Amanda finds her dream man

Few people in life find “Mr Right,” or their perfect match though skeptics may find that highly improbable; and out of that few, only a minority live out their dreams. Neuro-scientist and native of Alabama, USA, Amanda Mc Rae-Mc Farlene doesn’t call her string of successes “luck.” “It’s serendipity!” she said. After her four-year marriage to a Frenchman went awry, she told herself that the next man she marries, should she marry again, must be an “orphan, like cats and love to dance.” The former, she said, fell among the prerequisites as she seldom got along with in-laws. Well, Amanda, 54, found what she wished for in 44-year-old Jamaican model, dancer, gym instructor, landscaper, cook and nature lover, George Mc Farlene. The two have been happily married for 15 years.

Dream number two came true for Amanda. She told People: “Twelve years I spent in Sweden deciding on how to get here. This was my personal goal, to come to the Caribbean.” When Amanda was called for an interview at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine in October, 1997, to fill the position of professor of Human Anatomy, she fell in love with Trinidad. Two years later she was appointed Head of the Pre-Clinical Sciences department and currently functions out of the Mt Hope Medical Sciences Complex. “I am responsible for 14 lecturers and technical staff. I have to make sure students (undergraduates, as well as students of medicine, anatomy and bio-chemistry) have a good academic programme. We educate students who will eventually branch off into four different professions — pharmacist, veterinarian, dentist and doctor.” Apart from lecturing, Amanda is also involved in lab research. As a neuro-scientist, her main focus is on neuro-degenerative disorders. “We are creating a new way to treat Parkinson’s disease. We are looking at slowing down the progression. Our intention is to set up a neuro-science research department because we hope to establish a neuro-science degree programme here.” Her move to Trinidad was advantageous since she had come from Jamaica, where she worked for a number of years. It was on that isle, too, where she met George.

The intrigue unfolds when Amanda, two siblings and a friend decided to join her mother, Jane, now 83, in Jamaica for holidays. Jane, a retired librarian who also holds a valid pilot licence for light aircraft, had joined the US Peace Corp and responded to a request for three librarians in Jamaica. “My mother was excited out of her mind and we joined her,” said Amanda. “I remember, one day sitting outside Sunflower Villa (guest house) where we stayed and hearing this song ‘Tiney Winey’ and I told my friend Therese let’s follow that music. We ended up in a discotheque and as I walked in I saw George dancing up on a ramp or something. I told Therese that that is the most gorgeous human being and the way he is dancing. I said to her I want to dance with him. Before I knew it, George came and tapped me on the shoulder, and asked me to dance. I nearly collapsed! I said ‘yes’ except that I wasn’t jumping up and down.” George’s story runs along the same lines. He said: “When I saw her walk in I told my friend I have to dance with that woman.”

Amanda continued: “Just then my mother said she was leaving and I was like ‘Wow! Yes please go!’ so that I could have time to get to know George. I had to move to another hotel, Ambience. And I remember walking from Ambience to Sunflower to look for him. We met and walked back from Sunflower to Ambience and talked about everything. “I returned in the summer of ’87 and he met me with a rose at the airport. I was doing anything and everything to get back in Jamaica... In December of that year we made a decision to get married.” Since Amanda’s job required travelling a lot, George willingly gave up his career as a model. In 1988, they travelled to Sweden where her work involved intense research. “George helped me in the labs. I taught him everything. My research started picking up like wildfire and I started getting invitations to speak around the world,” she revealed. The couple has been to Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Israel, Portugal, Buenos Aires, Cuba, Argentina and India, the latter on three occasions. At the Annual Society of Neuro-Science in New Orleans, last year, Amanda’s “drug delivery system” was selected out of 25,000 projects as a slide presentation. “You have to have a very open mind and a vast amount of knowledge to keep it going. Ego to me doesn’t have a place in research. You need to know it is alright not to know. Research is not an ego trip. It is team research. Research is building team blocks, not isolated. And we’re feeding answers into the programme from around the world.”

Since she’s been here, her team has applied to The Caribbean Health Research Council for a grant for the purpose of purchasing equipment to test Parkinson’s on a rat. “A computerised rotometer was bought, which keeps count of the rats rotating and we look for consistent and reliable results.” Amanda, initially an organic chemist, obtained her Phd in 1980. Though the holder of a high profile job, she said it was important to remain modest and level-headed. “To be a neuro-scientist you have to be a lifelong learner. The most important thing I do in neuro-science is let the results talk to me.” Among her goals for her department, she said, is “Human Inter-relations. I try hard to be a good listener, to take time to make sure things are harmonious. I don’t make silly commitments. If it is something I can do, I take it forward to the next level. I try to apply the golden rule — how would I feel if I was the other person.”

George listened on as he cuddled their 17-year-old Persian cat ‘CT’. He had been running back and forth to the kitchen to check on his brew during our interview. George specialises in jerk pork and chicken Jamaican style, and escorite. The two share common interests in music, movies. The Mc Farlenes are known for dressing alike and attracting attention wherever they go. “George is a people-person. He loves nature and elderly people is his weak spot. I think I was Black before I was born. They (Blacks) have a more in-depth spiritual understanding of the world,” said Amanda who grew up in a Black neighbourhood. They enjoyed a jet-setting lifestyle. “Believe me, I don’t have the desire to travel anymore. I’ve got all the ‘Tiney Wineys.’ I just love the Caribbean...all the faces. The faces of Caribbean people have so much depth; the expression, the smiles, the eyes; something in the face is so poetic, it would just tear me to pieces to go back to Europe. Someone would have to anaesthesise me to get me on a plane. It would just tear my heart out.”