I’ve had a couple interesting transport days.

Yesterday I was on the way to the gym. On the radio was the "Peepee in My Poopoo" song. Yes, that’s what it’s really about.

Background: A little less than a year ago a scandal broke in the government and society. There’s a… personality… around named Vincent McDoom. He’s a Lucian fashion designer who spends some of his time in Paris. He’s also a transvestite. I know nothing about his sexual orientation. I think he is pre-op… he still shaves his face, but otherwise makes a fair woman. So about a year ago he came forward and said that when he was a boy he was molested by a man who was at that time (a year ago) the Speaker of the House of Assembly in St. Lucia. Since then Mr. McDoom (he still goes by his male name) has become an advocate for child sexual assault victims. The scandal called for the resignation of the Speaker of the House, which later happened. The socio-political atmosphere is such here that any sort of sexuality beyond standard heterosexuality is feared and despised. But that’s a very complicated issue that I won’t go into now…

So for Carnival this year (and every year) they have several music contests. Calypsos are socially minded songs, and Soca is the usual dance music. The most popular songs were "Speaker of the House", a calypso by Invader, a well-known and prolific Calypsonian. The other one was the "Peepee in my Poopoo". Both were about the scandal with Mr. McDoom. They were played INCESSANTLY during carnival time.

Then yesterday on the bus they were playing the "Peepee in my Poopoo". I about fell out of the bus when the three year-old child next to me sang along. It’s catchy and I guess Peepee and Poopoo are words that a three year old would know. Another time I had heard a little kid singing the "69" song. Equally base in content. I was surprised at that one, but figured a kid wouldn’t get it anyways. Peepee in my Poopoo is hard to miss.

On the way home from the gym, I caught a bus after going to the grocery store. It’s the main bus line, and there are always drivers. Also a good number of them are real jerks. So this driver was cruising the main road at about 65 miles per hour. A guy in the back shouted for the driver to go slower because he was being dangerous. The driver didn’t slow down and the guy shouted at him again. Another girl shouted in agreement. Then the driver got vexed and said if we all didn’t like how he was driving, we could get off his bus. The girl and the man shouted not to be stupid. But the driver pulled over and put us all down. Another bus came along and picked us all up. I’ve rarely heard so much chupsing on a bus.

Today I was walking to get my bus in town. There was a cruise ship in the port, they’ve had them almost every day recently. A taxi driver came up to me with his little brochure and said "you want a taxi?" I said "I not a tourist, uh!" (which sounds really Lucian when you say it out loud). Usually if I say something in Lucian or in Patois people will fall over laughing. But this guy said "Yes you ARE a tourist!" I just had to laugh!

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My friend Michelle is coming in tonight! She’s staying for a week. We should have a blast, and hopefully I’ll rope her into doing a guest commentary on here!!