in 15 days, i'll be at la fortaleza...

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...a UNESCO world heritage site in old san juan!

La Fortaleza, built between 1533 and 1540, was the first defensive fortification built for the city of San Juan, and the first of a series of military structures built to protect the city. The construction was authorized by Charles V as a defense against attacks from the European powers of the day and Carib Indians. Since the 16th century, La Fortaleza has acted as the residence of the Governor of Puerto Rico, making it the oldest executive mansion in continuous use in the Americas and has been the residence of over 170 governors hosting various dignitaries including President John F. Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline Kennedy who stayed in La Fortaleza in 1961.

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...ah, calypso music...probably my biggest appreciation!

allow me to give a brief description of the history of caribbean music before shedding some light on it's tremendous impact on me personally...

calypso rhythms can be traced back to the arrival of the first african slaves brought to work in the sugar plantations of trinidad. forbidden to talk to each other, and robbed of all links to family and home, the african slaves began to sing songs. they used calypso, which can be traced back to west african kaiso, as a means of communication and to mock the slave masters.

trinidad was colonized by the spanish, received large numbers of french immigrants, and was later ruled by the british. this multi-colonial past has greatly impacted the development of calypso in trinidad. calypso singing competitions, held annually at carnival time, grew in popularity after the abolition of slavery by the british in the 1830s. (it was the French who brought the tradition of carnival to trinidad.)

the year 1914 was a landmark year in the history of calypso. this is the year that the first calypso recording was made. the late 1920s gave birth to the first calypso tents. originally, calypso tents were actual tents where calypsonians would practice before carnival. today calypso tents are showcases for the new music of carnival season. calypso typically involves social commentary, oftentimes laced with humorous satire on current events. calypso is the voice of social conscience.

the 1970s saw a decline in the popularity of calypso due to outside musical influences. jamaican reggae made its presence known as did disco and R&B from the US. musical fusions were bound to happen. as a result, the 1970s gave birth to a more uptempo, less socially conscious version of calypso called soca.

talk that calypso was dying, and reggae was the new thing, prompted Lord Shorty to experiment with the calypso rhythm for nearly a decade. he combined indian rhythm instruments (particularly the dholak, tabla and dhantal) with traditional calypso music. the result was a new energetic musical hybrid called soca. Lord Shorty initially referred to his musical hybrid as "solka", representing the true "soul of calypso." the "Indianization" of calypso brought together the musical traditions of trinidad and yobago's two major ethnic groups, the descendants of african slaves and of indentured laborers from india. yhe name was later changed to "soca" by a music journalist.

soca has continued to grow and evolve giving rise to offshoots such as ragga soca and the increasingly popular chutney soca. today soca is the definitive indigenous musical form associated with the eastern caribbean.

thanks, Lord Shorty!

...at this point in time - it's all about the 'dollar wine'

but, in 14 days - i'll be in...

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