just when you thought the day was over ...
Well, I must say that I have a lot of special memories of each and every day of this recent holiday - involving so many other special places and special folks that may not get mentioned - not because those moments were any less special, but because this day really stands out in my mind right now, as I grapple with a colder than normal early June in Toronto.
In case you're wondering, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th photos in this blog are NOT recent, but from 1990! Now, back to 2009 - one week into this trip, the first Saturday was THE day that finally brought things full circle for me ... the day that I truly fell in love with "my special island" all over again. And, finally ... one of my old friends was visiting the island for the first time, one of the
people who was part of my circle of friends, 21 years ago when I first went to St. Kitts and moved into the Jack Tar Village for the better part of a year ... Finally, a member of my old Toronto "crew" who never really understood at the time why I would go to work on an undeveloped Caribbean island that nobody had ever really heard of, where 
there were few if any paved roads and nothing , nothing but sugar cane. And which, in fact several of our friends had ties to, but never visited because in their words, "there's nothing there."Ah, but that was then, and this is now. Finally, a loyal friend trusted my judgement enough to forgo the usual package-deal vacation that Canadians seem to love so much, and just come check the place out and see what all the hype was about. Now he can't stop talking about the place to all our other friends, and I have proof that I am not totally crazy for spending three times every oth
er average Canadian's beach-holiday budget to keep coming back to the same place time after time ... even after I had quit the place cold-turkey for nigh on 16 years! At last, someone else fell into the abyss of this bizarre addiction! Vincent got bit by the bug too!
er average Canadian's beach-holiday budget to keep coming back to the same place time after time ... even after I had quit the place cold-turkey for nigh on 16 years! At last, someone else fell into the abyss of this bizarre addiction! Vincent got bit by the bug too!So, on this special day, between wrapping up the island tour and driving back to Frigate Bay, we got talking about certain changes I had noticed. Inevitably, the talk turned to food, and even though I love some of the nicer restaurants that have recently opened and even though the Shiggidy Shack will always be home-base for reliable and affordable indulgences in Mahi and Snapper, I did mention that I couldn't seem to find authentically prepared "local" veggies. Even at Cathy's on the Frigate Bay strip, the offerings seemed a bit skimpy this year. Now, by local veg, I meant pumpkin, chr
istophene, breadfruit and "food" ... "hard provisions" ... you know, things like yam, tania, dasheen ... as well as more "common" veggies like local carrots (which are SO much sweeter than those we grow here in Canada) ... So, Ms M replies that I could always buy some at the market in town, and cook them in my kitchen at TBR. Yeah, right! Nope, I don't think so. I wanted my local veggies cooked by a local chef! Ah, but it was Saturday! Street-food day! And Ms M knew that we had time to swing back into town to see what the true local cooks had on offer at their road-side and sidewalk stands!
So, we pull up in front of one stand and all they have is Stew Mutton and Blood Pudding ... no ve
ggies. The next one had two different kinds of Salt Fish and big, freshly prepared Johnny Cakes. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Salt Fish? And Johnnycakes? All memories of local veggies flew out of my mind, and I quickly jumped out of the car to place our orders. Vince follows close behind and starts asking a thousand questions of the ladi
es who were selling the food ... You would think that he was doing a cross-cultural study on the different ways that cod-fish is prepared around the Caribbean. Yes, in retrospect, I think that is exactly what he was doing, seeing as he hails from Barbados originally. Since he was raised on cuisine that has much less of the Creole influence in its presentation, Vince wanted to make sure he would like what he bought, before he actually made a commitment.
istophene, breadfruit and "food" ... "hard provisions" ... you know, things like yam, tania, dasheen ... as well as more "common" veggies like local carrots (which are SO much sweeter than those we grow here in Canada) ... So, Ms M replies that I could always buy some at the market in town, and cook them in my kitchen at TBR. Yeah, right! Nope, I don't think so. I wanted my local veggies cooked by a local chef! Ah, but it was Saturday! Street-food day! And Ms M knew that we had time to swing back into town to see what the true local cooks had on offer at their road-side and sidewalk stands!So, we pull up in front of one stand and all they have is Stew Mutton and Blood Pudding ... no ve
ggies. The next one had two different kinds of Salt Fish and big, freshly prepared Johnny Cakes. Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE Salt Fish? And Johnnycakes? All memories of local veggies flew out of my mind, and I quickly jumped out of the car to place our orders. Vince follows close behind and starts asking a thousand questions of the ladi
es who were selling the food ... You would think that he was doing a cross-cultural study on the different ways that cod-fish is prepared around the Caribbean. Yes, in retrospect, I think that is exactly what he was doing, seeing as he hails from Barbados originally. Since he was raised on cuisine that has much less of the Creole influence in its presentation, Vince wanted to make sure he would like what he bought, before he actually made a commitment. What was really cute about this food-stop was the fact that Vince and the ladies were having difficulty communicating. He kept insisting that Johnnycakes should be called dumplings, while the ladies kept insisting that dumplings are entirely something else ... and of course, I completely agreed with them. Then at one point, Vince starts asking me to please translate what the ladies were saying ... because he couldn't understand them. So I did ... several times. Then I stopped mid-sentence and asked "what is wrong with this picture? ... Why am I translating from West Indian to West Indian, when I am not even remotely from the Caribbean myself?" And the ladies just stared at me for a moment, and then we all broke down in gales of hysterical laughter ... and Vincent was scolded, albeit, good-naturedly, for losing his ability to listen "with a West Indian ear."
So, before we eve
n made it up the hills of Half Moon/Frigate Bay, we gorged ourselves on Saltfish and Johnnycakes (Bakes or Dumplings according to Vince) ... Heavenly, and even better than I remembered from last year or 20 years ago for that matter. And we still found room for dinner at Rock Lobster later that night.**
At the end of the day, I knew that as the rest of the world changes, inevitably, the Federation does too ... but if l follow the "circle island road" and put my trust in old and new Kittitian friends, I will always find my way back to what I love the most about this special place. And I now have the satisfaction of knowing that I am sharing something special with old and new friends in a way that renders time meaningless.
** OK, maybe I didn't enjoy my dinner so much, because I had an allergic reaction to some onion rings, that were fried in the same oil as the shrimp that accompanied someone else's dinner ... but thanks to Nancy, and her new-found "driving on the wrong side" abilities, we raced quickly back to my room, where I dosed up on Benadryl, raced back to the restaurant, where nobody even noticed that I was gone, and Vince and Ms M were engaged in a lively debate over how to smuggle a pitcher of Margaritas out of the restaurant. Can a day get any more perfect than this?
n made it up the hills of Half Moon/Frigate Bay, we gorged ourselves on Saltfish and Johnnycakes (Bakes or Dumplings according to Vince) ... Heavenly, and even better than I remembered from last year or 20 years ago for that matter. And we still found room for dinner at Rock Lobster later that night.**At the end of the day, I knew that as the rest of the world changes, inevitably, the Federation does too ... but if l follow the "circle island road" and put my trust in old and new Kittitian friends, I will always find my way back to what I love the most about this special place. And I now have the satisfaction of knowing that I am sharing something special with old and new friends in a way that renders time meaningless.
** OK, maybe I didn't enjoy my dinner so much, because I had an allergic reaction to some onion rings, that were fried in the same oil as the shrimp that accompanied someone else's dinner ... but thanks to Nancy, and her new-found "driving on the wrong side" abilities, we raced quickly back to my room, where I dosed up on Benadryl, raced back to the restaurant, where nobody even noticed that I was gone, and Vince and Ms M were engaged in a lively debate over how to smuggle a pitcher of Margaritas out of the restaurant. Can a day get any more perfect than this?
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