Both of their faces went blank-it was hilarious. I then told them I was just kidding and that I could dance to reggae or dance music, whatever their audience prefers to hear. Could you imagine me rocking out on stage to ‘Enter Sandman’ for all these Caribbean peeps..lol Jamaican me crazy, mon! However, at one point, I did go to a birthday party and was completely amused by the fact they were playing Kenny Rodgers when I walked in!

One of the most important things I`ve learned in performing is how to tap into the audience and connect with them. For me, it’s all about the audience connection. The first, instant way to connect with an audience is through your music. So I always survey the audience right before my show to see who`s out there and determine what set I`m going to use. Needless to say, I refrained from using my rock sets!