What we did this past weekend - Saturday

Saturday was a bit of a big day for us all and naturally, it pissed rain all day long. We held the first Family BBQ at our house that included invitations out to all of the people I consider family. Yeppers, you read that right: father, mother, little brother, older sister, older brother, nephews, nieces, and various cousins. Along with them was included several family friends that are as good as blood relatives for what they mean to us. While we had a few folks that could not make it, we also had a few no-shows that did not have the courtesy to even respond to the invite. Most notably, my older brother in Barrie really disappointed me, AGAIN, and this pretty much put the nail in the coffin of our relationship. The message has been received perfectly clear and I am listening this time.

Anyhoo, those that came were asked to contribute a different dish to the event. In all, we had a sweet collection of foods of Trinidad and the islands. The list goes as follows (and I will try to include links to everything in a future post):
CooCoo (really more Barbados than Trinidad, but without the requisite fried flying fish)
Souse (both with chicken feet and pig parts, not fond of the feet)
Pelau (chicken and rice and peas)
Macaroni Pie
BBQ chicken
Curried chicken
Curried goat
Curried oxtail (under or over cooked, unfortunately, so was too tough)
Callaloo (with pigtail but no crab)
Roti (both dhalpuri and paratha)
Roast corn
Sweetbread
Zucchini bread
Chocolate Birthday cake (for the lil lad)

More than the food was the company. I would not say that I was nervous about my mother coming to my house for the first time, but I was a little anxious as this was a big step for me after our years of estrangement. It did provide many points of talk through the night though. Let me elaborate.

This was the first time that my mother and my MIL had met. My MIL can get along with anyone and is really a nice person especially in social situations. So, when she entered the room and said hello to everyone, she went over to my Dad, whom she is well acquainted with, and gave him a hug and kiss. This immediately got my mother going (having never let go of my father even in divorce) with a little "woo"ing at the sight. Mum (DW's) then went over to Mum (mine) and gave her a kiss as well and the chatting started. Somewhere in all of that my mother apparently said something to the effect of, "we will keep in touch now" or "we'll be talking now" or something to that effect. Oh yeah, colour me mouth-open and thinking what I did wrong in a past life for this to happen. It was all good though and things went well all around with no incidents; a bloody record in my family history let me tell you.

My sister had her man-friend with her and as DW will tell you, this family will test your limits to see if you can truly enter our circle. We are pranksters, jokesters and ribbing specialists. DW learned the very painful way, even AFTER I dutifully warned her, that a thick skin and a quick tongue are the only ways to survive in this family. Poor Gemini's man, I do not think my sister properly warned or prepared him. At one point my sister explained how it was okay for him to drink but he did know how to drive her stick (referring to her car's stickshift). All innocent except a)she was leaning back until she said that when she bolted upright and gestured for emphasis and b) the double entendre was invented by my family so my mother grabbed hold of that statement and we all rode it for a good hour or so turning the poor boy more and more red. The peak of it got worse though when he made a HUGE faux pas. At this point, DW's brother arrived and while the conversation was going on, Gemini (my nickname for my sister) mentioned she had a 26 year old son. My BIL could not believe it and commented on how good she looked. Brightness, Gemini's man, blurts out, "It's the light!" WHAT?!?!?!? Have you lost your Vulcan mind buddy? Oh man, we rode that shit like Seabiscuit. We had him drinking up a storm especially when I started on mimicking my sister when they got home with, "Oh, it was the light, eh? Which light is it now? Say my name bitch!" Oh yeah, we run the situations into the ground and squeeze every last ounce out of it.

Funny thing with Trini (and Caribbean in general) gatherings that have non-island folks in it, you do get to understand the language, slang and terms can really get to be a bit much for those not familiar with it. Poor DW and her brother, as well as Gemini's man, was often left looking puzzled as the fast talking and term specifics got tossed around so quickly that they sometimes got lost in the shuffle. I came to Canada when I was two so to the islands, I really sound Canadian. To Canadians, when I am amongst other islanders, I really sound foreign. It can be quite amusing at times and other times it can be quite useful at work because we can shortcut to meanings without revealing what we are talking about.

Oh, we also had a nice surprise in that a couple of our Ajax friends popped in on their way home form a wedding to drop off a package for me. So, we gave them a beverage and packed up a couple of recycled Chinese food containers with a taste of everything to take home to their worldly son who will basically try anything at least once; a boy after my own heart. He apparently enjoyed it all, some more than others, so I may have to send another treat his way soon. His parents just looked on as they are not quite as adventurous as he is. We made arrangements for them to be available at our next adult gaming night (don't go there).

So, after everyone left (thanks Bones, for cleaning up the kitchen as much as you could) and no further putting away was possible as we ran out of containers, we settled down with the Ottawa folks to veg. Mind you, vegging was at two o'clock in the morning. We grab a drink and started to watch Akeelah and the Bee. It is actually a very good family movie to watch. The LB and I ended up falling asleep on the couch after the movie was over and the ladies went up. LB went up later on and then the little lad came down in the morning to wake his favourite uncle.