the repeating island

As I prepare to write my conference paper I’m reading The Repeating Island by Antonio Benitez Rojo. Islands in the Caribbean are not identical but during the 90-minute taxi ride from the airport yesterday I had a chance to compare St. Lucia to Nevis. These are just preliminary observations, of course, and Nevis is a much smaller island (often lauded by travel writers for remaining “unspoiled”).

Things that are the same:

1. The night-time chorus of frogs/crickets.
2. Even with all the curtains drawn, light enters your room before 6am.
3. Mourning doves start cooing before dawn.
4. Lush green vegetation everywhere and rainforest in undeveloped areas.
5. Enormous cinder block houses in various stages of construction can be seen from the road.
6. St. Lucians drive on the left.
7. Both islands have hot springs and the potential for geothermal energy.

Things that are different:

1. Drivers raise an arm in salute but don’t lightly tap their horns every time they pass a friend on the street.
2. Goats and cows are tethered and not roaming freely in packs (I haven’t seen any monkeys yet).
3. There aren’t any swales to allow rushing rainwater to cross the road as it comes down the mountainside.
4. St. Lucia has an active volcano that was last active in 1766.
5. St. Lucia has an impressive-looking mental health hospital.
6. There’s a KFC, Burger King, and Church’s Fried Chicken in a nearby mall.
7. St. Lucia produces its own bananas and sugar rather than importing these from neighboring countries.
8. Lasting influence of French rule (St. Lucians speak English and Kweyol/Creole).

Yesterday I shared a taxi with a scholar from Long Island University and a musicologist from Nigeria. I asked her if St. Lucia reminded her of Nigeria and she said that the setting did feel very similar. She then asked the driver if there was a KFC in St. Lucia and so he made sure to point it out as we drove by…

Time for breakfast. More later after I have a chance to explore.