Tony DeyalMONDAY MORNING I was sitting eating a 'Boulder Bun' under the shade of an umbrella in front of a small sidewalk café outside the Fort George Hotel in Belize City watching high-school children by the thousands line up in the hot sun to parade in the big Independence Day procession. It could have been any part of the Caribbean, although the mix of races here is different and the local dialect sounds like a mixture of Guyanese, Jamaican and Spanglish.
A 'boulder bun' is what in Trinidad would be called a 'rock cake' and in Guyana a 'bun'. In my days we also called them 'bellyful'. What we call 'buns' in Trinidad are 'cakes' in Guyana and while we call little shops that sell cakes and sweet-drinks a 'parlour', they call them 'cake shops'.
In Guyana and elsewhere in the Caribbean, the word 'parlour' is consistent with the British usage of a room in the family home which is 'well put away' meaning it is for very formal occasions involving visitors, or a place where relatives are put away pending burial, as much a parlous matter of pallor as of parlour. As a youngster accustomed to going into Mr. Holder's parlour in Carapaichama, central Trinidad, for a peanut-punch and bellyful, and having to chase away the flies that the sweet stuff attracted, I could understand why the spider in the poem would have a parlour and so entice the fly with, "Will you come into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly. Otherwise, the thing would qualify as a 'nancy' or Ananci story.
Jamaicans seem to call any kind of sweet-bread 'buns' and at Easter, wherever they find themselves, will do their best to lay their hands on 'bun and cheese'. Americans sit on their buns and eschew fatty and sweet foods like boulder buns to get their buns as hard as boulders or rocks. What complicates the use of the word 'bun' is that if a Trinidadian is exhausted from physical labour, especially if he is in the gym trying to harden or show off his buns, he would say, "Ah bun" meaning "burn out" instead of complete immolation.
In my case, I "bun" just from looking at the children and gaily bedecked floats "bun" in the sun. Two of the floats attracted my attention, one sponsored by the Taiwanese, and another brightly coloured and very noisy, with dancing dragons and lions, by the Chinese Association. The Chinese display was both cymballic and symbolic, denoting a strong and powerful presence, a big gong in tong. This feeling was reinforced by the fact that there are at least three Chinese cable channels available in Belize.
There are stories, however, that all the Chinese in places like Belize and Guyana came in on the same two passports and visas, one male and one female. Because it is difficult to tell them apart, all the other Chinese, with a little help from immigration, came in on the same passports. While that might not be true, I saw signs proclaiming the "New Chen Shop" and the "New Chon Sing Restaurant" on the way to the city centre. I could not help wondering whether the old Chen and Chon Sing had not moved on to greener pastures.
There is no doubt that Belize is a transhipment point for Mexico and the United States, and the cargo is more likely to earn you a jailhouse rock than a boulder bun. Some very cynical Americans say that the reason Mexico does so badly in the Olympics is that everyone from there who can run, jump or swim is already in the United States. They also say that the Cuban national anthem is "Row, row, row your boat" and it has 144 verses but that is a gross libel perpetrated by people who don't know the difference between a burro and a burrito, or Castro and gastro.
One of the most important things about Belize is that it is a geographical and not an anatomical expression. It used to be British Honduras and became Belize, like British Guiana became Guyana, and Rhodesia became Zimbabwe. It is on the mainland of Central America, a relatively narrow strip of land bordering the Caribbean Sea with Mexico and Guatemala behind and alongside it. However, when the subject of Belize first came up my five-year-old son Zubin went with the English pronunciation. While the Spanish say "Bell-ee-zay" we say "Bellies".
So when I broached the subject of my working in Belize, Zubin was most amused. He patted my growing stomach fondly and then said, "We can't fit yet". His six-year-old sister Jasmine was in hysterics. Their mother had taught them and fought them not to say "My belly full" when told to eat all their food. Since then any talk of "belly" or "bellies" is met with a combination of conspiracy and hilarity. "Daddy say bellies! Daddy say bellies, mummy," they chanted. In Trinidad, the term "belly" does not refer merely to abdominal or physiological phenomena only. It also means "guts" when "guts" means "courage".
Having resigned my PAHO/WHO job as a United Nations international adviser and returned to Trinidad in late 1998, it took a lot of belly or bellies to consider moving out again. But when you have mouths to feed, and bellies to full, and when work is as hard to find as Twiggy's buns, you have to summon up the abdominal fortitude and go with the flow. With my heart in my hand, I accepted a CARICOM consultancy in Belize and signed the contract with my other hand.
I almost lost it in the first few days here. Having taken BWIA (But Will It Arrive?) to Costa Rica and TACA (Take A Chance Airlines) to Belize, I discovered that although I arrived in Belize safe and sound, my baggage has not yet done so. I almost ran back to the airport when I saw a dead cockroach on the pillow of the bed in the apartment that was booked for me. But as I look at the people and listen to their voices, my conviction is reinforced that while there are many differences that divide us, we of the Caribbean are one people with very much in common.
As Belizeans celebrate Independence with calypso, reggae and a mix of music reflecting their Spanglish heritage, I realise that I am in another outpost of my Caribbean and I have more to look forward to than to fear. I am in the parlour and whether I meet the friendly Mr. Holder or the dreaded spider, whether I have a boulder bun or a bellyful, is up to me.
Tony Deyal was last seen singing 'I'm a Belizer' and looking forward to Christmas when he and his family can wish everyone, 'Belize Navidad'.
