Lishai

At first I found Kittitian accents difficult to understand. There was quite a few awkward communication break downs. Now, I more or less feel at ease with strong Kittitian accents and have even changed the way I talk to relate to the kids in the neighbourhood... Where she be Where is she? How many years you have? How old are you? For True? For real? Come, let we go Let’s go You vexing me, boy! You’re pissing me off! Don’t study him Don’t pay attention to him You check? You understand? (or, as Rastafarians say: “overstand”) Jiggy Cool It tastes bang It tastes awesome Aint’ it so? Isn’t it true? Whenever Lamonkey thinks I’m saying something that “aint’” true, he’ll holler “Boo!” which means…well I guess ... read more

There is an 11 year old boy in our neighbourhood who doesn’t really have a home. I have come to learn that his mother just got out of jail and he stays by a friend or by his uncle's house. He has no shoes, always wears the same shorts and t-shirt, never really speaks, nor smiles. He seems so vacant... hard to explain. Early last week at 12am, I heard a knock on my door. The kid was standing there without explanation. After standing with him outside for half an hour, I ascertained that he was locked out of his friend’s house, didn’t really have anywhere else to go and was not going to school for some reason unbeknown to me. My friend, Miss. J., who was an intern in Barbados last year, told me that ... read more

The events that took place on Friday night took me a few days to reflect on before writing about them. It all started when DeSuza, our supervisor, walked into our office and promptly announced, “We be limin’ tonight, pick you up at 8.30.” Context: for the last few days the PetroCaribe Summit has been taking place here in Basseterre. This is the 6th summit for the heads of state/government members to get together and cover agenda items such as infrastructure projects related to hydrocarbons supply, exchange and endogenous development projects, execution of the offset system of the oil bill, the potential for renewable energy, to name a few. Put simply, there is an oil agreement between Venezuela and St.Kitts (and 16 or so other countries) whereby oil from Venezuela is purchased under preferential and fair payment ... read more