Do you speak Crucian?

i usually go to the LaReine vegetable market early on Saturday mornings. The open air market is on once a week so if you miss it you have to wait until the next weekend. Young and old set up their stands with all sorts of fruit and veggies that are in season. The range of colors on the tables are delightful. It’s a killer having to wake up so early on a weekend but if you don’t get up before 6:00am you miss out on all the good stuff. 

The place is a hive of activity and just finding a parking place can be a chore. Trucks and vans are parked all over the place and people are coming and going. i usually say my good mornings to everyone when i arrive.  i walk around, see what they all have, then go back to the stands that are selling what i’m looking for and buy it. Everyone likes to chat a bit so if you are in a rush its best to give your self some extra time to connect with the vendors.

Last weekend i was buying some of those lovely long beans from my regular lady when i noticed the guy next to her had some cherry tomatoes that looked delicious. We started chatting and he asked me which state i was from. i said i had lived on St. Croix for 35 years and didn’t know where else to call home.

He laughed one of those great hardy guffaws...then asked me why i didn’t speak Crucian.

A huge bell went off in my head while i pondered his question. 

My mother was born and raised in England and had an English accent the entire time she was alive and living in the US. My siblings and myself always used to ask her why she hadn’t assimilated, why she didn’t try harder to be like Americans.  She would say we were picking on her trying to make her into something she wasn’t.

So here i was being accused of the same thing by a man speaking Crucian English. i told him i could understand everything and was really good at listening but that i felt funny speaking Crucian. i told him i always felt like i was a fraud if i tried expressing myself in Crucian. Wasn't he going to laugh at me? i told him i always answered back in plain old American English.

He said after 35 years i should be speaking the language like a native.

i really took this to heart and said both of my kids that were born here could speak Crucian and that he was right...i should be speaking Crucian when ever i’m interacting with Crucians. Crucian is the language of St. Croix and i can’t speak it.

i don’t know if i’ll ever be able to speak it…but i sure do understand the immigrant’s dilemma.

So here’s the question for today. If you have immigrated to St. Croix have you learned the language yet and do you speak it?

See ya next week.