CHICKEN DAY

We’ve been hearing about this so-called Chicken Day with increasing frequency over the past couple months. I was wary at first, because I’m always wary when it comes to meat on this island. US food standards do not apply here; we’ve basically become vegetarians in the past six months. (SIX MONTHS?? Has it been that long?) We were tipped off early on that some of the local grocers turn their fridges and freezers off at night to save on their electricity bill. Not all, but some. Just one of those differences between Statia and the US. Something else we had to get used to, like how we’ve trained ourselves to sleep despite frenzied barking from all the dogs in the neighborhood at three in the morning. Our house doesn’t help – somehow it has better acoustics than Carnegie Hall, meaning that when a hen is constructing a nest in the foliage along our fence in the morning it sounds like someone is trying to murder you by crinkling a plastic bag inside your eardrum. And it turns out that roosters like hanging around hens. Once they start crowing right outside the window, it’s all over. You can train yourself to sleep through dogs barking, but you can never learn to block out the noise of a rooster crowing ten feet away from your head. A couple of weeks back I stumbled outside in a sleep-deprived delirium and actually threw a rock at an overzealous rooster. (Sorry, Annie. I missed, if it helps you feel any better. But I was aiming to shut him up FOREVER.)

Anyway, Chicken Day, CHICKEN Day. It happens every Saturday in a local family’s yard. They live about as far away from our house as you could get on the island, which is one of the reasons why it took us so long to give it a try. That, combined with the fact that my brother-in-law Kyle almost died of salmonella two years ago. Okay, exaggeration, but he later told me his symptoms and I think it’s safe to say that he WISHED he was dead at some points. I’ve been scared of poultry ever since. But this barbeque is a hit among the students, and so far none have had any Chicken Day related illnesses. SO WE WENT, and ohhhh myyyy goshhhh. Delectable. Saucy. Delicious. Chicken. Delectable.

Jon got ribs. Who gets ribs on Chicken Day??

It was a long walk to that side of the town so we decided to make the most of it and hit up Dr. Hazel’s (more about that later), but we were delayed by an angry cow. We’re not sure how the whole commotion started but by the time we happened along some local men were attempting to tug her across the street. She wanted blood.

No one was gored. We had to wait for a few minutes while they wrestled with her, though, because this all took place right in front of Hazel’s.

It’s the best place we’ve found on the island to get produce. He grows most of it in his yard – tomatoes, bananas, avocados, coconuts, plantains, cucumbers, etc. Plus he keeps some rabbits (hence “pet shop” on the sign). Sort of weird. We love it.

There you go. Also, I took this picture the other night. I could make it a separate post, but why?