I have to apologize
again for not updating my posts in a
week or so. I had my girlfriend, my
teacher, and a colleague of mine come
down last week, and so not only did I
have two semis to play and prepare for,
but I had entertaining to do... They
have all had to return to the states,
and so I now have a little more time to
write. There have been tons of things
I've wanted to write about since last
time, so please forgive this very long
post! Here goes:
My girlfriend and I took
a trip out to the bird sanctuary in the
Caroni Swamp, because she loves birds we
both really appreciate nature. Even
though it was pouring rain, the trip was
an awesome experience for a number of
reasons! While waiting for the downpour
to stop, a couple guys noticed my pan
sticks and started a long conversation
about this year's Panorama (having just
completed Semis). Then the conversation
shifted to the past when one gentleman
told me he was a Tokyo panman in the
Spree Simon days. I have to admit, at
the time I probably would have skipped
the tour to talk to him and hear his
stories, but he left before the tour
began. The swamp is a very beautiful
place, and despite the noise of the
boat, you can still hear all sorts of
birds and animal sounds being trapped by
the trees and traveling down the
waterways. Though we saw all kinds of
reptiles, animals and birds, the
highlight was definitely the
unbelievably red Scarlet Ibis,
Trinidad's national bird. There were
thousands of them flocking to this one
tree, which apparently was their
sleeping spot for that night. It was
pretty incredible to see the tree go
from green to red as the birds settled
in its branches. Also as we headed back,
an osprey with what looked like an 8
foot wing-span swooped directly over our
heads with a fish in its talons... The
last great part of that trip was back at
the dock, when I couldn't reach the
person who was supposed to pick us up. A
Trini who took the tour with a foreigner
friend of his offered us a ride with his
mother, who not only dropped us off
right at Woodbrook Playboyz yard, but
told us about her days playing in Phase
II and Silver Stars and talked pan the
entire trip into Woodbrook! Not only is
this an example of how kind most Trinis
have been to me, but also highlights the
fact that you never know who you will
meet in Trinidad! Two random strangers
turned out to be panists with great
stories to tell!
Next I have to talk
about Single Pan Semi-finals. This round
seemed very different from prelims for
Woodbrook Playboyz, which is as much as
I really want to say about that. The
group did find it's energy by the time
we hit the stage, and while we were on
the street and when we hit the stage, it
was a great feeling again! The thing I
want to comment on the most though, is
the community that I saw on the Avenue.
The pan fraternity is something that
really needs to be experienced to
understand. I met some people, and had a
chance to really get to know some others
while listening to bands. I was really
envious of the folks who have been
coming to play for years now, because
each had this awesome extended family of
former bandmates that they would have to
excuse themselves from the conversation
to go hug and chat with. The night was
filled with excellent, incredible pan
talk of all sorts of topics (history,
current affairs, past panorama gems,
etc.) It really shows you the bonds that
form when you join the pan community
down here, and these folks that come
year after year just keep building up
their network of friends.
On another note, I tried
Sapodilla for the first time in punch
form, and it was fantastic! I want to
try the actual fruit, but who knows if
I'll be able to find a fruit stand. I
tried Kymet again, and it is still weird
looking, but I also enjoy the taste even
more (it is much better when you don't
have to bite through the skin to peel
it...) Other than that I have not tried
anything new really, which I aim to
change this week.
I made a promise to
myself years ago that I would try to
purchase an instrument from every
country I visit, and because I can't
afford a pan, I decided to purchase a
tassa. I have seen many engine rooms
either include tassa in the
instrumentation, or reference its sound
on bongo. To my knowledge nobody in
Indiana plays tassa, so I figured that
would be a nice addition to the pan
scene back home. Now I reach out to
everybody who is following this: would
anyone be willing to show me some basics
on the drum before I leave? Please
contact me and we'll work something out.
Thanks in advance everyone!
I went to the National
Library for what I hoped was a pan
lecture, it was unfortunately cancelled,
but left me time to explore a little
bit. As a quick note, the security at
the library is VERY tight, so don't plan
on bringing any bags or anything
inside... I even got "wanded" at the
gate one time. I didn't have too much
time to explore the books they had, but
I am interested to see what pan related
materials they keep...
Outside the library was
Soca on the Square, which people were
obviously leaving work to come see,
which is part of this build-up to
Carnival that is going on. I can't
describe it, but the vibe of everywhere
I got has this tangible growing buzz of
excitement... Tents with sound systems
are popping up everywhere, you see more
and more pieces of mas costumes being
built, pan racks strapped on flatbed
trucks, music echoing off the mountains
up in Santa Cruz... I obviously haven't
experienced carnival yet, but a
comparison that comes to mind is the
wind-up bobsled teams do before
launching down the track. I know once it
takes off at the end of this week, it
will be this unbelievably quick rush of
incredible excitement, and then before I
know it everything will be over...
That leads me to my
final topic: How can you miss a place so
much before you even leave it? Knowing
how little time I have left, I am almost
in a panic to try and get out and
experience things... I feel like I have
mere minutes left to enjoy this place,
as if I'm being driven to Piarco as I
write this! As cheesy as it may seem, I
agree with the lyrics of "Trini", I like
the way Trinis talk, the pace of life
down here (ok not walking exactly, but
metaphorically speaking), and the way
Trini's cook... I know pan isn't as
engaged throughout the year, but I am
feeling the culture shock already
knowing how pan is back home. (I love
the Indiana Steel Pan Association and
all of its members and functions, but
pan in Trinidad carnival season is on a
completely different level...) I know
now that I have to set a goal to return
here next year, but I just have to
express how much I will miss this place.
I even will miss waiting what seems like
hours for a maxi leaving Santa Cruz!
That is all for me, I
have to get off this computer and get
out to enjoy my day! Thanks to everyone
who have been introducing themselves and
saying kind words about my articles!
I'll attempt to update more regularly
this week... Until then,