Date for Entry: (Monday 17th April, 2017)
Actual Date of Online Entry: (Tuesday 16th November, 2021)
Dear Diary,
Today was my group for
“Steelpan Literature” turn had to go to the Archives in Port-of-Spain to do more
searching into old newspapers for articles on Steelpan. The tough part
in it was that we had to search for things on South bands if any and
also results of the panorama competitions from the 1900’sto 2000s.
When Dad and I got there, I only saw Eric and Toyanna sitting at a table. They told me that I had to go to the lady by the indoor counter and
the lady there gave me two forms to fill out and a pencil since I was not
allowed to walk with any materials or bags inside that room. I took the paper and
fill them out and then sometime after when came to my signature, I added the big ‘Z’ on it and then I saw Brian’s face light up bright with a big smile.
Minutes later, everyone was there and they had gone through the same thing with the forms. We decided that we would have a big injustice if we all had to go through the same thing in all of the 10 years so we decided as a group for each of us to pick a year. Since my favourite number was 7, I choose to do my searching from the year 1970’s and the others selected their year.
Soon Dr. Remy came into the building and then she went through the class attendance for the day. We all spread out along the two columns of tables. She then told Justin and me who Mr. Handy was because he was right there at the front desk. Dr. Remy and I both had a good laugh out and Justin on the other side of the table gave a very uncomfortable look.
It was a funny joke and then Joshua came in the building really late around eleven o’clock. Dr. Remy had to leave us because she had a class to go to in a while. I enjoyed my visit there in the Archives but as time went by the enjoyment had to pause because of the hard pain and the amount of patience I had to give in. Especially pain where the whole side of one leg was hurting so much and I had to keep on standing. Standing usually gave me more confidence and comfort to go through the newspapers rather than sitting on the padded chairs. In that case, all of us were standing.
The attendant named Mr. Singh came out with a trolley packed with papered newspapers that were covered with brown paper. I saw that the newspapers were taken and bound like a book where they were bound with thread and a hardboard cover on both sides. I carried the digital camera we had at home but the minute that gave out one flash of light spread throughout the entire room. I knew it was not going to be useful today and my friend Sheamya next to me say, “Nah boy Daryl, Doh use flash” I took out my phone and quickly began to take pictures. The battery was full thank God but I didn’t want it to run out. (I was in Jay's group at the time.)
When it was twelve on the dot, the group members were finishing up their things and we were exchanging what we had. Everyone had to make sure they had ten articles to give and receive one of those articles from the ten years. We got a WhatsApp group created and from there we will submit the pictures we got for the day. We got green slips of paper from the counter and wrote down what each member had to get.
Then everyone left me there and Joshua came back. He told me "they wanted something else from what he gave them" and he remained there for a while. This was about after one in the afternoon and then he needed my help to snap three pictures of articles. I told him I will send it to him later when I got home because the Wifi in the place was too slow even though it said excellent connection.
Joshua soon left me and then I was the only one in the group there. While working for the next three hours, as I was doing my work, there was a short quarrel that happened and then a lady had another one and then another story was with a confused man who said he was writing a book. I wasn’t just eavesdropping, he was talking so loud to the four women behind the counter. Everyone could hear. I and another lady had the same reaction when we were both watching him hard. I didn’t see her there on the other table because she picked up her things and left. Poor lady, but for me that was not going to be a problem because I had things to do.
He finally left and then the attendant Mr. Sing came out. Besides the story of Mr. Handy as Dr. Remy told us about and then she also told us too earlier about "this old Indian guy who" was Mr. Singh and "his temper". I saw a lot of those episodes today. Three times with the group and four times after they left. There was even one time when he saw a brown paper covering a document ripped up. He was looking angry and began to make noise. Of course, the lady at the counter and I was helping him wrap up some of the unwrapped documents so that he could take them back inside. She then said, “Calm down Singh. Is nuh de end ah de World.”
Another episode was when he was complaining over the same thing he was mentioning that they don’t have supplies to paper the documents. They have to try to protect the brown paper and he also argued talking to himself that they are running out of masking tape. Coming to the ending of the time, I had run out of paper and I had to go by the desk to ask for more paper and the same lady earlier from the counter gave me some. I was lucky and thankful that Sheamya had given me a long sheet of her notebook to use and I used it well.
I saw dad come back from a long time. One part of the day I saw him and then the next he left. Then when Mr. Singh came pack he got vexed when he saw the package opened up on the other table that Joshua left. He was gone for a long time and then he came back with the trolley. I helped Mr. Singh paper back up the documents with him and then I cleaned up the mess the other group members left from earlier on the tables and all over the floor. I felt to talk off the gloves I had to wear all day. That was another thing about here that you couldn’t touch the documents barehand.
I gave back the lady at the counter the extra paper I didn’t use and thanked her for her help throughout the day. She somehow looked familiar as if I knew her from somewhere. When I walked out of the room with all of these strips of paper in my hand from today, I took my book bag to the Security counter and rest it on the single chair next to dad. She watched me and started laughing. He asked me, “Dar? Whays all that yuh was doin’ in dey boy? Ah, thought yuh say yuh finishin’ in ah while?” I answered and went to use the Washroom before we walked down the road to City Gate. A long day holding all that up.
While walking down the road, Daddy told me that after he came out from checking me, which was an hour and a half ago, he spoke to the lady at the counter and she said that she was our neighbour in the building at the back in Tunapuna. It was then I said “yes” because I knew I felt I saw her from somewhere. Some of them have to come back another time to get all their work. Another thing was that I didn’t get to eat anything for the whole day and yet I was still perfectly fine.
The rest of the streets were like going through the market. A lot of people and children about the place because school was over at that time. It was after three. Even outside of Hosein’s Roti Shop was packed when we went to get a Taxi to Curepe. One thing I did not like about the taxi ride was that my leg began to cramp for a while and when I told dad to take my bag and I went to squeeze my leg, the lady next to me on the left looked scared. She asked me if I was alright and I told her I had a cramp. Thank God it was over quickly.
That was really a long day and even so, this was a really long journal entry. Five letter pages in all. I made sure to send the article pictures when I got home at house number two in Curepe. I also sent the pictures I had promised to send to Joshua when he asked me. That was over with. Responsibility for giving the group their stuff was done. All I have to do now is save the articles on the computer at home in Tunapuna and then fill out the Book Report forms we have to do when submitting them for marks to Dr. Remy.
Link(s):
Daryl Zion M. Ali
No comments:
Post a Comment