Thursday, 12 February 2009
Our Struggles Have Been Noticed
Well poor old Gwada is barely getting a mention in thr French papers but we have been referred to by the Times! Read it here...
Pa Ni Ayen
Is what you are hearing most everywhere now, as the strike is well into its third week and shows no sign of relenting. Translation: there isn't any! Milk was the latest casualty today, along with various other essentials. Pretty much every shop has been closed this week with a few notable exceptions - who are unsurprisingly sold out! I am getting a feel for what it must have been like in war time Britain living under rationing....
Still, it is always good to learn to make do with less, and today's reading was on godliness with contentment - very timely!
From my understanding of current events, the grevistes are waiting for an agreement on an extra €200 for all who are low paid before they even consider going any further with the other 999 demands they have made. OK, slight exaggeration, they number about 145!
To provide additional support Martinique has joined in the strike too, though it does seem slightly unjust that they will get the same result having striked for 3 weeks less!
On the good side, Bertie queued for petrol for a mere 25 minutes on Saturday so we have been able to go out a bit this week. On Monday we went to Pointe a Pitre and watched the demonstrators march past singing their charming "Guadeloupe is ours so go away" song and yesterday we headed off to the beach at Ste Anne, visiting the girls' cousins Severine and Sylvain who live there too. The weather wasn't very favourable but there is something very special about sitting in the sea with the rain drumming down on you, watching the coconut trees sway in the strong wind!
I have babysat twice this week for a friend whose husband is away in Haiti with JEM - her three children are a lovely trio so a pleasure to look after. And now I am making another court bouillon, following the success of the last, but would you know it, I peeled the wrong bananas!!
One week till Mum and Evie arrive...the countdown is on!
Still, it is always good to learn to make do with less, and today's reading was on godliness with contentment - very timely!
From my understanding of current events, the grevistes are waiting for an agreement on an extra €200 for all who are low paid before they even consider going any further with the other 999 demands they have made. OK, slight exaggeration, they number about 145!
To provide additional support Martinique has joined in the strike too, though it does seem slightly unjust that they will get the same result having striked for 3 weeks less!
On the good side, Bertie queued for petrol for a mere 25 minutes on Saturday so we have been able to go out a bit this week. On Monday we went to Pointe a Pitre and watched the demonstrators march past singing their charming "Guadeloupe is ours so go away" song and yesterday we headed off to the beach at Ste Anne, visiting the girls' cousins Severine and Sylvain who live there too. The weather wasn't very favourable but there is something very special about sitting in the sea with the rain drumming down on you, watching the coconut trees sway in the strong wind!
I have babysat twice this week for a friend whose husband is away in Haiti with JEM - her three children are a lovely trio so a pleasure to look after. And now I am making another court bouillon, following the success of the last, but would you know it, I peeled the wrong bananas!!
One week till Mum and Evie arrive...the countdown is on!
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
The Big Clean Up
The week isn't complete without a visit to Pika! Bertie put his nephews back to work to finish the big cleaning project they started last week.
We were also joined by our friends who gave a hand cleaning and weeding. They found the latter so relaxing they are planning to return later in the week to prune and weed some more (though they will bring hats and gloves and a radio this time!)
Our conversation ranged from the blessing of loving parents and a close relationship between grandparents and grandchildren to political discourse on the sad state of Guadeloupe (I discovered that it is basically in the economic hold of 8 rich families). These two ladies both love their island and its natural riches passionately and we decided that on a positive note, the strike is showing people that they can live without Carrefour (but only just!) and how much the land has to offer.
As you can see from the photos, some of us didn't do very much at all (I discovered I got a lot more done with Baby JoJo safely in his chair...) and there was also time for a bit of fishing. The girls and I entertained ourselves throwing baby mangos into a tub and drawing pictures of the free-range hens. I was amazed at how happily and quickly they followed Mamie when she called for them to return to their house!
We quenched our thirst on coconut water and were astonished to find on finishing our work that it was 2pm - no wonder our stomachs were rumbling!
The boys have done a great job cleaning and you would not recognise the place now. Here is a photo of before...
....and after!
They are thinking of putting tiles down on the floor. In any case, Baby JoJo can crawl around at his leisure now.
We disturbed many wasps in the course of the morning but it wasn't till we were finished that we had our only casualty - one popped up Mamie's skirt and stung her right on the....leg! (Well what did you think I was going to say!) 
We were also joined by our friends who gave a hand cleaning and weeding. They found the latter so relaxing they are planning to return later in the week to prune and weed some more (though they will bring hats and gloves and a radio this time!)
Our conversation ranged from the blessing of loving parents and a close relationship between grandparents and grandchildren to political discourse on the sad state of Guadeloupe (I discovered that it is basically in the economic hold of 8 rich families). These two ladies both love their island and its natural riches passionately and we decided that on a positive note, the strike is showing people that they can live without Carrefour (but only just!) and how much the land has to offer.
As you can see from the photos, some of us didn't do very much at all (I discovered I got a lot more done with Baby JoJo safely in his chair...) and there was also time for a bit of fishing. The girls and I entertained ourselves throwing baby mangos into a tub and drawing pictures of the free-range hens. I was amazed at how happily and quickly they followed Mamie when she called for them to return to their house!
We quenched our thirst on coconut water and were astonished to find on finishing our work that it was 2pm - no wonder our stomachs were rumbling!
The boys have done a great job cleaning and you would not recognise the place now. Here is a photo of before.......and after!
They are thinking of putting tiles down on the floor. In any case, Baby JoJo can crawl around at his leisure now.
We disturbed many wasps in the course of the morning but it wasn't till we were finished that we had our only casualty - one popped up Mamie's skirt and stung her right on the....leg! (Well what did you think I was going to say!) If the weather holds we may return later in the week - and this time avoid the hunger pangs by taking a barbeque with us.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Morning
I think I have now managed two weeks of early rising (the alarm is set for 5.45am but often Baby JoJo wakes me earlier!) so half way to making it a habit, hurray!
I would very much recommend it to you as it is such a peaceful time and I actually look forward to it every day now. Of course, it is much easier getting up when the sun is (nearly) up rather than on a cold, snowy morning...I do have to take a cup of tea and wrap out to keep me warm in those early hours though!
Here was my balcony this morning (I creep out through this door from the hall so as not to wake anyone!)
Doors to our living room and our bedroom 
There was a beautiful full moon this morning
View from my chair! Is it the rising sun I wonder...There was a beautiful full moon this morning
Another early riser - Papy and Mamy are up at 5am - here is Papy getting ready to go to Pika. In fact he was the one who inspired these photos, as he told me to get one of the moon!
My lovely cocotier!
Then the children arrive and it is back to normality....this morning we enjoyed a delicious fruit salad thanks to a visit to the maraichers in Pointe a Pitre yesterday. How many fruits can you spot....
Water melon, guava, banana, passion fruit, pineapple and mango. Topped with our first yoghurt in a fortnight - yum!Carnaval Sunday In Our Town...
...was cancelled due to the strike! So instead of having all the different groups from throughout the island parading around the town, we just had six local groups doing what is called a vide. All the people in the town came out to their gates to enjoy the event.
It was fun to watch, especially as the masks weren't in evidence this week. We even got a special viewing as two groups stopped in front of our house and performed for a while, before coming and asking Mamie to fill up their water bottles!
They always seems to parade around in the evening and I haven't successfully got any photos in the dark yet, so I was pleased to see them pass the house on the way to the meeting point whilst the sun was still out.
Some of the instruments they have are small, big and massive drums, tambourine-like things, trumpets, conch shells (which just play one note!) and shakers made out of a fruit called calebasse. The children always march in the front, followed by the dancing ladies and then the (usually male) musicians.
Some of the instruments they have are small, big and massive drums, tambourine-like things, trumpets, conch shells (which just play one note!) and shakers made out of a fruit called calebasse. The children always march in the front, followed by the dancing ladies and then the (usually male) musicians.
The groups are always followed by a group of youngsters on bikes and motorbikes, then come all the cars stuck behind them.
Baby JoJo claps along with the beat
Baby JoJo claps along with the beat
This neighbour walks in the lead to warn traffic to make way
"I love the carnival!" LissaLou told me
Activities
We have now been on strike here for three weeks! Can you believe it! I am beginning to wonder if we will see work again before we leave...
As the strike shows no sign of ending, I shall keep browsing through my Busy Books for more ideas of fun activities!
There are lots of nice things about being on strike and one of those is having LissaLou and Bertie home. To keep LissaLou and CassCass occupied, I have started organising activities which start at 9am (when Baby JoJo goes to sleep) downstairs on the big table.
So far we have done lots of jigsaws - we have one where you put a sequence of three pictures together to tell a story and I got LissaLou to tell me the story in english and french which was fun to hear. We have worked a bit on numbers, particularly the teen ones and I was amazed to hear CassCass do all of the numbers from 1-10 and some from 11-20, in both languages! She has also grasped counting objects and can get it right sometimes.
Using the above mentioned jigsaw, we pkayed with Stella and Wilson the memory game where we had to find the matching pieces. It was hard! Having to remember the location of three cards rather than two during the turns of three other people was tough, but Stella managed splendidly. The rest of us depended on working out if they matched from the shape of the pieces!
One morning was a baking time - we have made several batches of scones now (no eggs!!) and they have all come out completely unscone like! Still, very tasty with some jam. We have also made lots of delicious bread since flour and yeast is something we have been able to buy. CassCass loves stirring and eating the dough, but LissaLou helps with most of the baking now. I keep trying to remember - it's all about PROCESS not PRODUCT. But I can't help intervening when the spoon goes in the mouth and then back in the bowl....!
One day I decided to hand over to Bertie and he got them painting leaves which produced some beautiful pictures and not a little boasting from him over his talent at activity organising! He used rainwater as apparently it creates a better effect. I was pleased at having the time to write one of my several overdue letters.
One day I decided to hand over to Bertie and he got them painting leaves which produced some beautiful pictures and not a little boasting from him over his talent at activity organising! He used rainwater as apparently it creates a better effect. I was pleased at having the time to write one of my several overdue letters.As the strike shows no sign of ending, I shall keep browsing through my Busy Books for more ideas of fun activities!
Practical Application
After all that banana research I was inspired to put it into practice with a court buillon for lunch. I tried it with rice before but I think it tastes much better with bananas and racines (root veg).
Preparation (you should recognise these now!): three types of bananas, 3 poyo, a poto and a plantain, along with a madere.
Get a kind husband to peel the bananas (a sticky substance comes out that is hard to get off) and get rid of all the dirt and skin from the freshly dug up madere. These are popped together in boiling water for half an hour or so.
Meanwhile the fish has been marinating in garlic and lemon juice.
Prepare the sauce (spring onions, tomatoes, parsely and huile roucou straight from pika)
Add the fish and simmer down for 20-30 minutes
Ready to eat!
This meal came out much better this time - I got a lot of positive comments from Bertie (evidently he knows it is the best way to get me to do it again!). CassCass and I both love the plantain, but unfortunately LissaLou hates the lot! Back to pasta for now...
Preparation (you should recognise these now!): three types of bananas, 3 poyo, a poto and a plantain, along with a madere.
Get a kind husband to peel the bananas (a sticky substance comes out that is hard to get off) and get rid of all the dirt and skin from the freshly dug up madere. These are popped together in boiling water for half an hour or so.Meanwhile the fish has been marinating in garlic and lemon juice.Prepare the sauce (spring onions, tomatoes, parsely and huile roucou straight from pika)Add the fish and simmer down for 20-30 minutes
Ready to eat!This meal came out much better this time - I got a lot of positive comments from Bertie (evidently he knows it is the best way to get me to do it again!). CassCass and I both love the plantain, but unfortunately LissaLou hates the lot! Back to pasta for now...
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