Random info about the country

Thought I'd do a brief post to share random thoughts and things I've noticed about my new home. Some of these things are funny, particularly since they occur no matter what mood you're in, or what your own agenda is, so feel free to imagine any number of situations with these occurrences. So here, in no particular order, are a few:

First off, the population has remained almost flat for several decades now, and for the entire country is less than 800,000; this is because of the constant outgoing flood moving to the U.S., and also Canada and the rest of the Caribbean. I've been told that many people here consider the country to be a 51st state of the U.S. Everyone has family there, but it's almost entirely in New York; so if you say that you're from the U.S., it is often (reasonably) assumed that you're from New York. There's a lot of coverage of the States and Europe in the news. Overall sentiment toward the U.S. is hugely positive.

Cricket is not just a sport. It's a religion.

"Just now" is a term used to denote an upcoming time; that time may be upcoming in 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 months. This is *not* a contextual term -- that is, you can't tell from the situation what the heck period of time is meant. When you hear "Just now" used, you better just find something with which to occupy yourself for a while. Obviously, people from the U.S. are some of the most time-anal people in the world, so this is a bit of an adjustment.

People here, particularly men, like big speaker systems. In cars, in homes, anywhere. In every car trunk is a huge added-in bass speaker box. Driving time is not talking time. It is bass-thumping time. 5 in the morning can also be bass-thumping time, if your neighbor is feeling spunky, and this is normal.

The main means of transportation for us is the MiniBus system. They're vans, which seat anywhere from 12 to 30 depending on how high people are willing to stack themselves (we get out once the stacking starts, and it isn't all that common). They basically work like multi-person taxis with set routes, and are really pretty brilliant. So you just go to the nearest main road, and stand by the side of the road til one comes along (in anywhere from 30 seconds to 15 minutes), and then go til you hit the point on their route closest to your stop -- so sometimes you ride a few Minibuses to get to your destination. The minibuses also subscribe to the "Biggers is Better" theory of stereo speakers, and by the time I return stateside I may be legally deaf. All they play is Akon (a rapper); there is a Minibus with a DVD player and screen (yeah, I know, pretty crazy), but they play Akon music videos. It's very strange, and I now know Akon's entire repertoire. Michael Bolton is also popular. With the exact same people that play Akon. Who have no problem reconciling this in their minds.

Making a kissing sound is a great way to get people's attention. This can be done in a sexual way, but is also done by street vendors, or between family members. People here can let loose a kissing sound that can be heard at 30 yards. I'm still practicing mine (much to my partner's chagrin).

There are men called Touts who work as a sort of subcontractor to stir up business for their employer. For example, in the main Minibus park in the capital city, the MB operators get Touts to fill up their bus. Mostly the Touts yell and kiss (for the sound, dummy, not for romance), or cajole to do this; sometimes the try to grab you and get you in the bus (if you don't take a firm stand, you may end up on a bus to god-knows-where). Sometimes (and this is a really tricky one) the Touts will fill up an empty bus themselves, so that you'll get in thinking that, with the bus full, the driver will leave soon and not have to sit around waiting for more passengers; once a few passengers get in, the Touts get out, and there you are, waiting for a bus to fill. Good, huh?

Basically, the people are great here, and there's a lot of ingenuity in ways that you may not be used to if you're coming from somewhere else. There's a ridiculous amount of technical skill here, as well -- many many people can fix their own cars, and every day I meet people who can do welding, electrician work, plumbing, carpentry, and on and on. All that's missing, in some cases, is enough demand to keep them busy.