A tongue-in-cheek tail about dogs

As I wrote this little tale, I couldn’t help  but think of what my students at Antigua State College would say about this piece of US culture.

Dogs in Antigua do not enjoy the status that they have in the US. I I live in a very dog-friendly community. There are parks that are open to unleashed dogs a few times each day. It seems that many people in my community have more than one dog. I think this is because the owners don’t want their dogs to be lonely during the day. There are doggy day cares, if the owner cares to socialize their dogs while they are at work. There are also dog walkers…someone you pay to have your dog taken on a walk while you away.

There are big dogs and small dogs, pretty dogs and ugly dogs, and friendly dogs and unfriendly dogs. The dogs in my community are “special” dogs…they are pure bred, expensive dogs that come with papers that certify that they are who you think they are. Most dogs are very clean and don’t smell too badly. There are dog spas where you can take your dog to get washed, combed, manicured, and have their teeth brushed. After a visit at the spa, your dog is good to go.

Dogs see their doctors for regular visits. Dogs can be treated for any disease that they can get, if you want to pay for it. You can buy medical insurance for your dog, to cover costly cancer treatments, reconstructive surgeries, allergies, etc. You can take your dog to a dog psychologist to find out why he is sad, or bad, or mad.

Dogs in my community do not bark in public. They seem to know that this would be in bad taste. Dogs are walked by their owners, though some owners seem to be walked by their dogs. Dogs are not allowed out in public by themselves. They must be put on a leash, as there are “leash laws”. If your dog runs away, he may be caught by an animal control officer, and you may have to pay a large fine to get him back. When you are out and want to pet a dog, it is courtesy to ask the dog owners it you can. Most owners love to show off their dogs, so usually you can pet the dog. However, sometimes the owners are not interested in slowing down their walk or sometimes the dogs aren’t friendly and shouldn’t be approached.

Some of the storefront owners put out a water dish for dogs that are out and about on their daily jaunt and would like to quench their thirst. There are two specialty dog-supply stores in my community. But I think they are called boutiques, with “cute” names. In the winter, dogs are outfitted with coats, sweaters, and scarves to keep them warm.

When dogs poop, their owners are obliged to clean up after them. Then the owners walk around with a plastic bag of poop until they can find a trashcan to put it in. Sometimes these bags smell very bad. Dog owners with big dogs carry big bags. Dog owners with little dogs, carry little bags. There are some “special” trashcans just for this purpose. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs, but I’m not interested in carrying a poop bag around the town.

Waldadli Day, February 25, 2012

Waldadli Day is a festival that was held at the Botanical Gardens on Saturday: From 11:00 am until it’s over, sometime in the evening.   I was happy about the location because I hadn’t yet visited the Botanical Gardens.  I should know “island time” by now, but old habits die hard.  I arrived about 11:30 thinking I might have lunch at the festival, but when I arrived, people were just beginning to set up their booths.  So I came back at 3:30; a better time to observe the Warri Championship.

Wadadli Day is a day of celebration of indigenous culture.  There were food booths, of course, crafts, face painting, balloons and the like for children, and there were bands playing Caribbean music.

 The face painting was interesting.  The women painting here used a stencil, but the process of painting was quite involved.  This boy was very happy with the results.

 Not too many people in Antigua either have or use cameras.  The little boy was very happy to see the cat he was chosen as his tatoo.

Despite the looks of this...the guy in the green shirt won the game.

I was very interested in the Warri contests.    Warri is similar to chess in that is requires sophisticated and intricate strategies in order to win.  Ashanti slaves brought it to the various islands in the Caribbean.  According to some sources, the board used was quite plain; just a thick piece of wood with six hollowed out spaces on each side of the board and two hollowed out spaces on each end of the board.

Because many landowners did not favor this activity, the board might be confiscated and destroyed if it was found.  Therefore, little craftsmanship went into making the boards when the game was introduced to this hemisphere.   Despite this negative view of the game by landowners, the game persisted through the oral traditon. Many of the boards I saw today seemed to be very old and very used.

Warri means “house” and the game is revolves around “houses” that are represented by hollowed out spaces on each side of the board. The counters are called nickars made of a small hard nut of the Guillandria bush that grows in Antigua, usually near the beaches (I’ll need to begin looking for these and let you know when I find some).  When the nuts are tossed into the hollows they make a great “knocking” sound.

The game is played by two people who each start with twenty-four nickars, which they put each of their six houses…four in each. . The object of the game is to capture twenty-five nickars.  You do this by taking the nickars from the houses of your opponent as you move nickars around the board.  I only have a vague idea of how this is done; the playing for me was too fast, though people were very courteous in trying to explain it to me.  Google “Warri” for a much better explanation than I could give of how to play.

A handshake after the game is over. The guy in the pink shirt won the game; I thought the guy in the white shirt won...so much for my understanding of the game.

It was easy to see that players were strategic in their play.  Like chess, the game starts with some basic moves and I’m sure like chess, if a new player makes a “bad” move the game is over quickly.  Also like chess when you give up your “knight” or important piece, you may need to replay some of your captured nickars in order to win the game.  Frankly, when the games were over, I couldn’t really tell who won.  But it was fun being in the midst of the tournament.

I’m going to bring a board and some nickars home!

Clean clear water.

I know I realized it before now, but last week during my trip to Darkwood Beach I appreciated how clean the water in Antigua really is.

Is this clean?  It is amazing!

Every beach seems to be crystal clear.  I haven’t been to all 356 beaches in Antigua, but I’ve been to a few of them on all sides of the island and it seems that the water at every beach looks like this.  Even when there is seaweed that has washed ashore, the water is beautiful.

I watched some kite surfers at Jabberwock Beach.  These kites are about 10 feet wide.  They attach to a waist halter.  Once they are up in the air, the surfer needs to get into the water and put on what looks like a single water ski. Off they go.

I think I’m good.  I don’t need to try this any time soon.

 

Slavery on Antigua

The English began to colonize Antigua around 1623 with settlements at Carlisle Bay and Falmouth.  These turned out to be very strategic settlements during the French and British wars around 1680 as both harbours are protected by cliffs.  The “Famous” Captain Kidd joined with Codrington (a large land owner in Antigua) to fight against the French on Marie Galante.  Later they rescued the British militia on St. Martin.  However, Kidd and his crew “grew tired of risking their lives for noble purposes” so they stole a ship a Falmouth harbor and began their lives as pirates.

Captain Kidd, protector of Antigua, turned pirate.

At first the English grew tobacco and then indigo and ginger, but then prices fell due to a glutted market. At first the settlements used indentured workers to provide labor.  These servants were free men and women from poor backgrounds, offenders’ and debtors’ sentences to labor and political prisoners sent to the West Indies.

During the second half of the 17^th century wealthy landowners in Antigua began to import African  for slaves; they brought them from Africa under the most appalling conditions.

How Africans were transported aboard ships bound for Antigua and other islands.

Africans were sold at auctions…

Africans were branded…

and tortured…

and beaten.

In 1735 a plot masterminded by Prince Klass, an Ashanti slave on Antigua, to massacre all planters was uncovered before its execution. Prince Klass and his follower were arrested.  On October 20, 1735   Prince Klass was executed along with 87 other conspirators.

Prince Klass by considered a national hero in Antigua.  In October 2011, on the 30th anniversary of Antigua’s independence, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua pardoned, exonerated, and expunged the unfair, biased, and prejudiced trial, judgment, and record attached to the Prince Klass and 87 martyrs of slavery.

(Pictures were taken at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda.)

Religions and the Schools

School gathering for Prayers

Statistics reveal that over 70% of the population in Antigua and Barbuda is Christian with many different types of Christianity practiced.  While Antigua enjoys a separation of church and state, schools here have decidedly Christian traditions.  Schools have “prayers” every morning for 30 minutes before the start of academic classes.  It is expected that students will take part in prayers and be on time for them.

Here are two children running to prayers, hoping that they are not too late. I'm right behind them, hoping the same thing.

During prayers, the program may vary from day to day, but generally there are Christian songs, psalm readings (all fifth and sixth graders at the primary schools are expected to have a Bible or a psalm book so that can participate in the readings.  Other events may include a teacher leading a prayer, storytelling or singing.  Students recite the school mission and vision statement and sing the National Anthem.

The principal completes prayers by calling for another prayer,  making announcements and/or encouraging students to be respectful to all and have good day.

Seedlings perform for the children at morning prayers.

The other day at one of the schools I visited, there was a Christian group called “Seedlings” who performed for the students. The group is from Canada and comes to Antigua each year. The performance included religious songs, readings acted out form the Bible, puppetry and dances.

First graders enjoying a song during classroom prayers.

Today I went to prayers at one of my schools. On Tuesdays prayers are conducted in the individual classrooms.  At this school older students lead the prayers.  There were three leaders today. One of the girls was terrific.  She has the instincts of a real teacher: waiting for quiet, scanning the classroom for attention, using the “eye” to get students back on track.  A born teacher!  It was a joy to see.

Children also pray before and after lunch and before they go home.  Prayers seem to be a nice way to start the day.

Beautiful Antigua

There are so many wonderful things to see and experience in Antigua, that I find myself distracted by the beauty. It seems that everyday I see something new and beautiful and curious to me. Here are some of them that I’ve captured.

This is the mango tree in my yard.  It looks so majestic and perfect in this setting.  I have yet to master the art of knowing when to pick the mangoes.

Yes, the water is that blue.  This is a view of Willoughby Bay.

I believe that this is a date tree.  I get a kick out of seeing things that I buy in the market growing on a tree.

This is the view from one of the classrooms that I visit.  I just love the mixture of the orange and pink flowers.

This is an unusual lizard that I saw at Betty’s Hope.  The ones that live with me (literally) are either green or brown.  I asked if they were chameleons, but was told no…they are lizards.

I have no idea what this flower is, but it reminds me of the roses we can see on Plum Island.  I took this picture at Dickenson Bay, while I was trying to find the villa that my mentor and friend, Charles Mitsakos and his wife, Stella, and friends were staying.

A pelican at Falmouth Harbour.  They are so big!  To watch them catching fish is fun.  They are not very graceful…they seem to crash into the water as they dive for their food.

This is a tree on the campus of Antigua State College. The hollow in the tree made me wonder what lives inside.  Maybe an owl?

This is the view of the sunset from my front door.

Early History WALADLI

The Museum of Antigua Barbuda

The Museum of Antigua & Barbuda opened in 1985 and is operated by the Historical & Archaeological Society. The museum is housed in St. John’s Court House of 1750, a very historic building.

Stones used for grinding made by the earliest inhabitants of the island.

The first people known to have inhabited Antigua were probably from Central or South America and are known as the Archaic Age people.  These people lived on the seacoasts fishing, catching crabs, eating birds and iguanas.  They were replaced around 300 BC by the Arawaks; their origins have been traced to parts of Venezuela.

Jewelry from this period made from shells.

The Arawaks were a peace-loving people.  They were artists who were advanced in firing clay.  These adornas are ceramic pieces used as decorations to pots and handles.  They were shaped to represent birds, other land animals and sea creatures.

Adornas...decorative pieces placed on handles of pottery made by the Arawaks.

The Arawaks decorated their pottery in complex patterns of read, white, black and orange.

A ceramic pot made by Arawaks.

At the museum there was a collection of Zemis, which are physical representations of goads and ancestors. The Arwaks were polytheistic.  Zemis were used in rituals by priests and chiefs to contact the gods.  They are quite compelling.

This is an elaborate Zemi. However, many were quite simple, made in the shape of a triangle.

The Arawaks also painted themselves with body stamps made from clay.

Arawaks were displaced by the Caribs–an aggressive people who ranged all over the Caribbean.  The first sighting by Europeans of WALADLI, the name used by the Amerindians for the island, was made by Columbus in 1493. It is said that Columbus named the island after a shrine representing the virgin Santa Maria la Antigua, found in the cathedral in Seville, Spain.  The Spanish tried to inhabit the island but were met with “troublesome” Caribs and an inadequate water supply.   It wasn’t until 1632, that a group of Englishmen from St. Kitts established a successful settlement, and in 1684, with Codrington’s arrival, the island entered the sugar era.

An early sugar press used by the Arawaks.

A Goat’s Paradise

This is one side of my yard (my house is to the left in the picture).   A goat’s paradise, don’t you think?  Well, they think so.  I thought I had ridded myself of goats by closing the gate to my house everyday.  Here is the gate and me pulling it closed.  You can see that this is not an easy thing to do…but do I must.

This gate weighs a ton! My weight training for the day.

Yesterday I arrived home to find a small tribe of about 15 goals in a corner of the yard.  I couldn’t believe it.  I pushed open the gate, thinking I could shoo the goats out through the gate.  Instead they jumped over one part of the fence.

They crossed the street and moved down into another yard. Great…yes…but they left four kids behind.  They were either too timid or small to jump the fence.  I tried to lure them out the gate that was wide open but ended up chasing them around the yard.  Finally, the largest of the four kids, decided to jump the fence and made it.  This gave two more the courage to try.  They too made it over the fence.  Great…yes..but they left the smallest behind.

He bleated…but everyone had disappeared.  He looked at the gap in the fence but couldn’t jump over it.  As I tried to lure him out the front gate, he ran toward the back of the yard, away from the fence.  He eventually ended up in the small outbuilding in the yard. I tried to entice him out, but he was having none of that.

Then I opened the small gate at the other side of the yard, realizing that it really didn’t close very well and finally he ran toward the gate and got out of the yard.  Great…. yes…but he didn’t know where to go, so he stayed there. I pulled that gate as closed as I could. I was done.

But I wasn’t…a few minutes later the goats that had escaped were making their way up the road, happily bleating as they traveled.  The kid heard them calling and he bounded back into my yard and ran to the other side of the yard.  The mother bleated and he bleated back.  Back and forth it went. It was awful!  Eventually the tribe got tired of all the bleating and headed up the road. The mother was quite hesitant to leave, but when the tribe got out of sight, she too turned and went up the road.  So much for goat motherhood.   I didn’t know how to help and I felt terrible about the kid…a baby really, when I spied two small boys, about eight and ten years old walking up the road.  I asked them to help me with the goat and happily they ran into the yard, chased after the baby and finally picked him up and put him over the fence.  Case closed.  Until I get the fence fixed.  Until then, here’s my makeshift solution.

To the beach…via the rain forest

Today I visited Antigua’s rainforest, which was on my way to the beach. I took Fig Tree Drive, which goes through the Antiguan rainforest, up over plush volcanic hills and then down toward the south part of the island.  I drove around hairpin turns overlooking banana (which are called figs in Antigua) avocado, and palm trees of all sorts.  The views were amazing.

The rainforest was thick with all sorts of trees, bushes and flowers. This is a lemon tree.

Midway through the rainforest is a small gallery run by Sallie Harker who is renowned for her paintings with gold leaf done on driftwood. Here is Sallie in her shop.

Sallie sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to Antigua 20 years ago and never left.

The shop also offers other items from artists from other Caribbean Islands.  Here are some of the ones that I liked best.

Some of Sallie's works.

I love this one!  I will be sure to stop here again before I leave the island.

As I wound my way toward the beaches on the south coast of the island, I was amazed at the wonderful views looking up at the hills.

Heading south toward the beaches.

Further down the mountain and the rain forest.

A beautiful first glimpse of the ocean after the ride through the rain forest!  Carlisle Bay.

Today I stopped at Morris Bay, a small beach at the side of the road.  It was beautiful, but not my destination.

Here is Turner’s Beach.  A beautiful small beach, with clear blue water, some medium-sized shells and a cozy restaurant.

After the beach I headed back up into the rainforest to home.