The Music of Barbados Is Slowly Growing On Me!
I have always listened to music ever since I was a wee kid growing up in Scotland. I’m maybe a wee bit older now and my music tastes are much more varied and wide as I have matured in years. Now a days, I listen to all types of music, well nearly all kinds, I can’t stand some of that European music that I will call Eurotrash.
Sometimes I listen to music when I need to relax or need cheering up, music can also be good for helping to create a romantic atmosphere, I’m sure most of you know what I mean!
I’m from Scotland, which is as most people are aware is part of the UK and we have always have and still do have very strong links with the USA. As a result of this my favourite bands and artists, which I have listened to throughout my life have been mainly, either from the UK or the USA.
Talking to family and friends in Barbados I found it funny how they haven’t even heard of some of my favourite bands of today, such as Oasis, Keane, Maroon 5, The Killers and Belle and Sebastian, and believe me these bands are all big in most countries in the world, they all sell millions of albums every year. I thought they were joking with me, but they were very serious.
I talked to them about older bands from the past and they hadn’t even heard of most of them, such as Stone Roses, Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Beatles, Nirvana. They had barely heard of any of them of, and they are all household names in most countries in the world. If I asked someone from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, I’m pretty sure they would be aware of every single band that I mentioned.
From living in Barbados I know that the predominant kinds of music that the Bajans listen to is, Calypso, Reggae, Gospel, Steal Pans and R&B. But I couldn’t tell you of many musicians that played these types of music, apart from some reggae and R&B artists, before I began living in Barbados. Now that I’m living on the Island I must admit I’m starting to like some of the Calypso music that I’m hearing and I also find the steel pan music kind of soothing.
I suppose the point of this article is to educate the Bajans that are still living in Barbados or haven’t travelled, to the fact that there are other forms of music out there that they need to start listening too. I would like to think that any Bajans that have moved away from Barbados and are living in more culturally diverse countries, that they have expanded there horizons and are now listening to a more diverse range of music styles.
Crime and Punishment In Barbados Is What I Call Real Justice!
I don’t know about you, but one thing that I really hate in life is the criminal class, by that I mean those that think it is okay to steal, beat or kill. You will always get a certain element of society in every country in the world that are criminals, it just the way of the world. There has been good and evil existing in the world ever since God kicked the Angel of Light, otherwise known as Satan out of heaven.
Thankfully most people know the difference between right and wrong and live their life in a law abiding decent manner. Most of us have no desire to kill or beat anybody just because they happened to get in our way, or just because we don’t have enough money, we don’t go out and rob people or businesses.
If I don’t have enough money I will work harder. I remember a few years back when times were hard for me; I was working 3 jobs to make ends meet. It never crossed my mind to take from others what wasn’t rightfully mine. Eventually things worked out for me and things sorted themselves out, due to working hard and believing that if I continued to do so, things would work out, my positivity and faith to move forward never wavered.
Here in Barbados it is no different to any other country in the world, it has it’s share of criminals. I have heard it said that the crime rate in Barbados is fairly low and as far as I’m aware it is. You will see the occasional murder here, usually low life’s that have fallen out with each other. The local newspapers in Barbados are much like back home in Scotland, you have a section devoted to those bad boys and girls that have appeared in court to answer for the crimes they have committed.
I must admit as a law-abiding citizen that works hard, I am very impressed with the police who obviously catch the criminals, the judges and courts of law in Barbados. They don’t just give them a slap on the wrist here and let them get back on with their criminal lives. You break the law here and you will get a punishment that is truly worthy of the crime that you committed.
I have heard of a case of someone that went to prison for murder and he was giving a life sentence, and life here means life. He will never see the light of day again as a freeman, and seemingly his sentence includes that if they ever bring back the death penalty to Barbados, he will get it.
A few weeks I was reading The Courts section in the paper and it said Liar with deodorant sent to Dodds, {the prison). Even I thought that was a bit harsh, but as it turned out it was fair. The judge asked the criminal if the police had charged him before, the defendant responded that they had, but it had been discontinued. The judge made a check and it transpired that they had a criminal record for offenses such as burglary, theft, drugs and receiving stolen property. The judges response to the criminal was I cant stand liars and sent him to jail for 6 months all for stealing two roll on deodorants worth BDS$25.10 from a supermarket. In fact I think the sentence was too short!
Another case I recently read about involved a clay pigeon shooting gun enthusiast that, owned some guns and bullets that were never registered. It transpired that he must have fallen out with a friend, who then made the police aware of his illegal haul. He was fined BDS$55,000, which has to be paid within 24 months or he will spend 5 years in prison. That should teach the criminal a valuable lesson.
I’m a strong believer that criminals should be punished properly for the crimes that they commit. I feel that back home in Scotland and the UK as a whole that the Judges and courts, do not give adequate sentences to those that break the law. The law seems to be more in favour of those that are committing the crimes as opposed to those that suffer at the hands of the criminals. Fortunately those that break the law in Barbados will pay a very heavy price for breaking the law.
Lunch Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This!
Sometimes in life the simple things are what makes me tick, I have been to some of the most famous cities in the world and eaten in some of fanciest restaurants in the world in cities such as London, Paris, Barcelona, Edinburgh, Amsterdam to name a few. I wont deny they were memorable cities and meals and I wont forget them in a hurry, nor will I forget the dent that they made in my wallet because I sure aint rich.
What I love about life in Barbados is that if I need a break from work or if work is finished, a fantastic beach is only a short distance away no matter where I happen to be on the island. For me nothing beats heading down to a beautiful beach and just sitting watching the clear blue sea and going for a wee walk along the sands.
I suppose my love of beaches and the sea, stems from having been born and having growing up in a city called Aberdeen, which is in Scotland. We also have some of the most amazing beaches in the world and I would often head down there to spend some time chilling out and relaxing. I can’t see myself ever living anywhere that wasn’t relatively close to good beaches and the sea.
The other day I had been working since about 5am and the clock had just struck 2pm. The faithful rooster that lives next door was crowing like crazy, telling me that It was time to call it day as far as work was concerned. I for one have no intention of working myself into an early grave, and anyway I had got through a power of work. I could rest assured that I had earned my trip to the beach. For me there is no point in working hard if there is no reward at the end of the day, it is what makes me feel good about life and being alive, is having the opportunity to spend some time relaxing with loved ones.
I had been so focussed on work and running around meeting people, that I had missed lunch. Fortunately the garage just across the road from Oistins Fish Fry sells the most amazing hot dogs that I have probably tasted in my life, but my wife tells me there is another garage in Barbados that even surpasses them. It only cost about $15 for a 2 loaded hot dogs, 2 mauby’s and can of Heineken, which is about £3.75 back, home in Scotland.
The best thing about my late lunch was the view and being able to sit in the sun watching the sea and the fisherman with their spearguns hunting the fish in the bay and this was absolutely free. Everything was perfect the company of my wife, the food and drinks and the location were as perfect as it can get.
Sometimes in life the simple things are all I need to keep me motivated and on the road to living a happy and fulfilling life. The meal maybe only cost me $15 but It will have a ever lasting effect on my memory. I felt truly inspired to continue working hard to achieve my dreams and aims from life!
The Scottish Connection Seems To Be Everywhere In Barbados!
Since I have arrived in Barbados I would have to be blind not be aware that there is a very noticeable Scottish connection in Barbados. For example yesterday I went to my nearest local supermarket that is called the Montrose Supermarket, which is a town in Scotland and I bought some bakery products that were produced by the Dundee bakery, which is the fourth largest city in Scotland. Here I was a loon from the Granite City otherwise known as Aberdeen, which is obviously the best city in Scotland, doing my shopping in Barbados and everything around me had Scottish roots of some sort!
As everyone that lives in Barbados is aware and most people that have visited Barbados know that there is an area on the Island called the Scottish District, which was given this name by the early Scottish settlers, because it is the highest and least flat area in Barbados, because they felt that it resembled their homeland. I must admit that the scenery and views, which you get in the Scottish District in Barbados, are spectacular and even remind me a wee bit of my homeland, but it sure doesn’t ever get this hot back in Scotland.
I have even came across a interesting story about a Scottish Pirate known as Red Legs Greaves, which I feel deserves an article all of it’s own. It will be appearing on my blog in the near future once my research has been completed.
A few days ago, one of my wife’s cousins boyfriend who is a fisherman was round at our house and he sort of looks like how I would have imagined Red Legs Greaves to look like, this guy looks like a real modern day pirate. He then proceeded to tell me that his granddad was originally from the Fife Region of Scotland. He then showed me an old photograph of his proud looking Granddad dressed up in the full Highland outfit.
Here I am the latest Scottish arrival in Barbados trying to carve out a new life for myself in this amazing part of the Caribbean. Life maybe is hugely different to life back home in Scotland and I guess that’s what I find so appealing about living here.
I’m currently in the process of putting together some ideas for a Scottish meal that I have planned for the weekend, some of he wife’s relatives have somehow managed to persuade me to cook some Scottish food, so they can sample it. I’m not sure if I can handle the pressure, I sure aint a good cook, so I need to come up with something fairly simple. But that’s another story!
Yesterday I Thought It Was the End of World, Thankfully I Was Mistaken!
Yesterday I thought for a horrible second that the end of the world was happening before my very eyes. I could hear a mighty rumbling noise suddenly appearing from nowhere, it was getting louder and louder by the second, which meant one thing that it was obviously getting closer to my house. I stood up and looked out my bedroom window and all I could see was a huge thick trail of horrible smoke and hear an almost deafening noise.
I thought for a split second something horrible was going wrong, I thought maybe the yanks had sent a snatch squad to get me for a derogatory article I had written about President George Bush a few months ago, it was maybe derogatory but it was all very true. I would occasionally look up at the satellite burning bright in the night sky and wave up at the CIA saying come and get me, I thought maybe freedom of speech was thing of the past in the eyes of the Americans.
As I looked out my window I was wondering where all this thick smoke and noise was coming from, it was too late to make a run for it. I would have to take my fate like a man, whatever it was. I was in a kind a daze for a few seconds, trying to figure things out.
Then all of a sudden my wife came into the room and put me out of my misery, it was Government workers spraying, what I can only assume are chemicals of some sort to kill bugs such as mosquitoes. I have never seen anything like this in all of my life. I went outside for a wee look and could make out the truck through all the smoke.
If I had been walking down a street and I had seen that cloud of thick smoke and all the noise that was coming with it, heading towards me, I would have turned around and ran like I was an Olympian sprinting champion. It was almost as scary a site, as when I look at my bank account, which isn’t a pretty site for me!
It must have taken about 10 minutes until the smoke and noise of the truck eventually faded into the background and my little corner of Barbados that I call home returned to its normal levels of tranquillity. Which is only broken when the roosters crow or some bad boy drives down the road too fast with gangsta rap blasting out their car window.
For those of you that enjoy what you are reading, why not take a wee look at the sister site to this one, called Barbados Photo Blog.
20 Interesting Facts About Barbados That You Should Know!
I have put together a list of what I feel are interesting facts about the Caribbean Island of Barbados. Now that I’m living on the Island I’m making a real effort to learn as much as I can about my new home. I feel that it is my duty as a guest in Barbados to become more aware of what the island is all about.
20 Interesting Facts About Barbados:
- Barbados has a democratic government and its parliament comprises of 30 seats. Its parliament is actually modelled on the British Westminster system.
- The English first colonists arrived on the Island on February 17, 1627. The ship landed at site now called Holetown with 80 colonists and 10 African slaves.
- Britain ruled over Barbados until it gained its independence on the 30th of November 1966.
- The first Prime Minister of Barbados was Errol Barrow on the above date.
- The Motto of Barbados is “Pride and Industry”.
- The National Anthem is “In Plenty and In Time of Need.
- The national flower is the Pride of Barbados or Caesalpinia Pulcherrima, which grows all over the island.
- The prime mister is David Thomson and the current ruling party is the Democratic Labour party who came in to power on January 15th 2008 after winning 20 of the 30 seats.
- Barbados is 166 square miles in size and is divided into 11 different parishes.
- Barbados has over 3000 hours of sunshine a year and the average daytime temperature is between 29-31degrees Celsius.
- Currency The Barbados Dollar is tied to the US Dollar at a fixed rate of US$1.00 = BDS$1.98. The US Dollar is readily accepted everywhere on the island.
- The time difference in Barbados is 4 hours behind GMT in the winter and 5 hours in the summer, 1 hour ahead of US Eastern Standard Time in the winter and the same during US Daylight Saving Time.
- Barbados is situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, which is situated in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
- Barbados is only 434 Kilometres northeast of the South American country of Venezuela. Its closest neighbours are Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the west, Grenada to the south-west and Trinidad and Tobago to the south.
- Barbados is the most easterly island in the Caribbean and is considered part of the Lesser Antilles.
- They drive on the correct side of the road in Barbados, which is of course the left side of the road.
- Taxi fares in Barbados are not metered; fares are actually set between certain points. It goes without saying to always ask how much before you get into a taxi.
- One of the first signatures on the original United States constitution was a Barbadian as was the printer of the document.
- The legal drinking age for alcohol in Barbados is 18, but those that are aged 10-17 are allowed to consume alcohol provided they are with a parent.
- Barbados is seemingly one of the most densely populated countries in the world; It sure doesn’t feel that way! It is also seemingly has one of the most dense road networks in the world, I can believe this one!
There you have it 20 interesting snippets of information that I have learned about the Caribbean island of Barbados.
Mamoncillo Sure Does Taste Sweet and Delicious
Even though I have being coming to Barbados for a number of years as a visitor and I have now moved to the island, for some inexplicable reason I had never eaten an ackee. The official botanical name for the ackee is Mamoncillo, and it is a fruit that grows in small bunches on a tree.
Ackee’s are a fairly common fruit in Barbados, and most days I will come across someone selling them, either on a makeshift stall in the street, kids selling them door to door, or even people walking down the centre of the road selling them to people in their cars.
I must admit I’m not sure why I hadn’t tried them, I suppose they look harmless enough. They are not something I had ever came across in Britian or anywhre else I have traveled to in Europe. I suppose the nearest fruit I have seen to a ackee in Britian is the Chinese fruit called lychee, which are a personal favourite of mine.
I went to pick up the Kid from his Lessons, and he showed me a small bag of something, which he said his teacher had given to him. I had believe it or not, had never seen an ackee so close up before. He told me what it was and then he proceded to give me a lesson in how to eat it, which was good because it was kind of confusing me, he told me “you just gently bite it to take the skin off and then suck the fruit, don’t bite it because there is a hard seed inside and you could break your teeth”.
I couldn’t let the kid down, so I cracked the skin on one of the ackee’s with my teeth, it opened up real easy. I then with some apprehension started sucking on that ackee, it tasted real sweet and delicious. The only bad thing was that the seed takes up most of the volume of the fruit.
Further along the road we caught up with the 2 young children that had been selling them door to door, I couldn’t resist I bought 3 fairly big bunches for $6, which is a bargain. I just cant believe that I have left it such a long time to finally taste ackee’s and that I actually love them.
I bought 3 bunches, but they didn’t last long in our house hold, when I went into the fridge to have some for breakfast the next morning, there were only about 6 left. There is clearly some other secret lovers of ackee’s in our household in Barbados.
I have even heard it said that Bajan ackee’s not only taste delicious but they are seemingly an aphrodisiac that will do your libido the world of good. What can I say to that, apart from go buy some and find out for yourself.
Keep Barbados Tidy, Stop Littering You Clowns
To whoever this may concern, for those of you out there that think it is acceptable behaviour to not use a rubbish bin to dispose of your litter. What gives you the right to litter your environment, do you not realise it attracts vermin, do you not realise it is absolutely disgusting behaviour.
It use to annoy the hell out of me back home in Scotland when I would see litter in the streets, it would really, really annoy me when I use to see litter dumped on a beautiful beach.
Just before I started my travels in the middle of May, I took my dog to the local park in Aberdeen for a walk, the previous day had been a beautiful warm and sunny Sunday and I can imagine the park would have bee fairly busy with people enjoying the weather. In fact I could tell it had been busy because there was piles of carrier bags full of rubbish all over the place. What I couldn’t understand is that the people who had dumped them, would only have had to walk about 5 metres to put there rubbish in the bin. A old lady actually picked up all of the rubbish and put it into the bins herself.
I would say that in Scotland we do not generally have a huge problem with littering. Over the years there have been various media campaigns by the Government to get people to stop littering and dumping rubbish. In fact in Scotland there is now a law in place where by if you get caught throwing litter on the street you will get an on the spot fine of £50 if you get caught. But you will always get a certain element of society that doesn’t really care.
I for one find it difficult to understand those people that cannot be bothered to put their litter into a rubbish bin. How the hell do they think it is ok to just drop it on the ground, whenever or wherever they feel like. I watched a guy walking down the street with his kids in Bridgetown, Barbados the other day gladly drop a piece of litter on the street, I felt like giving him a kick in ass and telling him to pick it the hell up and put in a bin.
The reason I’m raising the issue and awareness of rubbish is because I have seen how bad it is in Barbados and I have seen it mentioned on numerous travel related sites by people that have visited Barbados and believe me they are very vocal in there complaints. What is more disturbing for the Barbados Government is that most of the complaints I have seen are from Americans.
From what I can gather the Government is spending millions on trying to attract more Americans to visit this beautiful part of the world. Maybe David Thomson and the DLP party needs to take some drastic action to deal with the problem of littering in Barbados. I wouldn’t be surprised if as I write this David Thomson is putting together an action plan to deal with littering in Barbados, because I feel through his leadership the Island is in good hands.
Barbados for me is undoubtedly a beautiful Island, but paradise doesn’t quite feel like that if you see the beaches littered with rubbish strewn all over the place. I know how important the tourism industry is to Barbados and how much money it brings into the country for not only the Government but also for the people of the country.
How much effort does it really take to put your litter in the bin, how much effort does it take to make your children aware of the importance of putting their rubbish in a bin, to keep your country beautiful. Just do it!
Barbados and Hardcore Exercise, Can My Body Take It?
Today I felt a real big compulsion to get myself back into shape and start exercising on a regular basis again. I have worked out on a regular basis since I was about 19, which I will admit is quite a few years ago. I would attend the gym regularly and was also into kickboxing in a big way for the last 6 years. I was basically training 4 or 5 times a week, which kept me in fairly good condition.
I must admit since I arrived in Barbados all those weeks ago, I haven’t really done much exercising, apart from occasionally doing a little bit of boogie boarding and swimming in the sea. I haven’t even being doing much walking since I got here; it is just too dam hot during the day to go and walk for 3 or 4 miles, let along run it. I would surely die very quickly and painfully if I was go for a run in Barbados. Because of the lack of pavements in Barbados it isn’t really practical to go walking here at night when it gets dark.
I’m starting to lose the athletic body I once had, and I don’t like it, I’m starting to feel unfit, which is even worse. So today I got up nice and early, my faithful alarm clock that pesky rooster next door made sure of that! I think it was about 6 am when I finally rose from my slumber, I’m not too sure because my eyes were still blurred when I looked at the clock.
I had 2 cans of power max, which would hopefully give me the energy for a power walk. My plan was to walk down to the beach beside Ostins Fish Fry and walk home. The walk there wasn’t too much of a problem, it took me about 15 minutes walking a real fast pace to reach my destination. When I got there, I sat down on a bench, drank my water and relaxed watching the Caribbean Sea gently hitting the shore.
I sat for about 10 minutes trying to talk myself out of walking back, it was all virtually up hill and the sun was getting hotter by the minute. I was starting to lose my motivation to walk back, I was getting too relaxed. But I fought the lazy part of my mind and kicked myself in the butt and got back on the road.
The walk back home took about 30 minutes and I it was much more of a challenge than the walk there. I was sweating like crazy and out of breath, it however felt good to be exercising again, I felt the most alive I have since I arrived in Barbados.
When I got home, I worked out in the back yard with some dumbbells for 30 minutes and also did some exercises. I maybe felt like I was going to die at some points during my workout, but I will reap the benefits eventually.
I know I will very quickly feel the benefits of exercising on a regular basis, I will feel better about myself, I will have more energy, I will feel more alive, that is of course if the heat of Barbados doesn’t get me first!
Further Reading:
For those of you that enjoy what you are reading, why not take a wee look at the sister site to this one, called Barbados Photo Blog.
It Sometimes Gets A Wee Bit Boring In Paradise!
Last night was one of those nights when I felt a little bit bored and wanted something different to do. As much as I like living in Barbados, it sometimes gets a little bit limited as to what there is to do. But such is the joys of living in paradise I suppose; you can’t have your cake and eat it as the saying goes!
Anybody that is originally from Barbados and has left the island to live and work in foreign places such as the USA, UK, Canada etc will probably understand what I’m saying more so than any Bajans that have never left the shores of Barbados or the Caribbean.
As beautiful a paradise as Barbados is, I feel it does lack a bit if you want do something different once the sun has set, other than eat out, go to a bar or party. I suppose I could go and see a movie, but the choice is limited to the two different movies that are showing at any given time, and quite frankly Hellboy and The Incredible Hulk didn’t appeal to me last night.
Maybe as I spend longer living in Barbados I will discover new things to do and places to go, when I start to get a wee bit bored at night. It also takes a bit of getting use to how early it starts to get dark in Barbados, back home in the North East of Scotland at this time of the year it wouldn’t start to get dark until about 10 pm. I have seen myself rollerblading along the Aberdeen Boardwalk, which stretches for I guess about 2 miles along our beachfront at 10pm at night, and then I would head along to one of the multiplex cinemas and choose from 7 different movies.
So last night me and the family sought solace in junk food, I phoned up KFC about 8pm and was told they stopped home deliveries at 7pm, I thought the assistant was having a laugh with me, but alas they were very serious. I must add that KFC in Barbados tastes so much better than the rubbish that they sell us back home in Scotland.
What could we do, but jump in the car and head down to the KFC at Oistins and get it our selves. When we got there I couldn’t resist but heading across the road to Oistins Fish Fry for some of the best fishcakes that you will ever taste.
Back home I had a couple of bottles of Banks Beer chilling in the freezer waiting for me, to wash down the food with. The fishcakes and KFC were as delicious as ever.
I ended up sitting on my porch drinking an ice-cold bottle of Banks Beer playing Tetris on my mobile phone. Now I haven’t played Tetris since I was in primary school and that was a long time ago. I suppose my feeling of being bored soon disappeared, because before long it was 12pm.
I would say being bored in paradise isn’t so bad after all, I just have to let my body, mind and soul get use to doing different things, I just have to find new ways to relax. For the record my best score at Tetris was 9450.
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