I wanted to shake up my life and go sailing (or learn on the job, so-to-speak) so headed to Florida to crew on a catamaran. This is about how it went or, rather, didn't - and my life since. Hopefully it will lead to a catamaran on the clear aqua blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, watching the sunset, a coconut rum and coke in hand. You must START AT THE BEGINNING of the blog, April 2009, to get the whole story...

Thursday, September 17, 2009

CARIBBEAN FOOD

The weekend went by fast.

Today I show up at circus, which is in Hillside Mall parking lot. I was just there on Tuesday to try to pay my Fido bill, and so knew exactly where to go. I get there and the locations fellow tells me that circus is close to set like Calgary is close to Edmonton. Oh-oh.

I ask him where catering is today and he tells me they are on set so I make my way over to where transport is loading people and see that a 7 passenger van is just leaving. I yell to the locations girl standing right by it to stop it for me but she just looks at me with a blank expression and lets them go. Fortunately, there is a 15 passenger van right behind it. It is full of extras. One rolls down the front window and asks if I am going to set. I say I am so someone opens the slider and I heft my bag inside and climb aboard.

It takes a full 10 minutes to drive to set. Sheesh maneesh.

When we finally arrive, I climb out of the van and drag my bag full of scripts and supplies around looking for catering. I can't find them. I see Jill, the camera operator so ask her where catering are set up. She tells me they are at circus. I am incredulous. Really??

Locations are in charge of where the circus parks, where the work trucks park, where catering parks, where everyone parks. Yet one of their own doesn't know where catering is? Unreal.

I grab a transport guy and ask if he can radio someone to send a breakfast to set for me as I don't have time to go all the way back for it. I won't make it back in time for a blocking if I do that. So they make the call and fifteen minutes later the on-set wardrobe gal brings me my breakfast.

We are shooting a bunch of exteriors of the building where the apartment of our young couple is housed. Once we've done those, we move inside and up the narrow staircase to two small, and I do mean small, apartments that we have taken over. We will shoot in both; one is the entrance and bedroom the other is the kitchen, living room and a den.

There are a row of shops under the apartments in this old, brick building. One of them is an authentic Caribbean restaurant called Stir it Up. The people who run it look like they just walked off of Tortola. The guys have dreads, the woman has slicked back black hair and booty. I can't wait to try their food and go ask for a take-out menu. I plan to come back here on my day off, that's for sure.

At one point, during some down time for me, I sit on the bench in the roadway that's just a paved footpath - no cars allowed- and watch the Caribbean family and friends. I think about how they left the Caribbean to live in B.C. and how I want to leave B.C. and live in the Caribbean. Why doesn't the BVI government allow us to just trade places with someone who wants to leave. That would be perfect. I should suggest it to them!

Every night we get a hot snack provided by the crafty guy. I am excited when I find out that he just placed a huge order with the Caribbean restaurant for jerk chicken, roti, and other items from the menu. When it arrives, I happen to be in the room they put all of the food in as I just used the restroom near by. This means I actually get my choice of what I want to eat... nevermind that... I actually get to eat some of it. The other night when we were at the Parliament Buliding, pizza was ordered for the crew and I never saw a slice of it as I was stuck inside and couldn't get outside where the food was and the only place we could eat it as no food was allowed inside. So this is a huge treat for me. I take a few pieces of the shredded jerk chicken and a slice of the roti. It tastes heavenly.
All photographs are mine and not to be copied without express permission from me (click on them to see the large version).
Some names have been changed to protect my butt.



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