Sunday, January 11, 2009
Wicked Rhythms
A colorful Barbados memory that will always stick with me is winding down craggy country roads with the lovely resort town of Bathsheba as a backdrop. Only my attention wasn't on Bathsheba and its milky waters splashing the shores. I was singing a clever calypso led by art historian and musician Trevor Marshall and trying to figure out the punch line. A good calypso tune bursts with double entendres but it's not always immediately apparent. Trevor introduced me to this famous hit by Dave Martins and The Tradewinds and I'll always associate it with Barbados, even though the group members also represent Guyana, Trinidad, Grenada and the Cayman Islands. It's quite wicked, which is how I like my calypsos!
HONEYMOONING COUPLE
A honeymooning couple was in a bedroom/ packing up to go away/in the middle of June/
Well all of a sudden/ a big argument break out/listen to the bridegroom/ listen what he shout/
You get on top/ that's the way it must go/I am your husband you know/ you get on top/
don't make any noise/ shut your mouth/ that's the only way/ it will work out/
Chorus: Bettah get on top/ ting a ling /a ling/ Bettah get on top/ting a ling/ a ling
Next ya hear a commotion/ behind the door/ somebody fall down/ boop on the floor/
and somebody shout out/ hey ya squeezing me hard/ now this time it's the lady/ she telling the
man/you get on top/ that's the way it must go/ I am your wife now you know/ and it's 50/50/
you get on top/ don't make any noise/ shut your mouth/ that's the only way it will work out/
(Chorus)
Don't talk about how they grunting/ and they breathing hard/ imagine me outside/ man I going
mad/ quiet as a church mouse/ listening to this thing/ now this time the lady/ she start to sing/
and if you hear she says/both of we on top/ that is the way it must be/ and the husband says
yes I agree/ definitely/both of we on top/ don't make any noise/ shut your mouth/ that is the
only way/ it will work out.
(Chorus)
Now I am no peep man/ ask anybody/ but two of them on top/this I got to see/ so down by the
keyhole/ I put me eye/ and what I saw man/made me laugh til I cry/it was a man and his wife/
and the two of them on top/ if you see them in this funny pose/well the two of them sitting
down/on top a suitcase/it's a suitcase they trying to close/
Both of we on top/ ting a ling/ a ling/ both of we on top/ ting a ling /a ling/ both of we on
top/close the blasted thing.
If you want to hear Dave and the Tradewinds sing the bouncy melody, check it out here:
Labels: Barbados, Calypso, Caribbean Dave Martins and The Tradewinds, World Music
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Playing in the Clay
You can spot piles of clay all over Barbados but especially in Chalky Mount, a little village in St. Andrew famous for its potters and rich clay reserves. I didn't make it to Chalky Mount but I did witness the three generations of artistry at work in Fairfield House. Perched on a rocky incline in St. Michael's, Fairfield House Gallery and the adjoining Red Clay Pottery factory, three generations of the Bell family have molded Bajan clay into terra cotta pots and unique pieces like the mermaid mirror above.
I watched Maggie Bell, the main Fairfield designer, whip up bottles and bowls on the homemade machines that fill Red Clay factory. Her father Peter, had originally designed it as a clay processing plant. Now Fairfield is the largest pottery maker in Barbados and all of the wares are created from local materials and then individually painted. The Fairfield House has been in the Bell family for 70 years and I could feel all the history seeping through the walls. When I was searching for authentic Bajan souvenirs, I discovered that besides rum, hand-crafted Bajan clay items are a great reflection of Barbados culture.
Labels: Barbados, Barbados clay, Caribbean Travel, Fairfield Pottery
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Snow on the Mountain and the Christmas Candle
Okay, so I'm not over Christmas yet. I just started feeling it last week and now it's over. Blogger was also not cooperating during Christmas week and I couldn't post these lovely pics. So this will be my last holiday post.
Silver bells and twinkling lights might signal the holiday season up North but in Barbados, the vibrant blooms of yellow Christmas Candle pants means that the season has started. The island doesn't get any snow but the delicate white blossoms of the Snow on the Mountain plant cover the hills just as prettily. Both plants bloom only during the winter months when temperatures drop into the cool low 80s.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, Christmas Candle plant, Snow on the Mountain plant
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuk Band Celebration
Happy New Year! It's a season of celebrations and in Barbados, that usually means the raucous sounds of a tuk band will be streaming through the streets. Tuk bands produce Bajan folk music that truly represents the offbeat mix of African and British culture. Since traditional African rhythms were outlawed during slavery, enslaved Africans learned the music of British military and maritime bands, along with classical waltzes. After emancipation, a sound that merged all of these rhythms surfaced. The band plays a kittle drum also known as a snare drum, which was originally made from animal skins, the bass drum, a penny whistle and a triangle.
The Tuk band rhythm moves progressively from a slow waltz, to a fassy or march beat and explodes into a frenetic African rhythm. Typically, the performers are a trio of roaming minstrels accompanied by a stilt walker, a moco jumbie or masquerade figure called Shaggy Bear and a man dressed as a woman with big bosoms and behind called Mother Sally. Both moco jumbies and stilt walkers can be traced directly to West African spiritual rituals where an egungun or masked figure representing ancestor spirits parade through festivals and initiations. Both figures appear throughout the Caribbean region but only Barbados joins them with such a distinctly British influence as military rhythms. Although Tuk Band music is a forerunner of Trinidad's calypso and Jamaica's reggae, combining similar elements of Western and African sensibilities, I can't say that I've ever heard anything like it on any other island.
Labels: Barbados, Barbados culture, Caribbean Travel, Tuk Band, World Music
Saturday, December 20, 2008
A Sweet Retreat
Sugar in all forms generally makes me happy. I refuse to patronize restaurants without dessert menus and have been known to start dinner with a decadent dessert and end with a small appetizer. Life's too short to always leave your favorite thing for last. So I was especially struck by the symbolism of this sugar mill converted into a house. Tucked onto a hill in St. Peter, this sugar mill house represents Barbados' history as a major sugar producer. It also reflects my sweets obsession in a major way. What would be cooler than living in a structure that used to create sugar? I'm sure just the sugary walls would provide creative inspiration and a jolt of psychic energy.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, St. Peter, Sugar Mill
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Chillin' In Little Bristol
Besides a laid back stroll down Queens Street, a visit to the Arlington Museum is a Speightstown must do. The museum is headquartered in a single 18th century house that's the architectural model for the houses that Bajan settlers built in Charleston, South Carolina. The entire museum uses high tech, interactive displays to tell the stories about Barbados' culture and history. For me, the most memorable display was about the pirate Stede Bonnet. He's apparently a famous swashbuckler, nicknamed the gentleman pirate but I had never heard of him. Bonnet was born on a Barbados plantation to a wealthy family, hence the gentleman moniker. He was a justice of the peace and married with three children when he up and decided to become a pirate. It's insinuated that marital squabbles drove him to it but women always get blamed for everything, even pirates. Anyway, he sailed a ship called Revenge, stocked with his beloved library. He's the only pirate who actually purchased his ship, instead of stealing it. He met up with Blackbeard and let him take over his ship since he was an incompetent sailor and joined him during the infamous siege on Charleston, where Bonnet was eventually jailed and hung. The exhibit feature's Bonnet's signature pirate flag and a talking model of the pirate that was quite creepy.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, Little Bristol, Speightstown
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Bajan Street Signs
Wandering through Barbados, I was struck by the wit and color of the street signs. Humor and welcoming vibes seemed to ring out from these brightly colored placards, in ways that I never see in the U.S. Even the dollar store sign looked inviting with a wash of sunny hues. The City Woman sign caught my attention because it captures the basic Caribbean sensibility of living practically but with joy. Fish frys are a cultural constant on the island but I was partial to the red sign above because it's my name, minus a "d" at the end. My favorite of course, is the Barbados Jack sign, nothing beats booty!
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel
Sunday, December 7, 2008
George Washington and Barbados
I certainly wasn't expecting to learn about American history or George Washington while I was in Barbados but that's exactly what I did. I was surprised to discover that the Eastern Caribbean island played an important role in the course of American history. Besides supplying the settlers who founded North and South Carolina and about seven of the first governors for these states, Barbados was the only country visited by George Washington and the experience left a major impact on his life. The 18th century, two story, Georgian style house where George Washington lived in Barbados for seven weeks, has been restored into the George Washington House and Museum in Bridgetown.
Enveloped by lush gardens and balmy sea breezes that blow through the house, the museum presents a huge amount of information in an unlikely place. The rooms where George Washington lived are bare and utilitarian but the second floor boasts a life-size Washington that reads from his diary at the push of a button. George Washington was 19 when he journeyed to Barbados with his older, half-brother Lawrence, who was sick with tuberculosis. Barbados was known as a health spa and Lawrence's doctors recommended a stay in 1751. Although Lawrence had been educated in Europe, George had never left their Virginia home. Their father had died and George never got the education or exposure that benefited Lawrence. In Barbados, George witnessed his first fort, first theatrical performance and visited his first big city in Bridgetown. From the late 17th century until the mid 18th century, the major cities of the English speaking world were Boston, London and Bridgetown.
George also contracted small pox while he was in Barbados, leaving him immune to the disease. Small pox decimated the American Revolutionary army but George was unaffected and was able to organize the first mass inoculation against small pox for his troops. Bajans like to say that they saved George Washington for the presidency and the American Revolution. The museum's director also likes to say that not only did George Washington sleep in Barbados, but he woke up there. His small, provincial world was expanded and he was able to make contact with influential people in Bridgetown that would later guide his career. He never would have traveled in their circles in Virginia. This reminds me of the elitism debate that surfaced during the 2008 election. No matter what the party or platform, it's a fact that every 20th century U.S. president either came from affluent families or were educated or trained at elite institutions.
The museum also explores the history of slavery on Barbados and how the system has influenced history. A sculpture of Olaudah Equiano, the famous African who had been enslaved on Barbados and bought his own freedom, holds a prominent space on the second floor. Equiano moved to London and published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Eqiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African, in 1789. It became a bestseller and a touchstone in the slave narrative literary genre. It also kicked off the British abolition movement, of which Equiano was one of its most notable figures. Slavery was an issue that posed a moral dilemma throughout Washington's life. The exhibit examines Washington's position as the man who helped fight for America's freedom but who never gave freedom to the 300 enslaved Africans that he owned. According to the display, he considered it but decided that the undertaking would be too expensive. So "he left the question of slavery for another generation to solve."
Labels: Barbados, Bridgetown, Caribbean Travel, George Washington House
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Flying Fish, Saltfish Soup and Kingfish Ceviche
Caribbean cuisine is one of my favorites. I love spicy flavors, exotic combinations and anything accented with tropical fruit. Most island dishes offer that and more. So I was looking forward to sampling Bajan food, to say the least. I did have a fleeting experience with the Bajan staple flying fish, years ago. My former mother-in-law, a Tobago matriarch, enthralled by the recent popularity of the fish in Tobago, insisted that I smuggle frozen flying fish in my luggage on the eight-hour flight back to Chicago. But that's another story. Barbados is called "land of the flying fish" for good reason. They are everywhere. Popping up on little pectoral fins in the harbors, decorating Bajan coins and the coat of arms, flying fish are part of Bajan life. And they are truly a part of the daily cuisine. The national dish is flying fish and cou cou, which is a cornmeal side dish called fungi on other islands and polenta in Italy. Succulent and slightly oily, flying fish was featured at every restaurant and every event that I attended. I ate it fried, steamed and baked. It was offered at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I estimate that I ate flying fish at least two times a day during my Barbados stay. The fish is tasty and highly flavorful but if I never have it again, I won't be upset.
Besides the flying fish, I discovered that Bajan cuisine can be innovative. At the Waterfront Cafe, nestled along the Bridgetown marina, I sampled a tasty saltfish soup. Saltfish or salted cod, is another Caribbean mainstay that I love but I had never seen it featured in a soup. It was rich and only slightly salty. I preferred it to the king fish ceviche which was heavy on innovation as well as lime. The acid from the limes and vinegar made it hard to stomach after awhile. At Brown Sugar, a landmark Bajan restaurant, I tried the popular lunch buffet amid a gurgling fountain and lush greenery. The buffet provided other popular Bajan dishes like macaroni pie, lamb stew, banana salad and of course, flying fish stewed and fried.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, Chefettes, Flying Fish. Chefettes, Food Travel, global cusine
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Barbados Chattel Houses
Barbados was settled by the same gentleman planters who settled the colony of South Carolina. A lot of connections exist between these two places, from the Bajan dialect that bears a close resemblance to the South Carolina Gullah dialect, to farming practices that were developed in Barbados and transferred to South Carolina plantations. But the most visible is the similarity in architecture. The jalousie windows and sweeping verandas that grace grand old South Carolina houses also decorate many Bajan homes. Georgian and Victorian style great houses line streets in Bridgetown and Charleston. However,the most distinctive Bajan architecture is purely Caribbean.
The chattel house is basically an old school mobile home. Simple wooden houses placed on limestone blocks, chattel houses are designed to be taken apart in a day. The term comes from the days when plantation workers journeyed from different estates, working the fields and leasing the land that they lived on. Their movable possessions or chattel, were their houses and these had to be easily moved in case of landlord disputes or the end of a growing season. Although I've heard the term chattel house in Trinidad and Jamaica, I'd never seen one until I visited Barbados. These houses make up an important part of Bajan history and I saw them everywhere.
They boast gable roofs created from iron to withstand the heavy winds and rain of hurricane season. Chattel houses often have shutters to keep out the heat and interior walls with spaces at the top to catch every breeze. They are reported to be much cooler than regular houses. Although it's not a common housing choice anymore, people still live in chattel houses either handed down through the family or freshly built on undeveloped land. I was happy to discover that there's a movement to restore and preserve Barbados chattel houses. I think they serve as a colorful example of Bajan character and innovation.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, Chattel Houses, South Carolina-Barbados connection
Friday, November 14, 2008
Passion Fruit and Passion Flowers
I have always loved everything and anything tropical. Although I grew up in the arctic climate of Chicago, I never enjoyed any of the classic Midwestern bounty. Apples? I don't think so. Peaches"? Please. Mulberries? Try again. I only eat pineapple, papaya, coconut and my all time favorite, passion fruit. I drink passion fruit juice like most people sip lattes and passion flower tea crowds my cabinet next to the chai. Imagine my wonder when I kept noticing this lush bush of little green fruit. I asked my South Carolina friends what the fruit was but they could only guess. Lime? Unripe lemons? I knew better but I couldn't quite figure out why. Finally, our Bajan guide handed one to me. As soon as it hit my hand, I knew. Passion fruit! All those years of gobbling it in dozens of forms, I had never seen the actual fruit. I felt like I had rejoined a long-lost part of myself.
These bushes line the path going up to St. Nicholas Abbey in Northern Barbados. Although the passion fruit won most of my attention, St. Nicholas is actually quite notable. It's a four story plantation house that stands as one of the last authentic 17th century houses of the new world. Built in 1658 of limestone and brick, it's one of only three existing Jacobean houses in the Western Hemisphere. Another one, Drax Hall is also in Barbados and the other is Bacon's Castle in Virginia. St. Nicholas was never an abbey, it's thought to be named after St. Nicholas parish near Bristol and the nearby Bath Abbey where the British owners used to live. The original owner, Benjamin Berringer and his wife Margaret are famous for reasons other than St. Nicholas Abbey. It seems that Margaret had an affair with their neighbor John Yeamans. Berringer challenged Yeamans to a duel and wound up dead, either from a bullet or poison, depending on which story is being told. Yeamans married Margaret and took over the plantation. The courts eventually returned the estate to the Berringer children and Yeamans and Margaret left Barbados to help settle South Carolina, where he became govenor in 1672. Margaret married a third time after Yeamans died. It makes me think that maybe there is something to all those passion fruits lining the estate...
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, St. Nicolas Abbey
Sunday, November 2, 2008
21 Miles Long and A Smile Wide
That's how locals describe Barbados and I have to agree with them. It's not a big island, it's not a small island but you'll find something to make you smile, whether it's the weather, the landscape, the culture or the people. I did a lot of laughing and smiling while I was there, I think Bajans are very intriguing people. I heard loads of thought-provoking comments and discussions that I'll detail later. Going through my photos, I jogged through my memory to try and find the most memorable experience I had there. I'm still processing them (along with a cold I got from the combination of rainy season and air conditioning )but I did find a shot that counts as one of the most unforgettable scenes. On the northern side of Barbados, in the parish of St. Andrew,
Cherry Tree Hill Reserve boasts the most spectacular view on the island. Despite it's name, it's not cherry trees that fill the grove (they died a long time ago) but gorgeous mahogany trees. Looking over the hill at about 850 feet above sea level, beyond the sugarcane and majestic mahogany, a stunning view of the Atlantic coast fills your senses. Gazing out over that hill was one of the best sights I had while I was in Barbados.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, Cherry Tree Hill Reserve
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Next Stop: Barbados
I'm off to the lovely coral island of Barbados. Besides drowning myself in soca, I'll be exploring the cultural connections between South Carolina and Barbados. Both places were established by the same man and the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor is sending me on a Caribbean-Carolina discovery tour. There won't be any more posts this week but look for my dispatches from Barbados next week.Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Soca Warriors!
Next week, I'll be traveling to Barbados. People may associate a handful of things with Barbados--Rhianna, flying fish or even a British sensibility. But for me, Barbados represents my favorite soca band, Krosfyah. Soca music is the manic, hip-swaying, offspring of calypso. It's most associated with Carnival time and Crop Over in Barbados but for true soca warriors, all the time is soca time. Soca never quite broke in the U.S., most Americans prefer the more languid melodies of roots reggae. Soca requires energy and rhythm. It's party music with a non-stop, staccato beat and Krosfyah works it like no one else can. I wrote a biography for Krosfyah at Allmusic here But to sum up Krofyah, I'd say that they stir up joyful, sexy, sounds made for fast-paced moves and all night partying. Founder and lead singer Edwin Yearwood wraps his silky, cajoling voice around a tune and pulls you in sweetly. Krosfyah displays a lot more soul and well-crafted songs than most soca groups, which is why they're my favorite. Krosfyah songs blend sunny days and light-hearted moods into every melody. And like those perfect, sun-filled days, you never want them to end. Check out this old school Krosfyah video, it's hillariously cheesy but the spirit of the music shines brighter than that 90s dayglo dress.
Labels: Barbados, Caribbean Travel, Global music, Krosfyah, Soca, World Music
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