A Sabian Name Dilemma

I’ve obliquely referenced this issue before, but Saba has its devout folks who’ve labeled the signs for the community settled all around the descent to the airport as “Zion’s Hill”, while just about any Saba tourist map and trail signs ref to “Hell’s Gate”, the more colloquial and common name every local I’ve met calls it. And hey, let’s face it, a little more naughty and fun for the rough and tumble among us. In fact, one local who lives in Hell’s Gate took a moment to process when I said, “You live on Zion’s Hill, eh?”, to which he then replied, “I keep forgetting that’s the official name o’ this place.” You’ve seen this stone church as a watercolor in earlier blogposts…here it is looming over the top of Hell’s Gate…errr Zion’s Hill…like a pious nun warning me not to get hit by a car on one of the many blind switchback corners when I go to visit my landlady Tricia. Tres magnifique!

I’ve got a burn on my heel from hiking in thin socks, farmer’s elbow and finger blisters from hoeing a little herb garden that dates back hundreds of years, and I couldn’t be happier. Go figure. Til tomorrow…Bon soir, friends.