Post-Carnival Roundup

Last Wednesday, we weren't completely sure whether or not to go to school because no one really seemed to be going since it was the day after Carnival. But, we decided to go anyways, which I thought was a pretty good decision. There were only 11 students out of about 60, I think, from forms 1-6 (except there's no form 3), but there were a few teachers and it was nice and quiet which I thought was kind of nice. Then on Thursday, we went again and there were 17 students; most of the teachers were there. But, there had been a student who was suspended but kept coming to school anyways. He was "unsuspended" today, but on Thursday he came and had a bunch of stones and ended up breaking a bunch of glass and threatening some of the teachers. No one was hurt, and everything turned out okay, but it was a little worrisome at the time. Because of all that, combined with the fact that we didn't think anyone would actually come on Friday, Roxy and I decided not to go to school on Friday. When our parents got up and got in the car to go grocery shopping, it turned out the car wouldn't start, so we couldn't have gone to school even if we had wanted to!
~Olivia

Last Friday, our family attended a 1-year-old's birthday party! However, it was very different from what we had expected. In fact, it was very much like the 25th anniversary celebration and memorial services we've attended in Trinidad, and not as much like what I had expected. It was a Thanksgiving like the other services I mentioned were. It had songs, prayers, and a sermon, much like a regular church service. There was barely any mention of the little boy until the sermon was over. Then he and his cousin (actually, his cousin's daughter), whose first birthday had been the day before, went up to the table where they put the cake and we sang The Happy Birthday Song to them, as well as Jesus Loves Me. After that, they served a huge meal like they do at all Thanksgivings, with roti, channa alloo, chicken, curried mango, pumpkin, and there were also soya chunks at this one. The dessert was ice cream (as ALWAYS, whether it's just a church meal or a birthday, or a Thanksgiving, or any big meal of any sort!) and birthday cake. Speaking of that roti, I helped to make some last Thursday! A lady from the Mennonite Church here came over and showed Mommy how to make 'Buss-up-shut' roti, also known as oil roti or paratha roti. Once she and Mommy had each flipped one (roti is cooked over a stove top), the lady suggested that I might want to cook and flip one too, which I did! My favourite part, though, is when the cooking is over and you take it off the stove. At that point, you put the roti into a towel and you 'buss it up'! This essentially means you smash up the towel until the roti is good and busted. I really liked this part, but I might have gotten a little overexcited and buss' it up too much. That's okay, though, because it still tasted good, plus it was so much fun!
~Roxy

I agree. That roti is our favorite kind to make and to eat. There are many kinds of roti in Trinidad. There are also many kinds of music. One of the nice things about the carnival season is that you really get a flavor for a variety of indigenous forms of music. They pretty much each have their own competition. Of course we had heard of the steel pan music before we arrived and enjoy that very much. They have junior and senior competitions for all the music pretty much but also have pan classifications for single, small, medium and large bands. Other forms include chutney and soca (a combination of soul and calypso). During carnival they are combined as musicians compete to be the soca chutney monarch. But my favorite discovery was calypso. I had an American idea of what that was, but it did not bare much resemblance to what it means here. The Kaiso calypso is a kind of music sung to an energetic beat and horns in which the state of the country is examined and sometimes funny sometimes poignant social commentary is leveled. It sometimes includes props and costumes to draw attention to the situation it speaks about. It is thoughtful and entertaining performance art. The most entertaining is the extempo competition in which people draw a topic and have to sing about it on the spot. The finalists are called on stage in pairs and banter back and forth as they sing trading good-natured insults either toward politicians or toward each other. While I'm glad to get back to normal here, I could listen to pan and Kaiso all year - while eating roti.
~Barb

Olivia mentioned that the car wouldn't start on Friday. When I turned the key, there was just a single click, and nothing more. Some of our friends sent over someone who was able to get it started so that we could take it in to a shop to have the starter worked on. It was fixed and running by Saturday noon, so we were able to get to church yesterday morning without any problem. Barb, however, had been planning to participate in a Lenten retreat over the weekend at the Mt. St. Benedict monastery. Without the car, though, she wasn't able to make it to the retreat.
~Richard