Cartagena: Bikinis and History Books

The day we arrived in Cartagena, it was raining. No wait, it was pouring! My hopes were dashed. What use was a Caribbean holiday without the sun? But thankfully, that was the last day it rained for us. The weather cleared by evening and the sun greeted us with open arms. And we set about filling our days with sea, sand, fish, coconuts and history. 

 

We had seen the old city on the way to our hotel, and were dying to go there. So next morning after a hearty breakfast, we reached the place first thing in the morning. And it was beautiful! The entire place is a Spanish settlement, reeking of history. Cartagena 
 was one of the most profitable sea ports for Spain. But after being ravaged and pillaged again and again, Spain spent a fortune on its security. Consequently, you can see tall walls, lined with cannons, solidly constructed towers and breathtaking architecture, all the works of European military engineers hired by the Spanish crown.

And the colours are breath taking! Each building looks like a huge cake done specially for some occasion. There were buildings in bright mustard, baby pink and blue, wedding cake white, butterscotch creams, you name it. And boy, did they look edible! The doors and gates too were so solid and impregnable giving an immediate sense of security.

There are a number of statues strewn all over the place. The ones I could identify with my poor historical

From the left, a statue of a pirate, India Catelina, Simon Bolivar on a horse.

knowledge were India Catelina, Pedro de Heredia and Simon Bolivar. India Catelina was an indigenous tribal woman who assisted Pedro de Heredia in the Spanish conquest of Colombia. Simon Bolivar, a Latin American freedom fighter, has his own square too. There is a quaint little park built around his statue where hundreds of pigeons flock on a daily basis. My son had a good time here.

 Now, this entire place has been transformed into a shopping centre. You have a Benetton, a Hard Rock Café and many other contemporary shops. The goods are modern, but the setting is classy colonial. All I wanted to do is get into a long fluffy gown with a bonnet and shop till I dropped.

We were pretty tired by the time we were done with this place, so after clicking a few pictures of a few old

A 'coache

fashioned galleys docked nearby, we left. But hey, we hadn’t had enough. In the evening we hired a horse carriage, locally called ‘coache,’ for a night tour of the old city. It was perfect. We rode into a cool breeze, past traffic and modern roads, yet feeling like royalty on a surprise visit. With all the lights blazing, the old city shone with an indescribable brilliance. Our carriage driver pointed out a lot of things but our poor Spanish didn’t help. Especially since Cartagena has a different dialect from Medellin. The night tour took around an hour after which we dined on fish at our hotel restaurant and called it a day.

Old City skyline at dawn

The clock tower in the Old City

A row of lights of the Old City at night

Brilliant lights of the Old City

Freddie's shack

Octopus and Cocolemonada

Next morning, we reached the beach early, around seven. After booking some chairs for us, we got busy. My son had his sand castles to build and a dead fish he found on the sand kept him company. I got a massage from Isabella whose hands I wanted to buy and take home. And my husband made friends with Freddie who owned a little shack of a restaurant on the beach. He kept us well provided with fish fry, crab in marinara sauce, octopus (which surprisingly I loved) and the various, refreshing drinks such as coco lemonada, maracuya juice etc. etc. By around mid-day when the sun started getting hotter, we thought we were done. But then we saw the pool. So we lazed around there for a while, shampooed, showered, and then fell flat on our faces in our bed and snored off. 

In the evening we shopped a bit for souvenirs, our Indian haggling skills in action. People were shrewd but jolly and sympathetic to our Spanish. And dinner was fish again. In the middle of the night, when we had to leave for the airport, it just seemed cruel. I can still close my eyes and see the Caribbean stretching in front of me, with miles of lazy sand telling me that I really need them. But alas! Drab daily routine wakes me up.

A Treasured Tale

 My first brush with the pirates roaming the Caribbean long before I was born, was when I read R.L. Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island.’ I received the book as a gift from a dear uncle, and ever since, I have guarded it in a secret trunk, like an avaricious pirate. I was twelve when I read this book, and the shades of grey in this book startled me. 

The story begins in England in the 18^th century, (Stevenson kept the dates fuzzy) as told by Jim Hawkins (oh, I dreamt of being him every day), son of an innkeeper. An old drunken, seafarer called Billy Bones, who is an ex-crew member of  the notorious pirate Captain Flint, arrives at the inn, in hiding from a one legged sailor. After he suffers a stroke and dies, among Bones’ possessions, Jim finds Captain Flint’s log book, with a map leading to all the treasure looted during his career. With the decision to search for the treasure, Jim, Squire Trelawney and Dr. Livesey sail to the Caribbean aboard the Hispaniola with a crew that includes Captain Smollett and the mysterious Long John silver. During the journey, Jim overhears John Silver’s plan to kill the Hispaniola officers and keep the treasure. After reaching ashore the Treasure Island, Jim meets and befriends Ben Gunn, an ex-crew member of Flint’s, and in spite of the warning is captured by the pirates. Silver and the other pirates find the place where the treasure is supposed to be, but the chest is empty. The angry pirates mutiny against Silver, but Livesey and Gunn manage to save them. Silver surrenders and Gunn, who has been hiding the treasure, divides it among himself, Jim, Trelawney and his men, after which they return to England. Ultimately, however, Silver escapes with some part of the treasure.

 

Long John Silver’s character was one of the most complex among what I had read so far. He is a cut above the rest of the pirates whose eternal aim is only constant gratification. Although, he is greedy, he is patient and willing to wait for his plans to take proper shape. After capturing Jim, he disagrees with the rest of his crew to torture or kill him. And even after receiving the Black Spot twice, he remains calm. Needless to say, I felt sort of relieved when he manages to escape in the end.

And I was floored by Jim Hawkins’ courage, dignity and intelligence. I was twelve, he was thirteen. Becoming him seemed so achievable. The scene where he kills the coxswain, Israel Hands, would fill me with an adrenalin rush. My only regret was that he wasn’t a girl. In fact, I was pretty annoyed that there wasn’t a single female character in the book!

 
Nevertheless, ‘Treasure Island’ brought alive whatever little I knew about piracy in the 17^th-18^th century. The buried gold, the map with an ‘X,’ the sea journey on the Caribbean, the one-legged pirate with a parrot on his shoulder created all the traditions associated with the career of piracy. Stevenson’s ‘black spot,’ fascinated and freaked me at the same time. The book is a salute to adventure, fantasy and valour: a must read for every child.

Fifteen men on the dead man's chest

Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had do ne for the rest

Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

-          R.L. Stevenson

Following the Pirates

Holidaying in the Caribbean, I realized several times while taking in the view of the sea, that at the very spot that I was standing, a pirate might have been standing - leaning on a stump, looking through a telescope, chewing tobacco with broken teeth, guzzling rum, blood on his hands and gold on his mind. And whose face do you think I saw? Johnny Depp’s, or Jack Sparrow’s, complete with his semi-elegant, weird gesticulations. After being in love with Disney’s series, ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean,’ for so long, it was a dream come true to be standing in the sea around which the story of these movies was woven.

Disney has spewed four movies so far, which began on the basis of a Disney theme park ride of the same name. All the movies have been so successful, that anyone involved in the making is now rich as a pirate! This entire adventure began in 2003 when ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,’ was made. The characters include:

Jack Sparrow, a renowned pirate. We love him for his drunken swagger, slurred speech, flailing hands and numerous eccentricities. The former master of The Black Pearl, he was marooned on an island after a mutiny by Barbossa, his first mate. 

Elizabeth Swann, the Governor’s daughter, in love with Will Turner and interested in pirates. In the course of the movie, she transforms from a damsel in distress into a tough skinned pirate.

Will Turner, unaware of his true identity as a son of a pirate called Bootstrap. He is in love with Elizabeth and in her pursuit becomes a noble pirate.

Captain Barbossa, the present owner of the Pearl, along with his crew is cursed by Aztec gold. He kidnaps Elizabeth mistaking her to be Bootstrap’s child, whose blood he needs in order for the curse to be lifted.

The action begins when Will persuades Jack, to help him rescue Elizabeth. Jack agrees when he finds out that Will is Bootstrap’s son and can be used to get back the Pearl. And a string of adventures, betrayals, loyalties ensue. 

Ragetti and Pintel have us in splits as they dress up as women as a distraction. And who can forget Ragetti’s wooden eye running off in all directions but he gets it back somehow, every time. 

 

The second movie came along in 2006 with the name, ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.’ In the end of the first movie, Jack Sparrow is seen singing ‘A pirate’s life for me,’ compass in hand. Now the story takes on from the disruption of Will and Elizabeth’s wedding, as both of them are arrested by Cutler Beckett, the sarcastic East India Trading Company agent, for abetting Sparrow’s escape. Will is sent to retrieve Jack’s magic compass. Everyone is after Davy Jones’ heart which is kept in the dead man’s chest on the Isla Cruces. It however, ends up with Beckett. In the end, Jack goes down fighting the sea beast, Kraken, while the surviving crew members of the Pearl plan to bring him back under the leadership of the resurrected Captain Barbossa.

I felt the funniest scene is when Jack having found out that failing to pay his debt to Davy Jones, the sea beast, Kraken will be set on him, panics and goes into hiding. Will finds him on an island, being worshipped by cannibals and about to be eaten by them. Their escape from the island is hilarious, as they run through a spherical bone cage. You can still see these bone cages as one of the attractions in Disney’s Hollywood studios.

Disney gave us their third movie in this series in 2007 named, ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.’ With Davy Jones’ heart in his hands, Cutler Beckett sets about eliminating all pirates. To stop Beckett, the late Jack Sparrow is needed to convene with the Brethren Court in order to rouse the Goddess Calypso. Will, Elizabeth and Barbossa set out to rescue Jack from Davy Jones’ locker. The movie ends with Will becoming the new captain of the Flying Dutchman and Jack setting out on a new adventure.

A new character, Sao Feng, pirate lord of the South China sea, played by Chow Yun-Fat, adds to the adventure. One of the funniest scenes is Jack amusing himself stuck in Davy Jones’ locker. 

The latest and fourth movie, ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ came out in 2011. Enter Angelica (Penelope Cruz), a former lover of Jack’s, whom he now meets while starting on his quest for the Fountain of Youth. Angelica and her father too are in search for the Fountain. And appointed by the British Navy, Captain Barbossa isn’t behind, after having lost a leg and the Pearl.

A fifth movie is in the wings and we will wait with baited breadth shan’t we? The way I waited on the sands of the Caribbean, salt on my lips, wind in my hair. I scanned the beach for someone who would greet me with a, “Welcome to the Caribbean, love.” I scanned the seas for a black ship, with black sails and a burnt hull, Jack Sparrow’s beloved, ‘The Black Pearl.’ I longed to say ‘Parley’ to a rough and tough pirate as he informed me, “I’m captain Jack sparrow, savvy?”

The Caribbean Dream

 I am just back from a Caribbean holiday. My limbs are still orange and brown. My luggage still has sand. There is coconut water in my blood and my flesh has turned fishy, I had so much! Jealous? Go ahead, turn green. I totally understand. But don’t fret. I know I didn’t take you with me, but I can bring a few slices to you to taste. So, this month, my efforts are to paint the pages of my blog Caribbean.

When the word “Caribbean” comes to mind, a lot of words come to mind too. Its amazing how much is packed into that word. For a tourist “Caribbean” would mean sea, sun tans, massages, coconuts, bikinis (for the men tourists), beaches, sand, sea food and cocktails. For an adventurous sportsperson it would be swimming, scuba diving, surfing and para sailing. For a child, it would be sand castles, playing in the sea, imitating pirates. For a historian it would be studying the ‘chcheena jhapti’ that went on for centuries in this area by colonial powers. For an oceanographer it would be the marine life, the corals and clams, the tectonic plates and maybe some kind of spoons too. Phew! I am sure there is more.
 

So, Caribbean isn’t just a word, or a group of islands, or a hot holiday destination, it’s a whole concept. Personally, I am always reminded of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Treasure Island.” Hence, I have decided to review both this month. Apart from that, I can’t help sighing each time I remember my lovely trip to Cartagena. So, if you want some vicarious pampering, read on. And if you yourself have some Caribbean experiences, please tell me. I am all ears and you are welcome!

If you called again I would leave

For your treasures are dearer to me

Carry me in your tide again

Take me away, O’ Caribbean

Take me away with thee

From the Magic Box

A few scenes from the current school life that I get to see everyday:

The Toddler’s Tiffin Box

It can be incredibly difficult to decide the contents of a tiffin box for a toddler. Toddlers hold their spoons like daggers. They enjoy massacring their food, and if its not interesting, it will never see the light of their mouths. It has to be healthy too, no deep fried stuff. But since it isn’t lunch, it can’t be too heavy. To innovate every day amidst the chaos of filling water bottles, clean uniforms and hankies is no child’s play. Here are a few ideas to keep your little child surprised and full!

Bread Roll

You will need:

2 slices of fresh bread (Make sure the bread is fresh, or it tends to break due to dryness)

1 egg

Butter

Scramble the egg lightly and season with salt.

Cut off the edges of the bread. Now, with a rolling pin press out the bread slices like a roti. It becomes thin and compact. Spread butter on the bread.

The result should be something like this:

Now keep half of the scrambled egg on the slice. Carefully roll the bread till it snugly settles. Do the same with the second slice.

For a change, you can use jam instead of egg. I once tried cherry jam and it was a big hit!

Vegetable Cutlet

This is a great comfort when you are sad that your child didn’t even touch his/her sabzi for dinner. You will need:

Leftover dry vegetable dish (Something mashable)

Wheat flour

Mash the leftover vegetables in a bowl. Use a mixer if it helps.

Add the wheat flour bit by bit as you form a dough. I add a bit of oat meal flour too for more nutrition. The dough should be wet and sticky. Use as less flour as possible or the taste might become bland.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a non-stick pan. Smear some oil on your palms and fingers. Now pick up a handful of the dough, flatten it out and fry each side till the outside is golden brown and crunchy. Drain out the oil in a napkin.

Carrots, cauliflowers, beans…all will disappear. And you will be the coolest Mom too!

Canteen Scene

Lunch time can be a pleasant surprise or a grim revelation with respect to the contents of the tiffin box for students. Much as we want, mothers never forget to pack lunch for the apple of their eyes. But has that ever stopped us from hankering after food available in and around our school? The very idea of buying from school canteens and hawkers is so cool that we don’t really bother about taste and hygiene.

I remember buying candy from hawkers even in Nursery. There was a long candy that came wrapped in a plastic sheet with yellow and transparent stripes. It looked like a little pillar with a ribbon round it. It was nothing but sugar, of course. Then there was the little orange candies shaped like orange segments. I still buy those sweet sour lozenges. And last but not the least, were Phantom cigarettes. These were smooth white sugar sticks, with a little red at the end to suggest a live cigarette. We would feel real cool holding them between our fingers. In retrospect, they tasted icky sweet.

Apart from that, I have already given details about the icelollies, dalmot and masala tamarind of Tura. I have never really experienced a proper school canteen, except the one in KV no.1, Delhi Cantonment. I remember buying alu bonda, samosa, and bread pakoda there. It helped that nobody was there to supervise, since I was staying in boarding. But the most delectable item in that canteen was a gur barfi. Shaped like a perfect dice, this one and a half inch cube was a medley of deep red and orange. I used to eat dozens a day! The canteen guy would keep running out of them so we would place special orders secretly. If another group found out about them, we had to share! So we would smuggle the stuff into our dormitories over the hostel wall. That was sure a lot of fun, and back then we would discuss how nutritious jaggery was for the body.

Let me know your experiences in your school canteen. I am sure you have some stories to share too. I would be happy to hear them!