Meet Pa Tamboi

My earliest days in the United States were made easier by the proximity of a Salone artistic community in northern New Jersey. From our Staten Island home it would take between 3 and 4 hours to travel to 42nd Street Station (Port Authority) by bus, ferry and train, then catch a coach to New Brunswick where friends would have me picked up at the coach station. A journey that would have taken no more than 40 minutes via the direct route (New Jersey Turnpike) if one had a car.

As a courtesy my friends would always try and arrange a ride for the return journey to save me the convoluted trek. The discussions of who would give Bra Lez a lift home would often make mention of the need to pass Pa Tamboi. I was curious as to who this Salone Pa might be. This Pa that had so established himself in the New Jersey community that he was spoken of almost as a landmark.

On one occasion, on a journey along the New Jersey Turnpike, someone said, "Pa Tamboi," and I turned quickly and asked,"Where?" They pointed to a road sign which read PERTH AMBOY. "Does Pa Tamboi live in Perth Amboy?," I wondered, before realizing that Perth Amboy in a Salone accent would sound remarkably like........Pa Tamboi. That was how I finally got to meet the mysterious Pa Tamboi.

As this blog is dedicated to creativity, it is hereby named for Pa Tamboi. Give him a wave if you ever navigate the upper reaches of the New Jersey turnpike, and tell him I said hello.
Les
05/02/06