the BnB

I managed my friend Arlette’s famous BnB, Lafone House(that's the house from the front and the view from the front of the house looking out over the water and the cemetary - Arlette loves how central it is being next to the dead centre of town), for a month over easter.

I was nervous about serving breakfast to 9 and ironing the king size duvets – but little did I know that those would be the easy parts. I guess doing any new job is tough and at first I thought it was really different from my usual job. Later I realised that no matter what job I do there will be some measure of healing involved. Arlette (the sexy lady in the pic above) runs her BnB as a real sanctuary of cosiness, nurturing and relaxation. The people that come to stay are all looking for some part of them to be healed and cared for. It was a beautiful experience.

It is the 25th Anniversary this year of the Falklands war and much seems to revolve around this. My guests were a lovely mix of journalists, tour boat staff, Argentine veterans, British ex-marines, squadies and the odd tourist. It was fascinating having soldiers and journalists from “both sides” staying.

At first I felt slightly suspicious of the Argie guys – like I was fraternising with the enemy or something. In fact at one point someone called the police to inform them that I had 8 Argentines staying there! When I connected with the guys, felt their sorrow, their pain and their pride at having fought in and survived the Falklands war, lost friends and served their countries I felt love and compassion for them. They all had friends who died in that war.

Altogether about 600 Argentines and 300 British soldiers died during the conflict. Nearly that number again of deaths has been racked up by soldiers from both sides committing suicide. Apparently the atrocities that soldiers suffer has a massive and lasting impact. Men who fought in the Falklands conflict still have nightmares, anxiety disorders and commit suicide a quarter of a century later.

I don’t understand how war is ever necessary - it is way beyond my comprehension. What I do understand is that each person has their own journey and it is nature’s way to eventually come to peace. I felt honoured to look after those soldiers and to share their experience of returning to the islands, to their trenches and battlefields. They found their positions, their old shoes, their friends’ graves - one veteran slept in the battlefield, another has a Falklands tattoo adorning his bicep. I guess those men who commit suicide too come to peace in death.