All the music in my collection have a personal backstory. Sting‘s Ten Summoner’s Tales CD has special resonance for me as it is the music that helped me through a stressful transition.
I knew about Sting from his days with The Police but something about that particular CD made me really take notice. Each track spoke to me in different ways. It accompanied me on the way to and from work. If it had been in the days of vinyl, I would have worn a groove into all its tracks.
I played it so often, I knew all the lyrics and could identify key guitar licks. Of course, as far as I was concerned, Sting was singing only to me. You couldn’t convince me otherwise.
So, take a listen to Sting’s Shape of My Heart. I love this version – it’s so spare, so clean, so Sting.
Enjoy!
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Discovered on April 18, 1947 by Dr. Robert Broom and John Robinson, Mrs. Ples is the nickname given to the most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus specimen ever found in South Africa. Mrs. Ples is estimated to be about 2.05 million years old.
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I blame Mrs. Anderson, my high school Spanish teacher, who planted the idea in my head. She had studied in Spain and brought back fascinating stories that she shared in class.
Paseo de Gracia corner Mallorca, March 1977
So when I discovered that my university had a semester abroad program, I signed up right away. Three months in Spain? I knew there would be adventure ahead.
Our group of about 15 arrived in Barcelona on January 5th. My friend Gloria and I were selected to stay with the Rodriguez family, a busy household with boarders from Southern Spain.
(I still remember how Sra. Rodriguez would go food shopping everyday — and I thought my grandmother was just disorganized — and how Sr. Rodriguez would call us to the table, “Al ataque!” basically, Come and get it!)
I fell in love with Barcelona. It appealed to me on several levels: the food, the architecture, the wines, museums, the cathedrals, the Ramblas, and it was difficult for me to leave.
Each week, we visited a different museum, and every other week, we traveled to a different city. Weekends were free so we spent the time exploring Barcelona on our own. I still have very fond memories of these places:
When I look back now, I’m surprised by how few photos I took and how grainy they are. Had I done that trip today, I would have had thousands of photos, everything I saw would have been documented. But I have very good memories and I hope someday to return to Barcelona to see how much of what I remember remains.
Ciudadela Park, 1977
I often wonder what happened to the other students on that trip. We were all at different stages on the road to graduation and didn’t have the same classes. Gloria and I did and we still keep in touch.
I don’t think I ever thanked Mrs. Anderson for putting the bug in my ear, or Prof. Lopez-Saiz for facilitating such a wonderful program. (I always said I wanted a job like his: half year in Spain, half year in Canada – the best of both worlds.)
I lived a lot, learned a lot and loved a lot in Barcelona. After those three months, I promised myself to do a few things the next time I travelled:
Stay off the beaten path
Learn the language (or at least learn to say hello, good morning, thank you, etc.)
Talk to the people
Always take 3-month vacations (Ha!)
What lessons have you learned from your travel experiences?
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When I was growing up in Jamaica, certain foods were associated with certain religious holidays, days of the week, etc. For example, rice and peas were reserved for Sundays and special occasions, like weddings, parties, etc., rum cake at Christmas, and Easter bun for, you guessed it, Easter. Now, the Easter bun can be found in most grocery stores at any time during the year, rice and peas has become an everyday and rum cake can be bought at any time.
I didn’t always like Easter bun. learned to like it when I was away at university. And I started making it myself a few years ago. It’s not particularly difficult to make. I found two recipes that I liked in The Real Taste of Jamaica, by Enid Donaldson, and combined the ingredients I wanted in my bun.
So here’s my recipe for a popular favorite – our answer to the Hot Crossed Bun.
How to Make Easter Bun
Ingredients
3 cups flour
4 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. lime juice
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup cherries (you can also use mixed fruits)
1 cup Guinness stout
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees
Over low heat, dissolve sugar, butter, spices in stout.
Mix flour and baking powder.
Beat egg and mix all the ingredients together
Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1 hour.
Remove and allow to cool.
Easter bun’s usually accompanied by a processed cheese that’s close in taste to Chedder but use the cheese you like. It also works with American cheese. Some people substitute butter for cheese.
Hope you can try this out and let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
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Each time I think about this trip, I’m amazed that it ever happened. Almost everything that could go wrong did.
I was teaching basic Spanish to 11 year old students in Jamaica when my school received an invitation to take part in a one week trip to Merida, Yucatan. We jumped at the opportunity.
Three students, another teacher and I decided to go. Several weeks before we were scheduled to leave, we sent our passports to the travel agency that was taking care of the arrangements and get us our visas. But when we arrived to pick them up, we discovered that our passports had been destroyed in a fire at the agency. No one had even bothered to inform us.
So while the other students were jetting off to Merida, we were stuck in a police station in Kingston reporting the loss of our travel documents. We would spend the next few days waiting for the police reports, taking new photos, completing new application forms, getting them notarized and resubmitting them to the passport office.
A few weeks later, the 5 of us, passports in hand, we were on our way. We spent 7 wonderful days in Merida.
I’m glad now that I kept a journal because the few photos I have of that trip are so grainy I can hardly make out our faces.
Here’s what I remember:
Twisting my ankle in my clogs on the slippery stairs at the hotel.
Going to the movies – why we decided to go to do that escapes me now. Saw La Bruja en Amor, Man with Icy Eyes, Red Devils.
Going to Progreso Beach, twice.
Roberto and Belgio telling me “Te amo” and falling over themselves to show me around.
Having liver and onions for breakfast several mornings at a diner near the hotel. I never liked liver but I really enjoyed the way the Mexicans made it, with lots of onions. I tried to make it the same way when I returned home but it just wasn’t the same. I doubt I’ve eaten liver since.
Being invited to the home of the owners of a small restaurant, sneaking away when we saw how drunk they were getting. (I wasn’t used to seeing people just sit around and drink.)
Being stranded. According to our itinerary, we were scheduled to leave on a 10:15 a.m flight to Montego Bay. We were up and ready at 7:45 a.m. but when we arrived at the airport here was no 10:15 flight and there wasn’t going to be another direct flight to Montego Bay for several days. We were stuck in Merida with little money left. Thankfully, the agency in Merida found us a connecting flight to Miami the next day and paid for us to stay one more night. (I think we all bunked in the same room.) The next morning, we were at the airport long before check-in time. Our flight on Pan American was the best part of the trip. I think we were the only ones on the flight and they fawned over us.
Looking back, I’m surprised we even made it to Merida and I laugh now at all the problems we had. But when I think of trip, I don’t think of any of that. I think of the ruins at Chichen Itza and how they sparked my interest in ancient cultures. Sometimes, I wish I had better photos but the memory of what I saw is etched forever into my brain.
What was your first trip like?
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Today, April 4th, marks the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I was a young girl living in Jamaica when it happened and I still recall being afraid, even though I was 1,500 miles away. We had heard Dr. King’s message of peace and were saddened to learn of his assassination.
I’m proud to say that Jamaica honored Dr. King posthumously with a Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights in 1968.
I’ve often wondered what impact Dr. King would have had had he lived another 10 or 20 years. We can only speculate.
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I’m listening to one of my favorite singers, Cape Verdean, Cesária Évora. The 69 year old Évora, who has been compared to Billie Holliday, made her first recording in 1988. She has 20 studio albums, compilations and live albums to her credit.
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In this video, Évora sings Angola.
Enjoy!
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There was so much hope, so much promise in the newly independent Zimbabwe. Instead, it has been saddled with a government that for more than 30 years has been sucking the life out of it. All the economic indicators have fallen and continue to do so. In 2009, when hyperinflation had so devalued its currency, it was forced to stop using it in favor of the South African Rand, UK Pound or the US Dollar.
To use an African saying, “When two elephants fight, the grass suffers.”
Unfortunately, the elephants are now caught in the fight between people, like Parsons, who have deep pockets and corrupt government officials, like the ones in Zimbabwe, that’ll do just about anything to line their own pockets.
Hwange National Park Elephant
It is against this backdrop that Parson has seen fit to pose, wrapped in his suit of arrogance and sense of entitlement, his foot atop the carcass of the elephant he just slaughtered.
That arrogance, that sense of entitlement bothers me because that’s what drive men like Parsons to kill elephants and other animals.
It is that same arrogance, sense of entitlement and unbridled greed that drive Mugabe, and men of his ilk, and cause their own people to suffer needlessly.
Sadly, between the two of them, the elephants won’t have a change. They will continue to be slaughtered.
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