Stet

First they came for the verbs and I said nothing, for verbing weirds language. Then they arrival for the nouns and I speech nothing, for I no verbs.

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Linguist with wanderlust,
From the hills of New Guinea to the halls of the Sorbonne,
From the beaches of Bassam to the fields of Friesland,
From the catacombs of Rome to the Blue Mountains of Jamaica.
From the heather of the Veluwe to the dust of Dakar ...

Currently resident in the Land of Sea with a small tribe of kids and Mr B.

Future Walmart

Who said Jamaicans lacked entrepreneurial spirit?

Future Walmart customers (Runaway Bay, 21 April 2006)

Dem demographic an’ focus group dem hit de nail

Continue reading Future Walmart

3 comments to Future Walmart

charles

April 24, 2006 at 8:02 pm · Reply

Fi real….free enterprise triumphs again.
grannyp

April 25, 2006 at 5:46 am · Reply

Ah the customers for sale too? On special offer?
rachie

April 28, 2006 at 5:31 am · Reply

Brilliant photo! Do that many people buy rasta hats?

Me fadda dead (Part I)

Wednesday
Me fadda dead dis harftanoon. Or maybe dis mornin’, ah doan really know. Me sista she call me nah on me cell, say im was sick dis mornin an im tek a taxi to Kingston public ospital but ‘is eyes dem roll back all white in the taxi an im cyaan talk no more. De doctor

Continue reading Me fadda dead (Part I)

10 comments to Me fadda dead (Part I)

Mathieu

April 17, 2006 at 6:31 am · Reply

Toutes mes sinceres condoleances :-(
Ria

April 17, 2006 at 9:56 am · Reply

Thanks, Mathieu, but it’s a fictionalized version of a friend’s experience.
Mad Bull

April 17, 2006 at 10:47 am · Reply

Actually, after reading it for a bit, I guessed that it wasn’t YOUR father… Life is rough, I guess. :(

I hope the lady who is really going through this does gets through this hard time and that she will somehow be able to bury her father.

Perhaps you should suggest the option of cremation. Thats the option my family took when my father died in 2003. No need to fatten the pockets of the mortuary owner, plenty other people will see to that.

She probably needs her money more for her living relatives, her husband and herself anyway.
charles

April 17, 2006 at 4:22 pm · Reply

The high cost of funerals….. just a fact of life in Jamaica :(
Mathieu

April 18, 2006 at 7:07 am · Reply

ah, j’aime mieux ca!
Waterhot

April 18, 2006 at 6:04 pm · Reply

That’s a wonderful rendition, Ria. Reading it through out aloud I can’t help but imitate the accent and lower my voice by several tones the way I feel compelled to do when I read Benjamin Zephaniah or Linton Kwesi Johnson lyrics. And strangely, the story is even more moving read that way.
Ria

April 23, 2006 at 9:47 pm · Reply

But no one spotted the literary borrowing at the beginning …
iang

May 20, 2006 at 3:57 pm · Reply

you have a good ear for patois. you could write for the star which seems to be the only paper that publishes patois. anyways it is interesting to read your journal, i spent two years in kingston as a Peace Corps Volunteer. My wife worked in Grants Pen which was featured in your youtube video of your commute home.
WISugar

June 2, 2006 at 9:25 pm · Reply

Is Ja Patois your native tongue? It is so accurate.
This churching business is a serious thing here.
Cremation? Forget about it, this seems to be something only people who can afford an expensive funeral will do. The poorer you are, the more money you want to spend on a showy ‘send off’> Any one see the last Sunday Gleaner with the house and car mausoleums?
Stet » Blog Archive » Mi fadda dead (Part II)

September 17, 2006 at 11:11 pm · Reply

[...] She kill ‘im fe get free is what. Read Mi fadda dead (Part I) For what it’s worth, both pieces are based on other texts: Part I borrows from the opening lines of L’Ã‰tranger by Albert Camus, while Part II gives a big nod to Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. [...]

Mmm … Easter

Easter eating in Jamaica is not very exciting. The traditional Jamaican speciality of bun and cheese pales in comparison with the orgies of chocolate we’ve known elsewhere.

In Rome, one of our favourite shops was Valzani’s pasticceria (confectioner’s), which alone justified a walk over the river (Trastevere). The street and the shop itself were very unprepossessing, but

Continue reading Mmm … Easter

4 comments to Mmm … Easter

Revolution island

April 15, 2006 at 6:55 am · Reply

Enjoy your Easter, Ria.. go easy on the bun & cheese.
Mathieu

April 15, 2006 at 7:07 am · Reply

Trastevere… Tevere is the main river, le Tibre in French, yes?

Is that preffix just an indication that you crossed it, or is the Trastevere a tributary of the Tevere?
Ria

April 15, 2006 at 12:38 pm · Reply

Thanks RI. I’ll do my best ;-)

Yes, Mathieu. Tevere is Tiber/Tibre in Italian. Trastevere literally means ‘across the Tiber’ and refers to the district on the other side. It used to be a working class neighbourhood but has become very gentrified (like parts of east London/Paris). It’s also a very popular place with tourists because of the hundreds of restaurants.
Gaylord Monie

July 7, 2010 at 9:05 am · Reply

We all have our passions in everyday life and everybody has their expertise. Your observations has indeed supplied myself a few additional good tips. Thankyou.

Get it on

La France hibiscus at Devon

Continue reading Get it on

9 comments to Get it on

Mathieu

April 12, 2006 at 5:53 pm · Reply

As they say in France:

“Rhaa! Lovely…”
charles

April 13, 2006 at 12:32 am · Reply

Great shot!
Mad Bull

April 14, 2006 at 9:47 am · Reply

Very Pretty! Maybe I’ll post a pic of some of the ones in MY garden… Check it out latah…
Mathieu

April 15, 2006 at 7:05 am · Reply

I’d assumed you’d get the reference to Gotlib, ria, since you seem to know everything about at least three or four european cultures, but suddenly I wondered… and if you don’t know him, you need to for sure!

His Sir Isaac Newton is worth the visit, just by his lonesome :-)
Ria

April 15, 2006 at 12:46 pm · Reply

That reference did pass me by, Mathieu. I confess that I never got into French comic culture, apart from learning French from Asterix. I was always struck by seemingly normal grown men fanatically collecting comic books (Moebius??) as if they were still 9-year-old boys. Like I say, I never got it. Maybe it’s a guy thing.

However, my in-laws just gave me PÃ©tillon’s L’affaire du voile, which, I have to admit, is pretty good.
Mad Bull

April 17, 2006 at 11:32 am · Reply

Ok, I have finally posted my picture of one of these flowers… have a look :

http://www.madbull4.net/wordpress/?p=1716
PLK

May 4, 2006 at 1:58 pm · Reply

Who used to leave comic books lying around in my loo?
PLK

May 4, 2006 at 4:54 pm · Reply

Apologies for the typo. Must be the duty-free whisky.
Ria

May 4, 2006 at 5:21 pm · Reply

What typo?

However, I never left them lying around.

And I usually only read Asterix.

Teenage cockroaches

Can anyone enlighten me or should I

Continue reading Teenage cockroaches

5 comments to Teenage cockroaches

Loxias

April 11, 2006 at 11:57 pm · Reply

Teenage Cockroaches would make a great teen metal band name. Hm.
Mathieu

April 12, 2006 at 5:12 am · Reply

As long as they are not Teenage Ninja Mutant Cockroaches, I guess a firm hand and some patience should see you through the next few years until you can pack them off to college.

If not, I’d suggest finding out if the $1500 include room and board or are only tuition, but it’s not that expensive for a boarding school either way.
Mad Bull

April 12, 2006 at 6:26 am · Reply

Teenager cockroaches… I have always heard the phrase, but am not 100% sure what they mean. I have always assumed it to be the young ones that appear after a spraying which killed out the parent population but which had worn off before the eggs left behind hatched, but who knows…. I say you should call them so you can enlighten me.
Ria

April 12, 2006 at 4:32 pm · Reply

So I called them.

Me: What exactly are teenage cockroaches?
She: They’re the not very big ones.
Me: … uh-huh. Less than an inch in length?
She: Ahm maybe … they’re the ones that come out after you switch the light out in the kitchen and then you see them scurrying around when you put the light back on. They just like to come out in the dark and eat your food.
Me: Is that why they’re called “teenagers”?
She: Ahm … I don’t really know.
Me: Oh.
Mathieu

April 15, 2006 at 7:01 am · Reply

They just come out after dark and eat your food.

Sounds like teens to me.

Or in-laws on a visit…

Stet

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