Ruben MacDonald Shearer

Congrats to my long time friend & colleague Peggy Brunache and her beloved Andrew Shearer…Their son Ruben was born at 11:42 a.m. May 3rd, 2007 and weighed in at 6 pounds and 12 oz.

…with the blood of both Raibeart Bruis (Robert the Bruce) and François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture in his veins, I’m sure he’ll rebel against something…follow Peggy, Andy & Ruben over at Peggy’s blog: Negroshire: Black girl from the US jumps the pond for love and life in Scotland.

Andy and Peggy tie the knot at the end of this month in Scotland and I wish I was going to be there…who knows maybe I will.

Tartan Army Behind Trinidad and Tobago?

My friend Peggy Brunache, now living over in Scotland, alerted me to the fact that although Scotland’s team did not make the World Cup, they will be there in force and supporting …not England…but Trinidad & Tobago–the Soca Warriors! I was, of course, immediately intrigued. What was behind this? Unity among peoples colonized by the UK? General anti-English sentiment? Is Tobago a popular vacation destination for Scots?

Well…it turns out to be the confluence of several things that brings the Scots to back “T&T.” First, Trinidad have six Scots-based players in their squad…then there is the fact that the Trinidad and Tobago striker is named Jason SCOTLAND (quite a convenient surname, eh?). Jason is so proud of his adopted homeland that he’ll be sporting a “Tartan Army” T-shirt during the World Cup and Jason Scotland’s official Trinidad jersey is in such demand that sports shops sold out almost as soon as they came in the door, especially with the Soca Warriors being drawn in the same group as England.

The Sunday Mail quotes Jason as saying “The fans have been great, I’ve loved my time there and regard it as my second home. Every time I meet people they wish me luck for the World Cup and insist I do my best against England. It has been a positive reaction and it’s hard to believe I have so much support from a country that isn’t even my home nation.”

I can’t help but feeling that there is a bit of anti-colonialism in here somewhere, however…

Brunache Abroad…

Well, TJV & I have returned from a two week trip to visit the families….A long road trip to Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia. I had a good time & as I haven’t seen most of relatives in over a year…it was long overdue.

At any rate, upon my return I find that one of my dearest friends and colleagues from the University of Texas–Peggy Brunache–has begun a great adventure and roadtrip of her own. Peggy is a Miami native Haitian-American who does historical archaeology of the African Diaspora with a twist…she is intensely interested in food and identity. Most recently Peggy has been doing work on the island of Guadalupe looking at creole foodways, slavery, gender and identity. Good stuff…

So what is her “great adventure”? She has just moved to the town of Perth in Scotland! Why? Love…of course. She met and fell in love with a highlander at Austin’s SXSW music festival.

If you are a friend or acquaintance of Peggy, have no fear…she has provided us with an ongoing blog so we can follow her through the process of getting to know an entirely different home and, more importantly for Peggy, a interesting food culture with deep roots and a lot of dynamics.

Check her out at Adventures in Negroshire ….

We all wish you the best, Peg….

hmmm….Peggy in Scotland, Apen in Spain, John in Morocco…
I feel a big road trip of my own coming on.