Warasa Garifuna Drum School

Month: October 2011

  • Belize time – I’ll do it right now….

    Since moving to Belize, if I need something done urgently, and someone tells me they’ll do it “right now”, I get an uncanny sinking feeling in my stomach.  In Belize time, “right now” can be roughly translated as meaning “at some indefinite, potentially distant time in the future”.  It certainly doesn’t mean “now”. The time…

    Click or not…

  • Better step back cos I might pee on you!

    So concludes the sign in front of one of the tapirs at Belize Zoo…   I recommend everyone that comes to Belize visits the Zoo, because it’s great fun, the animals are all in their natural habitat, there is no cement or perspex (so your paws are your own responsibility!), and it’s the only guaranteed…

    Click or not…

  • What’s in a name?

    Considering the name of my husband, I feel an entry on the general inventiveness of Belizean names is apt.  There is no McDonald’s restaurant in Belize (in fact there are no chains at all), and so Ray has not suffered too much as a result of his name, but there is a reason he introduces…

    Click or not…

  • Shilling Chips and Sweets

    Being a former British colony and a current close neighbour to the USA seems to have caused some interesting idiosyncrasies in Belize. For several months when I arrived, I wondered whether Belize used British or American spelling. I would see “tires” for sale, but people of many different “colours”. It all became clear when listening…

    Click or not…

  • Royal Rat – A Vexing Meal? Kriol, the language of Belize

    While English maybe the official language, Kriol, the language of Belize, is the real language. Based on English, but with its own grammar system, and lots of other words thrown in, on first coming here, you will probably understand 50-70% of what people say on the streets. Some proper English words that I think I…

    Click or not…

  • Black man lay the pipe: Belize race relations

    “Spanish man build the house, Chiney man cook the food, White man pay the bills, Black man lay de pipe!” Immortal words from a song of Belizean punta rock super star, Supa G. “Hey, Blondie!” I keep walking, aware of my long dark brunette hair. “Hey, White gyal!” Ah.  They’re talking to me.   Welcome to…

    Click or not…

  • From Brixton ‘Bananas’ to PG Plantain

    The first time I ate a plantain was when I lived in Brixton, London, five minutes’ walk away from Electric Avenue market. I had bought a large banana, but it didn’t want to peel properly, and it was a weird shade of yellow inside, and it tasted unripe and made my tongue feel funny even…

    Click or not…

  • Mundian to Bach Ke (Ronald McDonald vs. Punjabi MC)

    I have a terrible singing voice. I love to sing, but only in private when (I think) nobody is listening. Ray has a good overall singing voice and a great Garifuna singing voice: Garifuna songs don’t require you to be in perfect tune or for you to sing like a bird, but they do require…

    Click or not…

  • How to shake your arse (Belize style)

    Go to any bar with live music at night in Belize, and you will witness the dominant form of Belizean dancing, which like the dominant form of Belizean music (Punta rock), originates from traditional Garifuna culture.  That is, it involves shaking your arse.   Visitors to Belize often marvel at how Belizean women especially are able…

    Click or not…

  • Yurumein: The story of the Garifuna

    Every year on 19th November, Ray, his family, and pretty much every Garifuna person in Belize (plus lots of other interested Belizeans and visitors) will attend their local “Yurumein” on the national holiday known as Garifuna Settlement Day, the anniversary of when the largest group of Garifuna people arrived on the shores of Belize.  …

    Click or not…