...crop over! this new term is something we were told about before arriving in bridgetown, barbados on december 22nd!
crop over = the sugar cane harvest has ended and a time of celebration ensues on barbados historically. sweet, right?
tho, the sugar cane industry has really dropped off in recent years so we were told, this is in fact, what created the prosperity on the island. per our driver, barbados is the most prosperous of all the caribbean islands.
before our official arrival, we were treated to a special welcome put on by the royal barbados police band (they are real police and they really play instruments as part of their "duty") as well as a brief talk given by a history lecturer at barbados community college, Trevor Marshall. he gave a good overview of the history of the island (as well as a really enthusiastic political thumbs up to the USA for electing Obama--something he thought impossible in his lifetime, a black man president of the US) and finished up the talk with a calypso song he sang: the honeymoon song.
the lyrics had to do with what initially seemed to be of a rather carnal nature...honeymooners and all. but as the song progressed, and the lyrics switched back and forth between the man on top/the woman on top/both on top...soon the point of the song was revealed. apparently the narrator of the song could no longer control his curiosity and peeked through the keyhole of the newlyweds room--at this point, what did he see? a giant suitcase that both the new bride and groom could not close alone! they each tried being on top, of the suitcase--alone. finally, together and ontop, they were able to close the suitcase. it was the perfect way to explain some of what is barbadian culture.
the island gained its independence from england in 1966. the government of barbados is a parliamentary democracy.
interesting to note tho, the "settlers" realized quite quickly that the land of barbados was not rich enough in soil to grow very many crops as intended. consequently, at some point, the people held as slaves were freed (i don't recall the dates we were told) and given the land that the settlers had earlier stolen, no doubt from the original inhabitants. the settlers left this caribbean isle in search of "more" somewhere else.
seems the formerly enslaved had the last laugh again--the property in barbados is extremely expensive and much sought after beachfront digs. amazing blue, blue water that is usually very warm and clear surrounds barbados. the sugar cane then flourished here, surpassing all expectation of "growing" the island and providing the people the ability to become quite prosperous. charging big time bucks for a little piece of paradise!
however, despite the advent of slavery and how it was perpetrated, the descendants of slave ancestors have kept many of the "mother country" traditions. whether that be of religious practices or of recreational past-times. they proudly play cricket here. english is the official language of this place. naturally, featuring a very clear island accent. the ethnic make-up here is: 90% black; 4% white; 6% asian and others--local population hovering at around 300K. religions practiced on barbados: protestant (including--anglican; pentecostal; methodist); roman catholic also; christian and a certain percentage that was unspecified. the food of this island would fit very easily in new orleans i am supposing. lots of seafood; stews made with oxtails and okra; spicy and fresh veggies such as tomatoes, onions and peppers. our ship has tried to feature some dishes that reflect where we are going and where we have been. this night, we had a really big BBQ--featuring jerk pork.
while we were on barbados, we visited the barbados wildlife reserve which is part of the larger barbados primate research centre. on our way, we passed the residences of rich and poor alike. the island is undergoing tremendous construction of large resort type buildings. some people here are so wealthy that they literally own both sides of the road!
seriously. i'm not kidding.
one particular residence that we passed belonged to a native barbadian who built his financial empire from the ground up. his home is sprawling and impressive. featuring his very own harbor for several boats and yachts.
at the wildlife reserve, the most remarkable thing we saw, i thought, was a prolific amount of tortoises. these tortoises were everywhere! they lumbered about without much concern of the humans gawking at them. i even walked beside one fairly energetic tortoise, literally keeping pace with the creature. the presence of my foot so near to its head--did not appear to be scary at all. most of the animals have been donated to the reserve. caimans originating in guyana; python coming from the UK; deer-like animals that are actually rodents, called "mara" came here by way of trinidad; green monkeys which originated in africa and were brought by early settlers (these monkeys are considered huge pests by the local farmers and a bounty is put on their heads--for reals); peacocks and macaws came from elsewhere too.
one special picture that we were able to get was of three different animal species feeding together--most notably, the monkey stealing the larger pieces quite easily. the mara, tortoises and monkeys shared their table and allowed us to snap their faces all the while. when i get home, i am going to try and offer my tortoise some sweet potato as a direct result of seeing what the animals at the reserve so enjoyed--especially the tortoises!
on our return to the harbor, we stopped by a local ceramic artists business. the breeze coming through the windows was wonderful. and his business overlooks pristine beaches and water as blue as a peacocks breast and tailfeathers. his pottery wheel, much to my surprise and grand appreciation, was completely manually operated. well, technically, he used his feet. but, you know what i mean. the wheel spun round and round; in no time at all, he fashioned a lovely finished piece from a lump of clay just moments earlier. he removed it from the wheel and placed it for proper drying prior to firing the p
iece.
and tho it would seem silly to mention, his little doggie was a very nice treat. allowing me the chance to pass along a few greetings from my pooches at home.
another special picture i thought to take was of a cautionary nature--HIV education. in the midst of a local tourist stop, here this sign was. i will include it later.
soon the day was over and it was time to return to our "home". onward towards the mighty amazon.
for most of us, our most anticipated destination. we will be three days at sea before reaching the brown water heralding the entrance to this largest of rivers on planet earth.
It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself - Eleanor Roosevelt
crop over = the sugar cane harvest has ended and a time of celebration ensues on barbados historically. sweet, right?
tho, the sugar cane industry has really dropped off in recent years so we were told, this is in fact, what created the prosperity on the island. per our driver, barbados is the most prosperous of all the caribbean islands.
before our official arrival, we were treated to a special welcome put on by the royal barbados police band (they are real police and they really play instruments as part of their "duty") as well as a brief talk given by a history lecturer at barbados community college, Trevor Marshall. he gave a good overview of the history of the island (as well as a really enthusiastic political thumbs up to the USA for electing Obama--something he thought impossible in his lifetime, a black man president of the US) and finished up the talk with a calypso song he sang: the honeymoon song.
the lyrics had to do with what initially seemed to be of a rather carnal nature...honeymooners and all. but as the song progressed, and the lyrics switched back and forth between the man on top/the woman on top/both on top...soon the point of the song was revealed. apparently the narrator of the song could no longer control his curiosity and peeked through the keyhole of the newlyweds room--at this point, what did he see? a giant suitcase that both the new bride and groom could not close alone! they each tried being on top, of the suitcase--alone. finally, together and ontop, they were able to close the suitcase. it was the perfect way to explain some of what is barbadian culture.
the island gained its independence from england in 1966. the government of barbados is a parliamentary democracy.
interesting to note tho, the "settlers" realized quite quickly that the land of barbados was not rich enough in soil to grow very many crops as intended. consequently, at some point, the people held as slaves were freed (i don't recall the dates we were told) and given the land that the settlers had earlier stolen, no doubt from the original inhabitants. the settlers left this caribbean isle in search of "more" somewhere else.
seems the formerly enslaved had the last laugh again--the property in barbados is extremely expensive and much sought after beachfront digs. amazing blue, blue water that is usually very warm and clear surrounds barbados. the sugar cane then flourished here, surpassing all expectation of "growing" the island and providing the people the ability to become quite prosperous. charging big time bucks for a little piece of paradise!
however, despite the advent of slavery and how it was perpetrated, the descendants of slave ancestors have kept many of the "mother country" traditions. whether that be of religious practices or of recreational past-times. they proudly play cricket here. english is the official language of this place. naturally, featuring a very clear island accent. the ethnic make-up here is: 90% black; 4% white; 6% asian and others--local population hovering at around 300K. religions practiced on barbados: protestant (including--anglican; pentecostal; methodist); roman catholic also; christian and a certain percentage that was unspecified. the food of this island would fit very easily in new orleans i am supposing. lots of seafood; stews made with oxtails and okra; spicy and fresh veggies such as tomatoes, onions and peppers. our ship has tried to feature some dishes that reflect where we are going and where we have been. this night, we had a really big BBQ--featuring jerk pork.
while we were on barbados, we visited the barbados wildlife reserve which is part of the larger barbados primate research centre. on our way, we passed the residences of rich and poor alike. the island is undergoing tremendous construction of large resort type buildings. some people here are so wealthy that they literally own both sides of the road!
seriously. i'm not kidding.
one particular residence that we passed belonged to a native barbadian who built his financial empire from the ground up. his home is sprawling and impressive. featuring his very own harbor for several boats and yachts.
at the wildlife reserve, the most remarkable thing we saw, i thought, was a prolific amount of tortoises. these tortoises were everywhere! they lumbered about without much concern of the humans gawking at them. i even walked beside one fairly energetic tortoise, literally keeping pace with the creature. the presence of my foot so near to its head--did not appear to be scary at all. most of the animals have been donated to the reserve. caimans originating in guyana; python coming from the UK; deer-like animals that are actually rodents, called "mara" came here by way of trinidad; green monkeys which originated in africa and were brought by early settlers (these monkeys are considered huge pests by the local farmers and a bounty is put on their heads--for reals); peacocks and macaws came from elsewhere too.
one special picture that we were able to get was of three different animal species feeding together--most notably, the monkey stealing the larger pieces quite easily. the mara, tortoises and monkeys shared their table and allowed us to snap their faces all the while. when i get home, i am going to try and offer my tortoise some sweet potato as a direct result of seeing what the animals at the reserve so enjoyed--especially the tortoises!
on our return to the harbor, we stopped by a local ceramic artists business. the breeze coming through the windows was wonderful. and his business overlooks pristine beaches and water as blue as a peacocks breast and tailfeathers. his pottery wheel, much to my surprise and grand appreciation, was completely manually operated. well, technically, he used his feet. but, you know what i mean. the wheel spun round and round; in no time at all, he fashioned a lovely finished piece from a lump of clay just moments earlier. he removed it from the wheel and placed it for proper drying prior to firing the p
iece.and tho it would seem silly to mention, his little doggie was a very nice treat. allowing me the chance to pass along a few greetings from my pooches at home.
another special picture i thought to take was of a cautionary nature--HIV education. in the midst of a local tourist stop, here this sign was. i will include it later.
soon the day was over and it was time to return to our "home". onward towards the mighty amazon.
for most of us, our most anticipated destination. we will be three days at sea before reaching the brown water heralding the entrance to this largest of rivers on planet earth.
It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself - Eleanor Roosevelt
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