Warasa Garifuna Drum School

Tag: punta gorda belize

  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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…

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  • 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.  …

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  • Ronald McDonald learns to ceilidh

    According to Ray, I dance to everything the same way.  I admit I’m not the world’s greatest dancer, but I know for a fact that I definitely do not dance to Teenage Kicks the same way I dance to Ray’s drumming.  Living in Belize for several years has a strange affect on your dancing style…

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  • Such stuff as dreams are made on

    The one thing Ray never gets tired of is talking about his music and culture.   In private, he is often a very quiet person, but if I want to get him talking, all I have to do is ask him what the words to the song he is listening to means, or something else about…

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