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The Politics Of Discovery

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

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