It was an easy expectation while we were planning to come and getting settled here that since St. Croix is part of the US it was mostly the same as living on the mainland except more beautiful, more relaxed and in the warmth of perpetual summer. Now that we’ve been here a while, we know that expectation was simply false. There is a winter here and we’ve actually felt chilly once or twice when the temps dipped to the low 70s. Yes, we use the American dollar at the store, and there are many similarities to America here, but over all, life on this island is certainly not the “American” life we were used to. We drive on the left side of the road – scary at first especially at intersections. People speak English here, but they also speak Crucian (which is the word meaning all things Saint Croix!). In addition to the musical, lilting and fluid accent people have here, their vocabulary and the way they put words together can also be very different from standard English. I say huh? quite often.
Food here is also different. A walk through the grocery store confirms this. There are bins in the produce section of the grocery that have UEOs in them (Unidentified edible objects), the meat section is interesting because often the cuts of chicken and beef are different and there are parts that we’ve never seen in a store before (chicken feet, ox tails…). The beautiful thing is that nearly any person standing near me in the store when I discover something new is willing to name it for me and give me ideas about how it’s eaten. Food, then, can present problems, not for me as much as for Karl, who is a somewhat picky eater who doesn’t eat fish or many fruits or vegetables and who doesn’t always have an adventurous culinary appetite. He is willing, though, to buy a UEO and then go home and Google recipes so that we can try it. In this manner we’ve eaten breadfruit, egg fruit, sugar apples, green papaya, and casava (which has cyanide in it and has to be cooked just right. Yay, we didn’t die!) We have tried a few things from local vendors such as conch salad, pates (meat filled pastries, yes!) and of course johnny cakes, Karl loves johnny cakes! More complicated Crucian dishes have gone untried for the most part, though.
Imagine how excited I was, then, when I attended a women’s retreat on Good Friday and realized that the lunch was a carry-in affair. Bliss! The retreat itself was wonderful and the speaker for both the morning and afternoon sessions had a lot to say that really challenged me, the worship music was terrific and the friendships I am making are precious. But the food! The food was a delight because I had the opportunity to taste a wide range of Crucian food, and you can be sure that the ladies of my church put their best foot forward with what they brought. I’ve now eaten: chop-chop (ocra, spinach and other veggies chopped and cooked together), salt fish (dried salted fish, peppers, tomatoes all cooked together. Mostly served over rice), lentils (a side dish all to themselves. I’ve only had them in other things before), provision (a dish of cooked breadfruit, plantains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eddoes and dasheen (more of those UEOs in the store -they are roots), ducana (sweet potatoes and coconut, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a sort of loaf. Sweet and yummy!). Added to the fun of discovery was the fun the ladies had introducing me to the dishes and explaining what was in each one. Every day I learn something or experience something new here on our island, and I thank God every day for His love of infinite variety!
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