Trip to Barbados 8/97


[Editors note: this has been edited for public dissemination on the internet. The word "rum" was removed from 23 places]

I visited Barbados in August 1997 to join in the "Crop Over" celebration. This is the annual carnival to celebrate the cane harvest, and it culminates in "Kadooment", a wild day of festivities centered around a parade through the island.

Barbados is the most eastern and most densely populated of the Caribbean islands. It lies just north of South America and Trinidad. The population is mostly black, and the language is an interesting mix of English (British style) and Jamaican. This can be very hard to understand at times! The water is a very warm 80+ degrees, and that is without peeing underwater.

In going to Barbados to visit my friend Greg, I had 3 objectives:

while there, I added a fourth objective:

I was largely successful in meeting these objectives. Greg had an ambitious schedule of social events planned for me. I never knew having fun could be so exhausting.

The Quick and the Dead

There are two types of people in Barbados: the quick and the dead. The driving, or at least Greg's version of it, is not for the feint of heart. In order to make up for the bumpy narrow roads, no sidewalks, constant foot and bike traffic, and tiny cars, some people like to drive extremely fast without regard to civilized rules of behavior. Of course, this is balanced by other people who drive extremely slow. You are allowed to park in the middle of the street, as long as you give no outward indication such as hazard lights, and do it in an unexpected area. I believe that I can sprint 15 feet faster now than most non-Bajans, which comes from dodging the car-weilding maniacs. Surprisingly, I only witnessed one traffic fatality during my stay there.

Bajan Food

I sampled some very unique Caribbean cuisine while I was there, including the local specialty "fish cakes". These are deep fried, chewy, fish balls that taste better than they sound. There was also bacon-wrapped plantains, bread fruit (is it bread or fruit, I don't know), pumpkin fritters, flying fish, and roti with pepper sauce. The local beer is Banks and Carib, but most people enjoy rum; Malibu and Cockspur are produced there.

The Lingo

The local dialect of pseudo-English is very amusing and difficult to understand. You learn to nod and smile alot. Hear are some phrases taken from Calypso music and my translations:

"Show me your twista" - Do you enjoy playing Twister?
"Stick it back in, turn it around" - Directions to mix cookie dough
"Left right, left right, government boots, government boots" - Probably an export product
"The big bamboo stands up straight and tall, the big bamboo pleases one and all" - Bamboo may be slang for an important dignitary or leader

Monsoonment

On Kadooment day, you "go jump in a band", or loosely translated, "lose your mind and undo millions of years of evolution by dressing up like an idiot and dancing around in public". I was in one of around twenty bands of people dressed up in costumes in a parade that "jumped" through the island. In this Bajan celebration, each band follows a drink wagon which serves some kind of rum drink through a garden hose, and tries to out perform the other bands. This lasts for several hours and you quickly learn that urinating in public is not such a bad thing after all. Even though it was pouring down rain, this did not dampen any spirits; indeed, the spirits flowed unabated. In the bedlam that ensued, I lost my way and eventually caught a cab. Luckily, I followed the advice of the locals and had the directions to home tattooed on my butt ahead of time.