Happy Trails

Historically, human beings are passing through an unprecedented agricultural and culinary epoch. Food production in the modern era is controlled by a mere one percent of the global population; this is quite an incredible feat considering that over the past 10,000 years the majority of the global population was involved with the production of food. Traditionally speaking, food and food culture passed on cultural genetic components to the next generation. Quite obviously, every society on the planet has eaten particular diets in order to survive and pass on its genetic makeup; historically, geographic location and the social-spiritual practices of those societies determined the diets of these societies.

Within Trinidadian society as it exists today, there are a variety of cultural legacies at work influencing epistemology, language, religious practice, and attitude on a day to day basis that can be seen through English, French, and Spanish colonial history. Culinary practices of modern Trinidad can be traced along these colonial lines and illuminate a variety of different, yet blended cultural narratives that are characteristic of not just Trinidadian cultural productions but of any group that has a mixed colonial past.

Regardless of the person or what geographic space they inhabit, food cannot be divorced from human life. The need to eat and gain energy transcends class, gender, race, sexuality, and physical ability. Food has the potential to connect, energize, and mobilize individuals, societies, and economies both locally and globally across time and space. Without it, society perishes as cultural productions, that once guided entire societies and peoples by uniting ideologies either subtly or explicitly, fade or become crowded out of minds, bodies, and spaces.

These are just some of the issues that I will be writing about when I return from Trinidad, and I look forward to sharing some more of my findings in the coming week!  Remember, if you have any questions about study abroad or anything else, please feel free to contact me!  Cheers.

-Karl

This week I have been looking at local Trinidadian food, particularly the street and local foods that many Trinidadians eat on a daily or semi-daily basis. The two main dishes are stuffed roti dhalpuri and “doubles”. By no means are these the only food based cultural productions that are relevant to Trinidadian society, however, these are the two that I am focusing on this week. I think that from what I have seen, these dishes are indicative of the colorful mix of cultural histories and lasting colonial legacies that exist here in Trinidad.

Of the many wonderful street foods here in Trinidad, the most prominent is “doubles”. Doubles are cheap, hearty, and consumed rapidly enough to make the casual observer think they might have magic powers. Maybe they do? Generally running at 4TTD(66 cents) per double, they make the perfect breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack and can be found on almost every street in the mid-late morning and early-mid evening. A double is conceptually quite simple: a serving of channa topped with your choice of mango, cucumber, coconut, and/or tamarind chutneys with optional scorching pepper sauce atop two bara(fried golden flatbreads). One order of these generally fits in my hand; seconds are generally ordered after I inhale the first one. Channa is a common topper/side here consisting of curried chickpeas, onions, garlic, and peppers(generally habañeros or scotch bonnets). Note that none of these are native to the Caribbean archipelago, but more on this later. These little bundles of happiness are wrapped tightly in greasy paper and stuffed into a small brown paper bag complete with a much needed napkin. Though seemingly simple, the bara creates difficulties if not done right: if too thin the channa will break through the bara, and if too thick the bread’s flavor will over power the channa’s flavor. The sign of a truly skilled doubles chef is the thickness of the bara.

Clearly, chickpeas are essential in culinary cultural productions; there are several health benefits to them as well. They contain high levels of fiber, protein, iron, manganese, folic acid, and zinc. In addition, a consistent diet of chickpeas can be shown to reduce, in small but significant levels, low density “bad” cholesterol. Yet, in addition to these health factors, what the inclusion of chickpeas in culinary cultural productions reveals is a particular foundational element of the history of modern Trinidad.

Soon after the British permanently gained control of Trinidad and Tobago in 1814, they ruled that the best way to govern their new colony would be to declare it a crown colony. As a result, they began “importing” East Indian indentured servants, and by 1871 they made up 22% of the population, that number rising to 33% in 1911. Currently, people who ethnically claim East Indian descent hovers around 35%. Unlike the African slaves, the Indians were encouraged to keep their cultural practices. This is a major factor as to why chickpeas, and curry, are a fundamental part of Trinidadian cuisine.

I’m thoroughly enjoying my focus on food as a model for cultural identity, and I look forward to posting some more updates throughout the rest of my trip! Cheers.

Without a doubt, one of the most influential people to my time here so far is Simon, a forty something man, with a distinct creole dialect, who used the guesthouse as his base of operations while he prepared to “play Mas”. Tall and physically built, I first conversed in depth with Simon starting around 2am on the morning of Mas(2/12), which is when performers start to prepare(1) for the performance, which begins around 2/3/4/5pm, depending on each band. I told him a bit about my project, and he invited me along with him while he and some other members of his band went to get bronzed and painted. Approximately a two hour affair, I was able to talk briefly with the owner of the paintshop, Sandra, about increased military presence, “playing mas”, and body painting. Her daughters did all the painting for Simon, Joaquin, and some other members of the band; at one point Joaquin was having difficulties with his make-up, and complained that he was “the whitest Caribeña on the island”. Simon responded that “being Caribbean isn’t about being white, its about color”(2).

When we finally returned to the guesthouse, around 4:30 am, perhaps (my memory after three or so gets very hazy due to sleep deprivation[9hrs:48hrs]), Simon and I, and Sam in brief, discussed a variety of topics, ranging from his displeasure at Americans’ understanding of geography, English imperialism, his disdain for Australia, fast-food in Trinidad (particularly KFC), Carnival, drinking culture, Seattle, coffee, and a variety of other topics. By the time the sun had come up(sunrise is at 6:30am in Trinidad), most of our conversations, from both ends, were somewhat gibberish and disparate. We both decided to continue our conversations later in favor of brief naps.  Though he has had to return to work, we are planning on meeting up later to talk more about what it means to be Trinidadian, to him.  He is a lot of fun, and I look forward to our future conversations.

1. Body painting and make-up application starts so early because otherwise it would melt off in the heat before it dried. In addition, the artists usually take that time to converse with each other about the upcoming day

2. His comment, clarified later, was not about race: flair/variety/difference would be more appropriate

Good evening!  On February 11th, at 12:30am, I landed at Piarco airport in Trinidad.  For the first week, I am staying at a small hotel outside Port-of-Spain.  After about a total of 22 hours of travel,  I arrived at my hotel around 2am. I slept two hours, and then made my way in to the capital.

Right now, Trinidad is celebrating Carnival, one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world.  It consists of several days of music, dancing, costume design, performances of various natures, and most importantly, fun!  The most popular music genre is, no contest, soca.  If you get a minute, look it up on youtube; as soon as I figure out the titles for the songs, I’ll try and post the most popular ones here.  Carnival has a rich cultural, social, and religious history.  I by no means have time to do it any justice in this post, but I suggest looking it up-its quite fascinating. Sadly, most people that I’ve spoke to in the United States only associate carnival with either a)Brazil, or b)wild parties.

This is part of the reason that my studies have taken me here: during my first year as a student at Evergreen, I focused heavily on the Caribbean, with 2/3rds of my first year being about the region-we studied tourism, bio-diversity, economics, literature, history, gender studies, culture, and post-colonial theory.  Over time, I began to realize that the Caribbean is one of the most under-represented regions of our planet, despite the massive role it played in the formation of our modern world.

Though I am just settling in, I look forward to developing my project, which I will discuss more in future posts.  I don’t know how much I will be able to post this week since I am relatively displaced due to the distance of the hotel from Port-of-Spain, but I’ll try and keep this as updated as much as possible with photos, videos, notes, and potential ideas regarding my project.

-Cheers,-Karl

I am  sitting in Miami international airport typing this on my kindle. this wont be a long post,  but…I am on my way to Trinidad! Over the next few weeks I will be embarking on a fantastic academic journey. I will try to keep this blog as current as possible, in order to keep you up to date on some study abroad related stuff. ciao

Howdy! Ok folks, there is a bit of a disclaimer here: the following post might come across as a bit irrelevant to college life or academics.  But isn’t that what these blogs are for, to find out about what we as students do here outside of school? No fear though, stay with me and I think you will understand why I’m writing about this.

So not too long ago, on Logo TV, RuPaul’s Allstar Drag Race premiered.  For those of you who are not familiar with the show, it is Project Runway-styled competition show with creative fashionistas and performers, special guest judges, and themed competitions.  RuPaul is a legendary drag queen who has been an innovative performer for several decades. For those of you who want to know more about RuPaul, her wiki can be found here.  The show itself revolves around a selection of queens from all sorts of backgrounds competing against each other.  Many of them are already well established in their scenes from around the country.

Last night, my friends and I were finally able to squeeze in a mini-marathon to catch up on the episodes we’ve missed through the season.  Personally, I think this might be my favorite show on television.  Why, you ask?  Well, for starters, it has some of the best non-scripted dialogue I think I’ve ever heard.  All the queens are so incredibly witty and smart, and on top of that, just the embodiment of snarky-ness.  The show really does have an impressive number of genres packed in to one 40 minute episode.  Theres complex comedy, intense drama, fierce competition, brilliant music (written by RuPaul Charles) and innovative fashion designs.

Ultimately though, what I think is so great about the show itself is that it appeals to so many people.  For example, some of my friends that watch the show with me, or that I know like it besides myself(an economics student) include an anarchist/poli sci student, a few musical performance students, a biology student, a couple media studies students, a comedy writing student, a political activist, and an interior design student.  I really do believe that there is something in this show for everyone, and I encourage you to watch it if you want (for free on logotv.com).  In some sense, we’ve really formed a community around this show, and we cook food and hangout both before and after we watch it.  Its a lovely community, and though yes its only a TV show, what has emerged around it is really quite wonderful.  Its an example of how despite a diversity of interests here at Evergreen, people find common ground and blend their interests together.

Hey there everyone!  What an election night, with so many different and groundbreaking decisions being made.  Last night, while playing “Settlers of Catan”(with the expansion, obviously), many of my friends and I kept a close watch on the election through a variety of websites and trackers even though we don’t have a TV in my house. We did tune in to the live Stewart/Colbert election night coverage via our computer though.  Those who weren’t playing Settlers were  making food, playing music, and some were even making art.  Overall, we generally just made an even out of the whole deal, with many of us feeling exasperated after the seemingly endless election season.  I think it speaks a lot to the general mentality at Evergreen: for the most part, we are a collection of individuals that like other individuals and will find any excuse to have an event, eat, and socialize.  I think that is why you see so many potlucks, musical performances, and secret cafes.

In other news, I hope many of you are writing those college essays, filling out applications, and visiting campuses.  This is a crucial time of year for you and your family to be looking inward and thinking about what you want for your educational experience over the next several years.  I can not stress enough how crucial visiting a campus is: following up with students who have come either here or to other institutions, it is usually the most important factor in how they chose the school they did.

Speaking of visiting campus, we will have a great opportunity for you to visit campus in January.  Stay tuned for more information about Preview Day on not only this blog but also on the Admissions homepage. If you know for certain that you won’t be able to make it, please take a look at the virtual tour that recently went live on our website.  Its no substitute for the real thing, but it might give you some idea of what the campus physically looks like.

Hey everyone! I hope the college search is going well; I’ve really enjoyed giving the tours so far this year and I think that if the conversations I’ve had with prospective students is any indication of the upcoming class then its a great sign!  This quarter in my program America Abroad we are preparing ourselves to go abroad in the winter quarter.  Part of that preparation involves a project that my professors are calling an “ethnographic portrait”.  For this project, we have to choose a “narrator”, or someone with a life that we want to capture through text, and then interview them and write a twenty page brief on their life, with a focus on two particular points in their lives.  There were few guidelines; however one of them was that they needed to be older than fifty.

Though I am well connected here on campus and with the youth culture of the Olympia community, I was struggling to find someone that I either a) wanted to interview and b)knew over fifty.  Then it struck me: Rob Smurr, one of my former faculty and professor of the Russia and Eurasia: Empires and Enduring Legacies program, would be a great subject!  Before he got his masters, he worked in military intelligence in Augsburg, Germany during the late 1980s.  He is fluent in Russian, and then in the 90s he worked in the first joint military exercise between Russia and the United States named “Peacekeeper”(or, according to Rob, in Russian its actually “peacemaker”)

Today we had our second interview, and we spent over an hour talking about his military experiences.  I feel incredibly fortunate that I have such a fantastic primary source to learn from right here on campus. We still have one more interview to do, and I’m very excited to continue this project with him.  By the end of the quarter, I look forward to having a comprehensive picture of Rob Smurr’s life history.