Montserrat Speaking Frankly

Destiny’s Revelation No. 11

Well, what do you know! Montserrat has its first suspected murder in what appears to be almost a decade.

Now, as I heard it this is far from your everyday ordinary murder. Don’t believe me? Here goes…

Broadcasted over ZJB’s morning news, residents of Montserrat were shocked to hear that a man was found dead in the St. Peter’s area of Montserrat. What’s more? The police suspected murder.

Now don’t go getting your underwear in a bunch. It appears that it’s general knowledge who the murderer is!

As I heard it, in one of my favorite seaside bars in the Carrs Bay area and Little Bay areas, I overheard some local residents discussing the details of this issue.

Let me warn you before I start that these details are startling and odd, as far as I am concerned.

Having said that, let’s get on with it. As the story goes, some blue-eyed man, from Montserrat, went around announcing the night before the incident that he was going to chop up, yes like vegetables, some guy regarding some sheep, yes the animal.

Naturally, I am both confused and curious. Why kill someone over sheep? What could anyone possibly do with some sheep to deserve to be murdered? These were my questions.

As the conversation went on, as the fates would have it, one of the locals asked all the questions I, myself, wanted to know.

As it turns out, the sheep belonged to the murdered man. The blue-eyed man that actually did the murdering, because he had to do jail time prior to the incident for having sex with the murdered man’s sheep.

What’s even more bizarre is that people are saying the murderer prophesied and revealed his intentions the very night during a domino game.

I also overheard these locals discussing what they thought was an obvious change in the social existence in Montserrat.

The words are a buzz on the street that a former teacher and entertainment personality were arrested for non-consensual sex with a minor. In the same conversation, a police office was thought to be guilty of the same crime.

Now here’s why this information interest me. Local residents of Montserrat appear to believe that it is the appearance of ‘White’ people in the Social Services department and the police force why there seems to be a deliberate attempt to shut down pedophiles in Montserrat.

It seems like the residents of this island are pleased that there is finally some evidence of justice for those who have long existed safe and protected from the law.

While leaving this bar in a light drizzle of rain, I followed a surge of vehicles that were heading towards the Little Bay port area. It was at this location that I observed an intriguing characteristic of Montserrat’s current social and cultural structure.

Apparently, authorities at the Montserrat Port Authority received word that Montserrat’s shorelines would be affected by rough swells due to some unexpected freak storm.

I witnessed, in pouring rain with raindrops the size of Maraschino cherries, fishermen and port workers all working diligently to get the local fishermen’s boats out of the water before the predicted storm caused rough seas to damage these vessels. It was almost as if they didn’t even know it was raining. They, all, just worked and worked into the night until the job was done.

It was a beautiful scenery, as lights flooded the harbor with the bluff jutting out into the night like the profile of a distinguished aristocrat.

I was taking all this in right on a pavilion/gazebo built complements of Moose’s Bar.

Until we meet again, keep an eye out for the moose!

Destiny’s Revelation No. 10

Recently, Montserrat focused celebrations on the life of Olano Equiano, a former slave. I’m not sure about the spelling of his first name. In a portion of his anthology, Mr. Equiano described his life in Montserrat. His account of some of the treatment slaves on Montserrat endured was brutal to say the least.

What I found really interesting about Equiano’s anthology was the Souffriere Hills Volcano. Yes, he talked about it. Only back then, it was called ‘Brimstone Hill’. So, it seems this volcano has been kicking up its heels alive and well for some decades in the past, at least during the 19th century.

What’s a bit disappointing for me is the lack of a variety of information on Montserrat’s cultural heritage. As I hear more and more conversations, I’ve come to realize that Montserrat has some interesting folklore that could be bone-chilling at times. I never seem to hear the same story twice.

I have heard quite a bit so far. However, I’ll start with the ones that made me sit up and pay attention.

For instance, during a bout of heavy rainfall one evening while huddled in a tiny yet quaint road-side bar sipping on some gin and malibu, I overheard some locals discussing the events of a horrendous flood that took place over two decades ago.

As the story goes, this particular day received torrents of rain, with even more inches falling the entourage of high mountains.

As a result of this, Montserrat’s deep gourges known as ‘Ghauts’, pronounced like ‘gut’, began to succumb to the above normal volume of rain water washing down from the heights of the surrounding mountains.

On these huge ghauts in Montserrat, several Montserratians built their homes on the very edge of these ghauts and, in some cases, even on the flanks of the ghauts.

Because of this fact, when the ghauts began to overflow and flood, on this particular occasion, great landslides joined the rushing water as it followed the carved out ghauts to the sea.

Unfortunately, several homes where caught up in the flood and several families died as a result.

However, as every miracle would have it, there was a lone survivor of those affected by this dreadful event, a tiny baby boy.

He was found and rescued by fishermen. This tiny miracle was floating on a mattress unharmed, a short distance of the coastline of Montserrat.

As I am told, this young boy is now a grown man and still living here on Montserrat. He is referred to in the story as ‘Flood’. But, I hear he doesn’t like to be called by that name, which is understandable.

Should I be fortunate enough to meet this walking miracle here in Montserrat, I will keep that bit of information in mind.

Destiny’s Revelation No. 9

I noticed something when I woke up this morning at the crack of dawn. A few of the crickets that sing their lullaby at night were still chirping away at the very start of the first new day light. These must be the slow ones.

Talking about starting your morning off right, I have uncovered a new breakfast dish here in Montserrat, one I never considered or even heard about before I got here. What’s ironic is it is in the hot cereal category, and I hate hot cereals. However, this little gem of a breakfast is not only tasty but also a sweet bowl full of energetic fuel for the body. It’s called plantain porridge. It’s filling. I skipped lunch!

Now, in order for you to indulge in this delicacy you would have to befriend a local, preferably a Rastafarian. That was my source anyway. Oh yeah, my objective is to discover the real Montserrat, not the one they would like to be seen or know, and I must admit, the more I dig the more intrigued I get.

Another interesting fact about life on this island is the sheer variety of cultures that live together harmoniously here.

People say that Montserratians are friendly. This is certainly not an understatement, as far as I can tell. However, it is only accurate depending on the location and situation in which you encounter a Montserratian.

As I hear some Montserratians saying, “Montserratians will trample their own to help or put a stranger first.” I guess this could be viewed as both a good and a bad thing, depending on whose doing the viewing.

From my personal experiences so far, the people in Montserrat are warm, accommodating, friendly, and unique.

I have developed one official complaint. This is the availability of transportation on the island. For the average tourist, there are the usual tour buses and taxis. However, for the economically challenged backpacker, catching a bus could be a royal pain. At certain times during the day, buses are usually few and far in between. Not to mention, I am still a bit surprised that the Government here hasn’t established a public bus transportation system with an official schedule. However, that’s about it as far as complaints go, so far.

Until the next time I reveal more insights….