Photos first - The Bermuda Society of Arts, in City Hall, had a reception to kick off their latest exhibit, Bermuda 400 celebration, which included dance performances by a bagpipe-and-dance unit, a Portuguese (Azorean) folkloric troupe and the drum-and-stomp gombey troupe. The Island's governor was in attendance - all I knew while I was chatting with him was that he looked British and vaguely familiar, and realized he was the Governor only later. There were trays of fishcakes and hot cross buns, crispy shrimp, fruit, cheeses and wine on pour as well. The photos are again of some of the pieces that caught my attention.
Yesterday was a strange day all around. The buses didn't run in the morning - a wildcat strike, and I don't hear them today either, which means getting around to Good Friday events will be tough. I emailed my boss and secretary, saying I had plenty of work with me and could work at home easily enough if allowed, but would prefer to come in - if someone was out this way and could collect me, great.
Cheryl immediately replied - one of the inspectors was running out to pick up his wife, stuck at a bus stop, and he would collect me, too. (I'd met Alan at the office, we knew each other by sight tho not by name. His new bride - #3 or 4 - is a lovely young woman from Cuba, a dancer who is beginning to pick up teaching posts around the Island. Alan is an electrician by training; I asked if he knew of someone who could come check how power was being used in the apartment, as I was surprised by a $300 bill, 3 times what my estimated costs were to be. I'm waiting on the paper bill to see the details - this may include one-time start up expenses - but otherwise he is going to come make sure I'm the only one tied to this meter, and what problems there might be. After all, I'm practically living by candlelight, not running appliances much at all, one load of laundry a week, no heating or air conditioning as yet...)
The lunchtime codfish cakes and hot cross buns were a treat, tho primarily for the novelty of it. A nice bit of office sharing...
The codfish cakes are from salt cod, here called dried cod - it looks like fish that has been left in the sun and run over a few times. The fish is rinsed well, soaked in several changes of water, flaked and combined with mashed-up boiled potatoes, parsley and a bit of sauteed onion, formed into patties, sometimes rolled in crumbs and then pan cooked. I had them twice yesterday - the ones at the office were better than those at BSOA, less obviously potato-y, lighter generally, less oily.
The hot cross buns are in texture and taste something of a cross between bagels and sweet yeast rolls - dense and chewy but not as firm and hard as bagels can be, with raisins and a bit of sweetness and spice, tho not nearly as sweet as cinnamon rolls. The usual thing is to split the bun and put the fishcake inside; I preferred them as separate entities, the fishcake with a bit of salsa, which Jim, the other American, brought in. Someone brought in a big bowl of chocolate mousse, too.
I used some of my lunch break to run out to a hardware store for a small pot of mis-mixed paint in a Bermudian bright coral color for the birdhouse, and some small hinges to attach the roof panels together, and the roof structure to its plate. I still have to figure out how I will fill in the gable ends.
After work, I ran over to BSOA for the show, and saw the 4 birdhouses that have so far been returned to them - I'm glad I'm not in competition, my feelings would get hurt. That will be a fun exhibit to see before the auction.
Coworker Jim is a social animal and has tied up with a rugby club here. As a fundraiser the club was putting on what they flat-out (and quite accurately) call a 'booze cruise' that evening - $50 tickets, all the drinks you want, no food, 3 hours of cruising around in the harbor, something like 450 people, mostly 25 to 40 years old, lots of friends, all very chattery. Jim had bought a couple tickets before realizing his girlfriend would be away at that time, and suggested I might enjoy doing that as a change - a very distinct change! - from my routine. I agreed and bought one of the tickets. This is very much not my thing, but I met a bunch of folks - including a couple more Illinoisans - had a Dark and Stormy (rum and ginger beer) and a Swizzeler (two rums and various fruit juices). Never much of a mixed drink fan, I preferred the sweeter rum Swizzler. For my purposes, a one-hour cruise would have been just fine. The noise level ever ratcheted upwards and if, on our return, the police were not massed near the parking lot exits they missed a terrific opportunity to positively impact their department's revenue stream.
Jim was feeling the effects. We'd already agreed to share a cab ride to our houses - he lives in Flatts, not that far away - he has his girlfriend's car while she is away and would drive in the next day to get his bike. (There have already been 5 or 6 traffic fatalities this year, all but 1 of them on bikes (aka motorcycles or scooters) and I believe all but 1 of them involving alcohol. I'm glad he was conscientious enough to have made that choice before he needed persuasion to it.) We stopped into Cafe Cairo and had some appetizers to get some sustenance into his system, and, at 1 a.m., finally headed out to our parishes.
The main impact on me was that I was and am still hoarse - one had to roar to be heard.
Today dawned with some cloudiness but is to clear, hopefully in time for the kite-flying at Horseshoe Beach etal. Blast this bus strike tho - I will have to see if Jim is still up for this trip if I am to go see it. He has offered - I need to get back in to pick up all this stuff that is accumulating in my office, including the paint etal for the birdhouse and my files for my work projects.
Found a local arts association and gallery I'd like to get active with, as a student and volunteer - that access thing, again, though. Bus service is available nearby, and it is a line that runs near here - a stop is up the hill - but, like Rt #1, Rt #3 doesn't run late.
Enjoy the photos.
