The next decade....what's in store?

Ah....finally!

I found a boy's name!

Remember from Nottingham Niblets, I told you that I had already chosen a girl's name - Temnit Rianna - but that I couldn't find a boy's name that I liked.

Well, last week, I met someone named Timon, and in the middle of the training session I blurted out to him and the whole group "That's it! That's what I'm going to name my son!"

So y'all have to help me find a middle name for the boy that starts with R. Not that I'm going to have children eh. Maybe will adopt.

Don't get me wrong you nuh. I love kids, if I had my way, I'd be teaching the ones 5 - 11 years old.

It's just the childbirth thing that sucks. So until they find a different way of birthing the young'uns, then adoption is the way for me.

See Jane Date

Was flicking through the tele the other night and watched this romantic comedy on ABC Family called See Jane Date. It's about a single girl (like me) who gets invited to her cousin's society wedding, and lies about having a boyfriend (not like me), so now she has to find one to take to the wedding.

The cousin's mom (her aunt) tries to help out and talks to a guy about her. The guy's name is Ethan and he's a business school student. Jane's friends also set her up with one disaster after another.

Eventually, Jane goes to the wedding alone. But a nice twist in the story was....

....Jane made several trips to the registry (if I ever get married I am NOT having one of them there things) to find a gift for her cousin before the wedding, and each time she struck up a conversation with the sales guy.

Well, what do you know. At the wedding, when cousin Dana invites all the couples to join she and she husband pon de dance floor, Jane siddung all by sheself until.....

....up comes the guy from the registry place and he asks her to dance. She has a good time and at the end of it all, her aunt comes over and says how happy she is that Jane has finally met Ethan and is having a wonderful time.

Ok, if you didn't guess, Ethan is the registry guy.

Chain Questionaire: Play Along

First, the rules:

1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I'll follow up with five questions.
3. You'll post your five answers to my questions on your blog.
4. Your post will include these five simple rules.
5. You'll then ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed, etc.

Here are my answers to the questions from Ryan (www.caribbeancricket.com)

1. You get a chance to spend a day relaxing and sharing a beer with *anyone* in history, living or dead. Who would it be and why?

A plantation owner from the 1700's. I read "In Miserable Slavery" by Thomas Thistlewood after hearing Hilary Beckles talk about Thistlewood's diaries. From what I read, he didn't treat his slaves in Westmoreland too badly. I'd love to hear his take on slavery, what he really thought about slavery and did this have any effect on how he treated them.

On the other hand, I'd also want to know why de H-E- Two Stick he continued sleeping with the female slaves even when he knew he had VD!!!

2. Why should Caribbean governments spend millions to build cricket facilities for the World Cup when teachers, doctors, nurses and policemen are underpaid?

The shouldn't. Although I am a serious cricket fan, I'm not entirely sure that countries like Guyana should go ahead wtih the massive plans they have. It won't be sustainable or viable, unless somebody is VERY creative. I'd love to see the World Cup in the West Indies though and I guess it's the hearts and emotions that are ruling right now.

I'd actually take away some of the government ministers' salaries, government consultants' fees and some of our taxes, and pay teachers, nurses, policemen and junior doctors more money.

3. Cats or dogs? DOGS!!!!!

4. Pat Rousseau has been nominated for the WICB presidency and you have been named to lead his campaign. What's the top five "must do" things on your list?

(a) Do an expose on him. I think his intentions have been misunderstood. Let the West Indian people get to know the REAL Pat Rousseau.
(b) Arrange for him to go to each territory and meet with their boards to find out their 'beefs' and what they'd like to see happen. He'd also get a chance to share his vision for West Indies cricket with them.
(c) Invite all the anti-Rousseau-ites on the WICB to one place and tell them they're allowed to air all their grouses with his previous presidency. Rousseau isn't present, but unbeknown to the board members, Pat is watching from behind a one way mirror.....and then makes his grand entrance to explain his actions.
(d) Suck up to the guys with the votes and ring the bell of praise for Pat Rousseau at every opportunity.
(e) After all is said and done, present the Pat Rousseau plan for West Indies Cricket 2007 and beyond to each of the territorial boards, in their territory, making sure that their major concerns and wishes are addressed as best as possible.

5. You are stuck in Afghanistan for a month. What's inside the care package you want sent to you?
Deodorant, soap, some tins of sardines, water, one change of clothes, a camera, computer with internet connection (I couldnt live without it!), 'unmentionables'...to take care of 'that time of the month', and lastly, because I am a "full blooded woman", some condoms! You just never know.

"Remember Columbus"

I was moaning to a colleague in Trinidad about some challenges. This was his reply....it totally shifted my perspective.

Read on and you'll understand why.

"I always remember pondering about Christopher Columbus on his maiden trip across the Atlantic. The lack of food, water, the rough seas, the mutiny threat, being lost at sea....boy oh boy can you imagine that stress???

You have a great personality and an excellent approach to your work.....we can never have enough character building....let this tenure continue to build your character and come out of the experience stronger and better. You are a leader. People depend on you for direction. Stay strong....and remember Columbus."

Now after that, could I ever, in all fairness to Christopher, be upset about rough seas?

(ok, life aint a bed of roses....it will take some time to get used to, but I have to admit that several times today alone, I said to myself "Columbus"!)

S*x in the City...well....

If only for the gorgeous Belgian Chocolate guy on the show last night, getting it on with Miranda, I will watch next show for sure to see how it develops.

Only trouble is.... mi nuh know wha time it a go come on. Help me out nuh si-maddy?????

Sunday Outing

Remember I was saying after that incredible Sunday outling last week, that I wondered how spectacular the next one would be? Well, when I said that, I was thinking I was going to still be in Calypso Land. But as y'all know, I'm now in the Spice Isle.

Let me tell you how part of my Sunday was spent today.

JOURNAL ENTRY Sunday 24 August 2003 6:05pm

"Boy, life just does not get any better than this. I'm sat on a chaise lounge outside on the beach by the resort. I missed the sunset yesterday, so trying to get it today. Have my camera with me - well Dad's camera which I commandeered."

When I get my own computer, I'll post the pictures of the gorgeous sunset and a little pup who obediently posed for me.

I repeat: Life just does not get any better than this (mosquitoes and all!).

Old Habits Die Hard

Just back from the supermarket here in Grenada. As the cashier started to ring up the items, instinctly I moved towards the end of the counter and was about to take a bag off the rack to start packing. Remember my Sainsbury stress? How nice to see a bag boy!

First world supermarket in a third world country.

No Apology!

Imagine, one hour delay on a Liat flight tonight and the BWIA people (they handle flights for Liat) don't even come and say boo to the passengers!

Then, the flight attendant welcomes us on board, and not an apology. It took the captain or F/O to apologize then tell us the whole long shi-bang about why the flight was late. He used the words "what not" in his delivery.

Anyhow, I man not apologizing for being in the Spice Isle now. More anon

Sunday in "Deep South"

I must say, the Sunday Outings are getting more spectacular as the weeks go by in Calypso Land.

First Sunday there was the supermarket (believe me - when I woke up that Sunday and remembered I was going there, I was actually excited!). Second Sunday last week was a little beach tucked away just past Las Cuevas (ok, so Trinidad really doesn't have any beaches to speak of, so let's say it was a place with some sand and water on the coast).

Third Sunday today, the destination was South Trinidad, Deep South Trinidad, to a Hindu Wedding. Maaaaaaan, what an experience!

First there was the food. Then there were the outfits. And to top it off, the tassa drums. Now I must warn allyu. My spellings will be way off. In fact some things I can't spell cause I don't know what they were.

Take my outfit for one. Loaned to me by a Jamaican girlfriend with whom I went today. The bride was a cousin of my friend's sister's husband. Following me so far? So this outfit, I think it starts with 'S'. The top is long and could be worn by itself. But there was a pants with it. And a scarf thingy. So I fit in. But I don't remember the name.

Lots of colours. Indian clothes are fantastic. Lovely adornments. Very rich looking. There were pinks, purples and peaches; greens, blues and reds. And the bride wore a gorgeous yellow. Truly regal. And not just one outfit either. The yellow symbolized purity, then she changed into red for the second part of the ceremony which was very very long.

The rhythm of the drums was pulsating, urging many to shake their waist. I was doing a lil conservative thing, when this gentleman, well up in age, who was standing behind me out on the road said "you could shake it all you want you know, it won't break!".

But of course, if you know me, the food is what intrigued me the most. Yes, of course, I had had Indian food before. Love it. In fact next to Jamaican food, I'd say Indian is my favourite. But never before had I experienced eating from this kind of plate. A banana leaf....with my bare hands. Did I wash it before eating? Nope. Was it anywhere it shouldn't have been before? Probably. But we not checking fuh dat. We just checking on the feast. There was paratha (that torn up roti skin they call 'buss up shirt'), channa (chick peas), dahl (split peas), pumpkin (you don't need a translation), salad (ditto), bodie beans (like string beans but tres long), mango chutney, rice, and some other peppery vegetable mix up. Delish. And to wash it down, your choice was Red Sweet Drink or Black Sweet Drink.

Now the thing with a long ceremony and the menu I have just described, is that the negro-ness shows up soon after. Nigritis (spelling probably wrong too). And like how I didn't have much sleep last night, gosh, it was hard to stay awake. So I didn't. Propped up my head on my hand and dozed for a minute here and a minute there.

But all in all, a lovely day out, an out-of-this-world experience for me. That's what life is all about...ent?. Let's see how well the next Sunday Outing surpasses this one today.

Oh, you know the lovely thing about how we ate today? No dishes to wash!

Zee French Denteest een Port of Spain

My teeth have gone international. Well one tooth in particular, bottom row left side. It has been seen in Grenada, The Motherland and now Trinidad, the latter courtesy of zee dentist francais recommended by Tall Hat P.

What happened? Well gyurl, ah go by de Breakfast Shed cross de road, and ah bite into a roast bake and ah hear "crunch, crunch". Ah sey to mahself, "is what dem put in de bake sah" but when mah tongue swoosh around, ah feeling a real sharp feeling. Closer inspection once I got back to my abode showed piece of the filling missing! What a la-la.

So this morning, bright and early, I had to take a trek up to Frederick Street. Number 69 to be exact. Reached about 5 minutes late, walking in the hot sun for a good 20 minutes. Registered, then went in to The Chair. The sight of the needles sent the heart rate up.

Zee Denteest walks in and asks what he can do for me. Don't juk mi hard. That's what I shoulda said. But I said "my filling has fallen out". His reply "your feeeling can't fall out, eet might cheep or crack, but not fall out". OK then! He looks inside my mouth and declares "you have beautiful teeth". I'm thinking "you got to be kidding". With the amount of fillings, I should have been called Metal Mouth instead of Mona Monkey. Anyway, he's the expert. Why contest his opinion?

I then declare "I don't like dentists". Just to make him know seh, mi nuh into de pain ting. Well you'll laugh at his response which was "Me neither, I hate dentists".

The needle comes down into my gum, not once, not twice, but three whola times. He massages the gum from the outside and I am numbed up rather quickly. Not this slow thing in England where you have to go sit outside and wait 10 or so minutes for things to take effect.

Now while he was jabbing me, I was making noises, sort of humming. The brazen man sey "please don't seeng, I don't like seenging". Wouldnt you like to know what he then starts doing when he is working on my mouth? You got it. And it was "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" of all things!

Anyway, he was in and out in a flash. Muttered to himself "so far so gooooood" and that he couldn't quite figure out if the tooth was dead or not. Commented on the ratio of filling to tooth. Too high. Not goooooood he says.

He finishes and says don't eat until lunch (it's now about 9:30am). No problem. The cashier doesn't have change for a US$100 note so she suggested I run up to the bank. What? They trust a Jamaican to leave owing money, and don't think that she's not going to come back? Well she must know that I am Miss Properly Brought Up.

Pay the dear lady and leave the office with my liver lip. Hey, you ever try spitting into that little bowl in the dentist's chair, with a liver lip? I missed the bowl three times, didn't have on glasses so couldn't see is what pon de floor mi did wet up.

So liver lip and I marched down Frederick Street thinking "Charge it!" Shopping here I come. If only the darn credit card would work though.

At the end of shopping, the lip bundle was replaced by a bundle including cloth, juice, sardines and MOST IMPORTANTLY....the salt prunes. Made Sis's day.

Da is it fuh now.

Sex & the City

What's all the rave about? I watched THE show for the first time last Tuesday night. Can't see why y'all, including Sis, would be glued to the set to watch THAT. And the acting isn't even all that. Royal Palm is better!

To each his own but, who really cares if Carrie was broken up with on a post-it?

One year later.....

Does the sadness go away for his family? Does time really heal?

Terminated without warning in less than a minute, one year today, his kids still say "I miss my Daddy, I want my Daddy, I wish Daddy were here".

What does the perpetrator say? Is he even still alive?

Many unanswered questions, too little action.

In Trinidad

Hi folks, am now in soca city, calypso land......more anon.