“Th Ackee Tree” – otherwise known as “The home of the one pound Roti”.
What’s a roti? Delicious. It starts with a thin wrap (skin) pressed together with dried chickpeas in almost hummus form. Then they fill it with your choice of meat, veggies and sauces. Today I got shark with chickpeas and pumpkin. Added some tamarind, pepper sauce and a hint of curry. It’s wrapped up in almost burrito form and served a la carte.
Can you see the two separate wraps with the dried hummus in the middle?
I decided to destroy it and eat it with my fingers by tearing the wrap and pinching the filling into each bite. As I was feeling a little silly (just a little), Ryan informed me that I was eating it the traditional way. The roti “burrito” is fairly modern and more for convenience.
Coconut jelly is the meat in a green young coconut (the white part before it turns hard). It can be so soft that it reminds you of gelatin. I dont think it’s like anything near what your typical coconut tastes like. This is mildly sweet and personally one of my new favorite flavors!
Catch of the day choices at an outdoor restaurant called “Just Grillin”. After you pick your fish or meat you can make it a sandwich, salad or plate and pick from a variety of sides. www.justgrillinbarbados.com .
This is Souse, the national dish of Barbados. Traditional a Saturday night food to serve with a pudding made from either sweet potato or blood. Back in the slavery days the owners of the land would butcher the pigs and keep all of the “good” meat and pass the left over “parts” to the workers. They would then pickle and season with peppers and spices, topping it off with onion or cucumber. When eating this authentic dish you may encounter an ear, hooves, a tail, or maybe even a shoulder.
The dark brown you can barely see to the top right is the pudding. The other side is green banana, a fruit that compliments the flavor of the souse.
These stands are the common “fast food” choices.
The menu
The grill master
Ryan got the barbecued chicken with fried plantains, chips and salad shown in the pictures. I ordered the grilled fish, chips and salad but ate it before it dawned on me to take a picture.
Time to burn off some of those calories!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with my past in gymnastics, I never did it as a child but started coaching at 14. Through training and teaching, I worked my way through the upper levels until reaching the head coach position of a completive team. I then finished up my journey in the gymnastics world as a judge and member of NAWGJ.
Although coaching is where my heart stays, it was so much fun to be on the other side as a student. I got to try new things in the hands of one of the best. No, seriously… This is Shane De Freitas. He is the only gymnasts to have ever represented Barbados in the 1996 Olympics!
His cheerful and laid back attitude combined with an extreme amount of knowledge made a perfect match for this class.
From left to right: Ryan, me, Shane, Michelle and Jodie.
Time to stretch-out and warm up.
A little floor with handstands, cartwheels, back walk overs and more.
Beam- I dedicate these two pics to all of my gymnasts from years past. Great memories girls!
Bars brought a lot of laughs. It seems pretty typical for little girls to “play” on a set, so childhood memories of recess came to mind. We started with some swings, then holds and the last photo is mid rotation of a back hip circle (which sounds cooler than it is) but I did it after all these years!
Although Ryan claims to not be a natural (and never had lessons), here he is with extreme height and great rotation in a back tuck. “I just like to jump off of things”.
Palma horse is a men’s event that we got to give a try. Attempting some of the most basic skills brought an entire new level of respect for the athletes that make it look so easy.
To say he was showing off would be like accusing a doctor of showing off by knowing the alphabet. This stuff was extremely elementary for him and really entertaining to watch.
I have no idea what this is called but it was fun! You grip two separate bars and proceed to elevate your body sideways to an inverted position. Yeh… Right. With Shane’s boost, I was able to get a feel for it, thanks pal!
Girls just wanna have fun! Our three attempts for a perfect rope picture. I wouldn’t say we failed, just had creative results. All great times ladies!
Final photo of the night with the whole crew. Just a bunch of big kids with big hearts and bigger smiles. A personal thanks to this group for the open arms (and monkey toes) to send me on my way… High-fives!
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