Hello Everyone!
Welcome to the first edition of Karibbean Korner. I am Brier Evans (pronounced as bri-yay), a Speech Pathology major from the class of 2024, and I will serve as the writer for this year’s (2020-2021) Karibbean Korner column. To say a little bit about myself, I am from the Commonwealth of Dominica, which is an island located in the West Indies aka the Caribbean. I was raised in Dominica for 16 years until I left to attend
a boarding school in North Carolina known as Salem Academy.
I stayed at Salem for three years until finally attending XULA. Now before I introduce this column I would like to make a PSA: please do not confuse Dominica with the Dominican Republic; they are two separate islands. Following up on that, please do not ask me if I speak Spanish because I’m afraid the answer to that will be no. I was always more of a French student… but I’m actually not that great at French either, which, I admit is a bit sad.
Now back on topic, this corner will serve as an introduction to and awareness of all things Caribbean related and will update readers on any Caribbean events taking place on campus. The corner will consist of many segments such as Q&A’s, Guess That Slang, Song of The Day, and more. It will also cover various topics including food, music, history, et cetera.
That being said, I only know of one or two other students who are from or have parents from the Caribbean. If there any other students who have an association of some sort with the Caribbean, don’t be strangers! I rep 767 (area code) proudly and will gladly welcome a fellow West Indian! So, I would love to get familiar with you all and anyone else who is interested in West Indian culture. My email will be included in every issue of this column, so please direct any questions you have for me to that email address and I will dedicate time in a future issue to answer them each. Also, if there are any topics you would like for me to cover or any specific islands you would like for me highlight, feel free to email me as well!
Now, for this first column, I will be introducing Guess That Slang and Song Of The Day. These two segments shown below will be included in every publishing of this column.
GUESS THAT SLANG
Slangs words introduced in a column will be defined in the following column publication. A new word/ phrase will also be introduced below definitions
Word: Gasa (pronounced as Gah-sah)
Examples:
Gasa my notes are so messy. Gasa I’m tired. Gasa answer your phone.
SONG OF THE DAY
2020 will be an unforgettable year for us all and because of that I wanted to connect
everyone to our shared experience of living through Covid, so here’s a Covid-related song from my homeland enjoy!
Shelly - Inside [From Signal Band Official]
Link: https://youtu.be/pPX1yLoVtrE
This song is performed by Sheldon Alfred aka Shelly, a bouyon/soca artist from Dominica. This song was written during and inspired by COVID 19. In the song, Shelly expresses his thoughts on COVID 19, his homesickness, and of the recent protests.
Contact Karibbean Korner columnist Brier Evans to her pitch an idea, for a guest feature or to respond to her weekly columns at: bevans8@xula.edu
