Nurse Sophie Bailey is back home for a week but she intends to enjoy every moment of it. Here she holds baby Haliey, the daughter of her nephew's girlfriend, Joyann Layne, who met her at the airport. (Pictures by Charles Grant.)

THE USUAL hustle and bustle of the Christmas season prevailed at Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday.

The Arrivals Hall was filled with several people waiting anxiously for friends and loved ones. Red caps were busy moving back and forth ferrying trolleys filled with luggage, while taxi drivers queued patiently in a long line as they awaited passengers.

Several Barbadians living overseas were among the many who packed the hall, after returning home to spend the holidays with family and friends.

When Marilyn Cadogan alighted the plane with her son and daughter-in-law, she took a deep breath of fresh air.

"It is good to be back. I don't have to see any snow," the Boston resident gleefully declared as she was met by another son.

While she has been living overseas for 12 years, she tries to make it back home especially around this time of the year. She intends to enjoy every moment of her two weeks' stay with family and friends.

The thrill of being back home was the same for Avril Tulloch, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

This would mark 28 years she has been living overseas, but for her there is no place like home.

Tulloch said she was looking forward to shopping in Bridgetown and seeing old friends.

Sophia Bailey, a nurse who lives in New York, came in to spend a week with friends and family, but she intends to make the most of her short visit.

Though for her Barbados has changed a lot, she still enjoys coming home at least once every year.

"It is not like before. I find Barbados has become very commercialised but it is still better than being in New York," she said as she received a big hug from her nephew's girlfriend, Joyann.

Miami resident, Carson Franklin, could not wait to get out of the airport and head to his hometown in Bayfield, St Philip.

Even though he has lived in England, Canada and now Miami, Franklin said his heart lies in the East.

While he left Barbados back in 1952, Franklin said he enjoys coming back home to the warmth of the country. "I am going to enjoy myself the best I can," said Franklin, who will be staying with his aunt Elrita Griffith.

Anthony Osbourne, who lives in New York, has been vacationing here for the past four weeks and was overjoyed to pick up his wife Myrna at the airport yesterday.

The Osbournes, who have been living in the Big Apple for 25 years, said they couldn't wait for Christmas Day to come. They intend to go to church first, then to Queen's Park and spend the rest of day making merry with family and friends. (MB)