Ed laughing; Luna not amused
06 May 2012 | Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia
Elizabeth (photo by Nancy Jo)
We went to Gros Ilset with Brad to catch the Friday night closing of the streets. Everyone gathers to walk from bar to bar, food vendor to food vendor, tasting the home-made spiced rum, bbq meats, freshly fried vegetables. The music was loud and un-Caribbean-like, which suited me just fine, only because I get tired of hearing the same type of songs over and over. We had no camera that night to catch the local scene, unfortunately.. One of our favorite scenes was the following, which is straight out of Nancy Jo's journal...loud music at the end of the street under huge speakers, one very dark, skinny man playing his drums to the music. The music was recorded. Drum set: ½ of a real drum stick, one broken wooden tool handle for the other stick, two cymbals (one old pie plate and one flattened hubcap), one large plastic gas container, a foot pedal that hit a very large black plastic box for the bass drum. When we first arrived, no one was dancing other than one lone Rasta man, swaying like a very stoned voodoo shaman. At one of the tiny bars we met a young man, Mosoi (given name Vince) who was running the bar. We sat at a table with him and Nancy Jo asked what his name means. "When I smoke a lot I get...." And he gestures over his head to mean he gets over the top stoned. He says, "I've been smoking all day". He tells us that everything they need for their health in St. Lucia they get from the land. For instance, we somehow gets on the subject of erectile disorders (don't ask me how) and he says, "Sea moss". But even more effective? "Turtle dick". Mosoi says, "They are very long, really". You dry it out and chop it into really small pieces, then grind it up. It has to be really dry. You take only so much. If you get an erection that lasts for several days, call a doctor. If you don't go to the doctor, the hospital will have to cut a vessel and then it never works again", which Mosoi demonstrates with a hand limp at the wrist. Somehow, I doubt we would have had that conversation if Nancy Jo hadn't been with us. It was very funny and Mosoi seemed to like making us all laugh. After giving Nancy Jo a small taste of his own spiced rum concoction made with local herbs and spices (no ganga), we moved on down the street to find some dinner. It was a wild time.