Dear Nesta,Well, Crop–Over done an’ life gine now start gettin’ back to normal! I don’ get too involve in de happenin’s, an’ tell de troof, ef I had de money, I would do wuh a lot o’ ethuh Bajans do at this time – hop ‘pon a plane an’ tek off! But from wuh I hear, Bajans an’ all de fambly an’ frien’s dat fly in, as well as de res’ o’ tourisses from far an’ wide, had a ball from start to finish!
It was fettin’ wheyevuh yuh turn, in de tents, at de Pork Lime, Pan ‘pon de San’, in de Square, Soca ‘pon de Hill, in de Cave, dey was always someplace to go! Bridgetown Market was de onlies’ place Philomena an’ muhself t’ought we mighta pay a short visit, but when I read dat dengue fever was knockin’ ‘bout in Trinidad, we decide to gi’e it a miss. I stay far from crowds when anyt’ing like dah in de air an’ wif all dis back an’ forf between we an’ de Trinis durin’ dis season, I decide not to tek no chances, ‘cause I en got much luck an’ no money to deal wif any big sickness dat might hit muh! Chile, I had de shock o’ muh life when my nighber tell muh wuh happen to she daughter a couple weeks ago. Apparently, de girl tek in one evenin’ an’ she parents decide she would get quicker attention ef duh went somewhey else ‘stead o’ de horsepittle, ‘cause yuh know how long de wait could be at dah place sometimes – aldoh I hear it now improve a lot! Befo’ duh would admit de young lady, my nighber had to pay t’ree t’ousan’ dollars, but she din min’, ‘cause she t’ought dah would surely cover evaht’ing. After all, it is a lotta money!De girl only stay in overnight, ‘cause after runnin’ a few tes’s de nex’ mornin’, it turn out to be neffin serious, but you would believe dat when she went to check out, anethuh bill was waitin’ fuh dem – dis time fuh over two t’ousan’ dollars! Wuh, dah add up to over five t’ousan’ dollars fuh ‘bout twenty hours, ‘cause she wasn’ dey longer dan dat! An’ she din even get neffin substantial to eat, she frien’ had to run out dah night an’ buy some crackers! Ef she din even spen’ a day an’ it cos’ summuch, I shudder to t’ink wuh dah bill woulda been fuh a week! Dah is why I always say ef poor people sick an’ it is money dat would help duh get better, dey en neffin else to do but call in de undertaker – an’ even dem nowadays far from cheap! I onderstan’ medical bills in Amurica high enuff, an’ it seem we now followin’ in dem footsteps! Of course, yuh could fine nuff people hey dat could pay dah sort o’ money wifout blinkin’ a eyelid, an’ maybe dah is why de rates set so high! But it certainly en fuh de likes o’ me an’ muh frien’s! Philomena was tellin’ muh de ethuh day, dat dey en no way she would got dah’ kin’ o’ money, so ef anyt’ing happen to she an’ I cyahn get she down to de QEH, she jes’ gine pick out wuh she want to get bury in, an’ lie down an’ wait fuh de en’! Howevuh yuh look at it, she would dead, as de shock o’ hearin’ she would ha’ to pay all dah money to get admit, would kill she in any case! I gine try an’ keep in min’ de sayin’ “prevention better dan cure” an’ do muh bes’ not to get sick! Now all dah healfy green stuff I should be eatin’, an’ de vitamins necessary to keep de body in good shape, en exackly cheap fuh people like me, but I gine ha’ to mek de effort!
