Sunday, August 5, 2007

A Way of Life

While in Barbados, we wanted to bring back a real souvineer for the family that was looking after our house while we were away. It can be hard to find something locally made that you can pack and trust it won't be in a million pieces by the time you get home. You know how hard the airline baggage handlers can be on your bags!
We decided a conch shell that you can blow. Blowing a conch is something you hear at a cricket match in the W.I. It just isn't the same without it. Anyway......... we drove around quite a bit before we found this man selling conch shells on the side of the road. He had to saw off the top and make a small hole which is where you would blow to get that nice familiar sound.
What better way to communicate over several acres than to blow a conch? We bought 2. One for us and one for our friends. It also serves as a "come home" sound for my boys. And yes, I can blow it!




OK this..........this is pretty disgusting. But it's real. Real life. At my regular hang out place in Barbados, home of the Action Man, Brian Talma - Action Beach as they like to call it now, I think formally called Silver Rock Beach. Across the street is a rum shop and every weekend, the locals love to gather and banter about all sorts of things. They get into heated arguments and can be very loud, but at the same time, very entertaining. This group of men bought a pig head and they decided to cook it on a make shift stove top and boil it in sea water....... yes, full of sand as well. By the time they eat it, they'll be so drunk, they won't even notice the grit from the sand. Not my choice of food for a Saturday afternoon.