A wanna ride a harse

Before I came here, I found out via wikipedia that the language spoken in St. Vincent was English. Then I came here, and I realised that I couldn't understand anything. Here at Richmond Vale Academy, most people speak Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, so I was lost at mealtimes, and any time I was with Spanish-speaking people (all the time, in other words). And the locals here speak what is called 'Broken English'.

We had some groups of local schoolchildren visiting a while back. We were showing them around and teaching them about the animals and the gardens. When they came running towards the horses, they would often shout: "A wanna ride a harse!" We thought that was a bit funny. The way they talk here is really difficult to understand. They speak fast, and slur the words together. There are certain sounds they just don't pronounce, like 'th'. 'The' becomes 'da', and 'birthday' becomes something along the lines of 'bird day'. The slogan for one of the political parties in St. Vincent the previous election was: 'We naah tun back'. This was printed on T-shirts (with this spelling), and I didn't understand what it meant before I said it under my breath to myself. It is really strange (and a bit funny) to read these obvious spelling mistakes, since I notice them easily and get irritated if I am at home or on the internet. Here, though, it is mostly just funny. It is really difficult to learn the local language, so the only thing I can actually say (and understand) is 'me na no' (I don't know).

Now, on to something else. These flies have been flying around and landing random places. They are connected in pairs by their bodies, so I have been calling them double flies. It is like I am almost constantly seeing flies having sex, and also having sex on me (in my hair, on my skirt, etc.). Frankly, it's a bit irritating. But it's also fascinating. Especially how they can survive and navigate (if they do so at all), being connected like that. And also what the point of this connecting thing is (how it works). I guess biology is the right field for me, since I'm asking these questions all the time. I love being curious about nature!


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