Trinidad and Tobago - Spicy San Fernando

Oh, hey! Whatcha doin? Just trying to figure out what to name your new Beta fish while waiting to get your circuit breaker reset because you tripped it into oblivion with a space heater? Yeah, us, too.

Djibouti was hit and miss on Tuesday, so do y'all wanna go to Trinidad and Tobago today? We're gearing up for more nasty weather and this should be the perfect cure!

you can just imagine those folks to be ellen and pinky having an underwater tea party. not THE tea party. ok, you can imagine that those folks are ellen and pinky holding the tea party under water.

So, let's get a little oriented. Trinidad and Tobago are located in North America, but actually sit just off the coast of Venezuela in South America. Trinidad and Tobago consist of two islands, the southernmost of the Caribbean islands, and is the home of the steel drum, the limbo dance, calypso music, the largest specimen of brain coral in the world, and was the fictional location of both Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe.

When Pinky was a kid, he used to listen to an old steel drum record of calypso music from the islands. He loved it. He used to play it constantly. His parents must have the patience of Job. He's hoping we'll get some similar stuff today.

the implied cacophony is deafening! 

Trinidad and Tobago were first settled about 7,000 years ago, the first in the Caribbean. We couldn't find much in the way of pre-Columbian history, so let's just fast forward a few thousand years to 1492, when Columbus landed in late July. Settlements were set up in the early 1500's, and a long history of settlements, slavery, plantation farming, and lots and lots of fighting ensued. Especially on Tobago. Tobago has changed hands around 30 times, more than any other Caribbean island. The English finally took hold in the early 1800's and kept it as a colony until independence in 1962.

i feel the small pox coming on...

They've been pumping oil since the early 1900's, making it one of the richest colonies in the British empire. Those petro-dollars and a location outside the hurricane belt have helped them in modern times to build a pretty strong nation. They're able to provide free education for there citizens from kindergarten all the way up through university!

Anyway, let's tune in and find out what the Trinbagonians are listening to! Don't forget your sunscreen!

WACK Radio

Listen Here - watch out! They're culture krazy!

Djibouti - We're Digging جيبوتي

Oh my gawd, y'all. Sorry to leave you stranded in Montenegro with those state speeches and spoons tapping on glasses. We got a little snowed in yesterday. Even though it was a snow day and we didn't get to travel, we were still pretty productive. Ellen did a 1,000 piece puzzle all by herself in less than six hours. Who's a super mastermind now?

OK, what say we head to Djibouti (جيبوتي)? If Bangkok invaded Djibouti, would Greece help? Waka! Waka! Waka!

it's wayyyyyy over there on the right. the one in red!

Now that we've gotten all of that silliness out of the way... Djiboutui is a tiny little country - about the size of Massachusetts -  situated on the horn of Africa at the south end of the Red Sea. This place is desert-tastic! There's only about 5 inches of rainfall a year, and as a result, only about .04% of their land is arable. Less than half a percent! They've got to import the majority of their food, which makes them trickily dependent on pretty much everyone else in the world.

There's a good bit of ocean life, though. You can find everything from Whale Sharks, which are totally sweet, to Manta Rays and Hammerheads! Those are totally rad, too. Wouldn't it be wild to ride a Manta Ray around? Djibouti is also home to the crater lake, Lac Assal (Lake Assal), which is over 500 feet below sea level and is the second lowest land depression in the world after the Dead Sea!

Average schooling for their citizens is just four years. Imagine that! You'd be going to senior prom at ten years old! Na but really, it's probably because only a quarter of their population receives any education. They still have a 70% literacy rate, though. Sounds as if they are just more efficient educators maybe.

Argh. So, apparently there's no documented history of Djibouti prior to France's arrival in the mid-19th century, beyond passing mentions of traders. We find that pretty hard to believe. Perhaps Pinky's research is a bit too shallow, but he can't find anything more substantial than a few sentences describing their history before the French arrived. Weird. You'd figure a nation situated in such a geographically important area would have plenty of documented history. There were plenty of established and powerful civilizations in the area. We really can't fathom why nothing's written. Oral history is prevalent in Djibouti's nomadic tribes, but we really can't find anything beyond the name of a sultan or two. Bizarre. We guess everyone must've been chewing khat, like they do today.

yum, illegal/legal plants to chew.

Anyway, in the late 1800's, the French rolled in and hung around for about a hundred years, naming it French Somaliland, and later the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas. These are some epic names. They eventually gained independence in 1977, and Hassan Gouled Aptidon, the first president, served until he stepped down in 1999, at 83 years old. He died a few years ago at the age of 90. His nephew succeeded him and serves as president to this day. There was a nasty civil war throughout the 90's over political representation, but it ended in 2001 with the last of the rebels signing peace accords.

nice hat, sir!

With an unemployment rate of 40-50%, there isn't a whole lot going for Djibouti economically. They pretty much capitalize on there strategic location. Strategic location of Djibouti. That's what's he said! Hoo Wah!

Seriously, though, let's tune in and see what the Djiboutians are listening to. This is an Arab station broadcast throughout the Levant. Djibouti only has two domestic radio stations, and neither stream on the internet, so we'll have to listen to this one. It seems pretty good so far, beyond the occasional and completely out of place western song. For example, we just heard awesome Arab stuff transition into Ke$ha. 50% awesome, 50% not awesome.

Radio Sawa

Listen Here

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Montenegro - Beautiful Беране

Whoa. Sorry about accidentally maintaining radio silence yesterday... life got away from us! Oops!

Didja have fun in Tonga on Wednesday? What's that you say? Not enough accordion for ya? Well have we got the remedy for that! Let's head over to Montenegro!

this map has the rail lines on it!

Reportedly the tallest people in the world, Montenegrin men are 6'1" on average, and women are 5'7". Must be tough to fit everyone in. Even the map gets a little cramped! Cartographers have apparently always hated Montenegro because they can't fit all the letters in it's small space on the map. Pinky's read in three places (one being a US government website) that the river Bojana is the only river in the world that flows in both directions, but we're dubious of this claim, as A) it seems impossible, and B) all the other articles about the river make no such claim. And, you'd figure that would be something to boast about. So, why aren't they shouting from the rooftops? Whatever. We're over it.

what? living here is possible? bring it on!

Montenegro translates to "Black Mountain", which is fun since we've all spent so much time in Black Mountain, NC. I wonder if they have a sister city established. We like it when cities do that. Perhaps they could shack up with Zhabljak, the highest town in the Balkans and a tourist destination. Montenegro itself has become one of the fastest growing tourist hot spots in the world!

now, those are some BLACK mountains!

Montenegro has a history of being swallowed by empires. It started with the Romans, then the Byzantines, followed by the Serbians, then the Ottomans, then became part of the Venetian Republic towards the end of that state's lifespan, then the Austrians took over. Montenegro had a run of independence in the mid-late 1800's, establishing a monarchy. It then joined the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after WWI where it apparently had a lot of say in the government; it was then annexed by Mussolini during WWII, and then joined the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the war, firmly under the USSR's thumb. They had a union with Serbia for a while, but referendums never really let it come to full fruition, and Montenegrin independence was firmly established a few years ago. Will it last? Who knows?

Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery, Berane, Montenegro

Let's tune in to Radio Berane broadcasting from Berane (Беране) situated in the mountains of eastern Montenegro. Seems like there's some kind of speech going on right now, but hopefully they'll return to the fun stuff soon. Enjoy!

Radio Berane

Listen Here

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