I spent most of the week in the panyard again. Exodus rehearses six days a week (all seven this week!), some days as much as seven hours, which makes it tough to sightsee. I did get out into the neighborhood some this week, though.
Here are a few pics of things in my neighborhood:
1) This is the Center of Creative and Festival Arts, the department of fine arts for the University of the West Indies. It sits on its own satellite campus. Both this and the main campus are a short walk from my apartment. The tallest building near the left edge of the photo is the performance space; an interior picture is below.
2) It is a small, informal room for lecturing and performances, but I like it. Not a bad seat in the house. Those aren't windows glaring in the back wall, those are slatted vents. The entire campus is indoor-outdoor. All the brick walls have openings for air to come in, and there is usually a gap above the walls for more ventilation. No need for heaters here! The main campus has a much larger, more typical performance hall.
3) Here are two typical middle class houses in the neighborhood. They are representative of many of the residences here. Brick or stucco, with ventilation holes (seen next to the front door of the top picture), a metal roof, and completely surrounded by high chain link fence, with razor wire lining the top (note the bent fence posts). The fencing here is tragic, but necessary. Crime is a problem in Trinidad, and everywhere you look, you see razor wire and tall fences.
4) A couple more from the panyard...this is the arranger, Pelham Goddard, working on a phrase at the double seconds.
5) I see a lot of the backsides of these two (Janelle and Reco). They rehearse in the rack just in front of mine. Nice folks, both of them. He's a primary school teacher; she's an accountant.
6) This is a raw breadfruit. It is a fruit from the rubber tree family. The inside is seedy, like a pumpkin, and the flesh is what is eaten (usually steamed or boiled). It tastes like a potato, and is treated very much in the same way here.
7) New friend "Bunny" shows me how to prepare breadfruit. Bunny is not a panman himself, but has always wanted to be. When he was a teenager, pan was associated with hooliganism and fighting, so many parents wouldn't let their boys near a panyard. Things are the opposite now. "Beatin' pan" is seen as a way to keep kids away from trouble; the government has even granted land to provide space for bands to rehearse (the panyards). Though not a player, Bunny supports Exodus, and hangs out at the yard during rehearsals.
8) The seeds and rind are discarded. After being cut into chunks and boiled, they are then often stewed or sauteed with other ingredients.
