The Market in Castries and My First Taste of Indian Food!

We got to sleep in a little bit on Friday, which was a welcome relief.  Lucius picked us up at Summer’s Inn at 9:30 AM and we went into Castries to visit the market.  The market is right on the edge of the harbor and sells just about everything you can imagine.  Handmade and hand-painted crafts, spices, fruits, vegetables, fish, souvenirs, clothes…everything!  There are two main buildings, the Arcade nearest the water and the market across the street, as well as an outdoor space for produce and fish vendors to set up.  We started in the Arcade, which had more tourist-y stuff.  I got myself a new coin purse for work that says St. Lucia on it (I’m going to retire my owl), a scarf, and some gifts for people.  Then Griffin and I crossed the street to the market where I got myself a painting and more gifts!  One of my favorite things about the market is that when all the vendors talk to you they say “Of course, my darling” and “Yes, my dear.”  I know they’re only saying it to loosen my purse strings, but I love it anyway!

At noon we went to the Health Ministry where our driver from the day before was supposed to pick us up to take us to a local restaurant.  We were under the impression that we had nowhere to be until 1:30 PM, when we would meet Lisa to go see her give a presentation. However, Lisa met us downstairs and said that she had just learned that we had to be at the school by 1:30!  That’s when everything went to hell in a handbasket.  Our driver showed up late and only had a pick-up truck. The five of us (Lisa stayed behind) squeezed in, with me on Mary’s lap, and drove ten minutes to a restaurant.  We quickly realized that there was no food that would be easy to take on the road, and they couldn’t get it prepared for all six of us anyway.  Then we tried to go to Subway and Burger King to get a quick meal to go, but it was lunch time and the traffic was horrible.  I kept telling Mary that we should Call Lisa and tell her to leave without us so she wouldn’t be late, but the driver insisted we would make it on time.  We ended up getting back to the Health Ministry to meet Lisa at 1:10, ten minutes after we said we would.

The school was a little ways into the country, but luckily the driver got Lisa to the school right on time.  She set up her presentation in a music room at a primary school called Odsan Combined School.  It was a presentation for the teachers of the school on the importance of a well-rounded diet on the academic success and overall health of the children in their school.  After she finished we went back to the Health Ministry and Lucius met us to take us back to our apartments.  We rested for a while, then we met Lisa at an Indian restaurant called Spice of India in Rodney Bay, which is about 5 minutes away from where we are staying.  Richardson had to take our group in spurts, so Griffin and I got there early and enjoyed an adult beverage.  I tried a Saint Lucian rum called Chairman’s Spice with soda and lime juice.  It was delicious!

When everyone arrived, the real adventure began!  I have never had Indian food, but Lekei is married to an Indian man so she gave a lot of guidance while we were deciding what to eat.  The owner of the restaurant, who remembered Dr. Hansen from previous trips, took our orders and was also very helpful.  I had a lamb in a spinach paste with rice and naan on the side.  Mildly spiced, of course!  It was so good!  Ursula got a goat dish, which I tried.  It was surprisingly good, but I forgot that Ursula had ordered her meal hot, so that was a surprise.  Then I had a desert that was fried dough balls in a sweet syrup.  I’m sorry I can’t remember the names of the dishes I ordered.  Maybe I will ask Lekei if she remembers!  After dinner, Griffin and I were at home and asleep within an hour.