Alive

Routine is comfortable, there is something calming about even the smallest routine. It is easy, it is known and there are few surprises. Routine does not however make you feel engaged, passionate or alive. Everyone has things that really make them feel alive...I think I've narrowed my list to the following three:
1. A really good laugh, the kind that makes your sides hurt, tears fall and just the thought of it will get you going all over again. An inside joke can help too because it makes you feel connected.
2. Sometimes a good run can do it, but playing soccer will always work. Having the ball at your feet and doing a perfect give and go, or making a slot run towards the goal and hitting a great one-touch shot, doesn't get too much better than that.
3. Trying something or going somewhere new...whether it is learning how to cook something new or figuring out how to get a new place, there is something about discovering you can accomplish something that reminds you how great it is to be alive.

So those are the three things that really do it for me. Think a bit about yours and try to make sure and do at least one of them once a week, or else what's the point? Being with my friends/family/Brenton is also right up there, but it usually leads to one of the three above! Anyway, the reason I'm thinking of this is that today I had the pleasure of doing all three!

1. I guess this isn't a normal kind of inside joke since it is mostly a joke with myself, but my parents are kinda in on it too. There had been a blue car parked on the side of the road, always clogging up traffic on the way to my house, from the time I got here in January until about 2 weeks ago. Everyday this darn blue car wold be sitting there, I was so confused as to why it would NEVER move, what is the point in having a car if it just sits there right? Well about two weeks ago it vanished, gone, just like that. Today it was back and it just made me smile and all seemed right in the world. We'll see if it is back permanently or not!

2. I got to play soccer today!! A friend of a friend got me in touch with one of her friends who plays soccer every Sunday in Port of Spain, I know it is a twisted loop. But I found my way to them and got to play tonight. There were a couple other girls there, which was really nice and they guys weren't crazy macho...they actually passed to us. I was worried since I hadn't played for so long, but it all came back and I surprisingly made some good plays. I can't wait to head back!

3. Trinidad, much like Illinois has two parts. North and South. To the Chicago folk, anything south of I-80 is considered Southern Illinois (to us Central Illinois people, we know there are 3 parts because we should never be confused with the Southerners!). But in Trinidad anything south of the Eastern Main Road is South, and no one seems to mind that. I have yet to venture to South (yes they use it as "I live in South" not "I live in the South") and today I set out into the unknown. Two girls from the University came with me, they are both here for the semester from Canada. We found the taxi stand and after some price negotiating got going. It was about 30 min to San Fernando, the biggest town in South, where we found out way to the Brown Maxi. New color, pretty much the same deal. The driver dropped us right at the entrance of Pitch Lake...which was our reason for heading south in the first place. Trinidad is the sole producer of asphalt, which is the refined product of Pitch. There are sulfur lakes inside a huge black pit that you can actually bathe in. They dig up the pitch and take it the next door refinery. A five foot deep hole, probably that wide as well, will fill back up with pitch in about a week. How cool is that! They have never found the bottom and from estimates, the pitch in the lake will last 400 years at current production rates. It amazes me. Here are some picture...although they kinda just look like pictures of a parking lot!







Above is them excavating Pitch, Pitch in solid form and tar form, me in the sulfur water and the three of us in the middle of the lake.

Water Crisis: Day 3

Trinidad is currently experiencing one the worst droughts in recent history, and everyone is really beginning to feel it. Our neighborhood is in day 3 without water delivery, so we are starting to get creative. This is how it is supposed to work...we get water delivered on Mondays and Fridays and during those deliveries our two large water tanks also get filled up. We then use the tanks for water the rest of the week, which has generally worked well. We have a water curfew so at 9pm the water from the tanks is shut off to the house and if you need to brush your teeth or wash dishes after 9, you use water that you've saved back in water bottles for such an occasion. It is amazing how much I've taken available water for granted at home. There is not a second thought that when you turn on the faucet, water will come out. Right now water coming out of the faucet is like striking gold. And I should really not complain because we at least get water delivered sometimes, there are parts of the country that haven't seen water running in their taps for months. They pay for water trucks to deliver water or pay to pump water out of a local steam (this is on top of the water tax they pay for getting no water delivered!).

I haven't gotten to our water crisis part...Thurs morning our tanks went dry, which sucks but no biggie, we'd get water on Friday and use our saved bottles of water. Friday morning, no water. We called the water authority who said we'd get it by noon. Friday afternoon, no water. We called the water authority who said we' have it sometime in the evening. Saturday morning, no water. I only had about half of a big water bottle left on Friday night, but luckily Dr. Logie brought some water from work. We're getting creative today, she is going out to fill some more bottles and then we are going to take a trip to shower at the University tonight. Again, the water authority said they'd be by today, but we haven't seen any sign of them yet. They give you a water number and if someone isn't home with that number ready...you are out of luck. I'm on water duty right now and waiting for the truck is exhausting. Every time I hear a car pass by I run to the door and look out. If it sounds like a big truck, which it seems like everything does, I walk outside to try and find it because missing it would mean another 2 days without water. We really are spoiled at home...

Since it is so dry here the fires have been terrible. The entire hill side near my house is brown and burnt. All you see is dirt and tree stumps. It seems like there is new smoke every day and the fires are creeping closer to the neighborhoods. As more areas burn the chances for mudslides during the rainy season keeps increasing. You just can't win with mother nature!

So here are a few pictures for you...


Not the best picture, but you can see that the land is bare and there are just stumps sticking up. You used to only see green leaves on this hill...


This fire was in an area that I run in quite often, so it is a 2 minute walk from my door. That is a little close for comfort.


Sugar cane! A friend from church gave me a bunch of sugar cane. It looks like bamboo really and you peel off outer part then suck on the inside. It was really good, who would guess it tastes pretty much like eating sugar! I have way more than I could ever eat!


This is Mum eating some of the sugar cane, she grew up in the country so knew how to cut it without slicing up her hands (which I probably would've done!). She said she hasn't had any in years though.


This is me with a few of the girls from the Easter Concert cast after the show on Thursday. It was really great to get to know them a little better, everyone from the group was so nice!

Point, USA

At first I just saw the two of them, circling around. Then I noticed two more, further up and another hiding nearly out of sight behind a tall bush. These were no ordinary birds. They were like the Valociraptors on Jurassic Park, constantly jabbering back and forth and craning their heads while investigating you with their yellow eyes. They were medium sized birds, not as big as the pigeons in Central Park or as small as Sparrows, and they were jet black. The would tilt their head at you and make an angry clicking noise then would puff out and ruffle their feathers before making a more boisterous ca-caw sound. The two kept flying low, directly over my head, back and forth, never stopping for more than a moment before dipping back over my head. At first I was merely afraid that I would get pooped on, but as they continued back and forth they kept flying lower and I quickly realized that they might actually fly right into me. The others were up in a tall bush that shaded the bench I was reading on, clicking at me. I tried to focus on my book and then woooosh, ca-caw. I had seen these birds out in my yard many times, but never had I seen them so riled up and so nearby. I felt encircled. Everyone told me about being safe in Trinidad by not being out at night and walking with a purpose on the street, no one thought to include that I would need to watch out for killer birds. Finally their eyes got to me, I couldn’t stay there any longer. I moved right across the path to another chair. They were scary, but come on, they were birds. One swing of my book would’ve knocked one of them out. They kept their distance a bit more while I was seated on the other chair, but they hopped up and down the path separating me from the bench I had just occupied as if warning me not to cross back over. The line was drawn. The bench side of the yard belonged to the birds.

So today I lost my bench...overtaken by the raptors. It has been my leisurely day because this week has been nuts. I was in an Easter Concert put on by the bible study group (IVCF) I'm in at the university. It was really fun except that on dress rehearsal night I was in the auditorium from 4pm to 2am...that was a bit much for me. I thoroughly enjoy sleeping and often get to bed before 10pm. 2am was just a little on the late side for me! Then Dr. Logie woke me up at 6:40am to make sure that I had gotten home safely, which would've been really nice if it hadn't been just four hours after I got home! I couldn't get back to sleep so I went for a run, only to find out when I got back that we were all out of water! All sweaty and smelly, I showered by pouring a bottle of water on my head, hoping to get all of the shampoo off. Today I got smart...heat the water first, it helped the process dramatically. We were supposed to get water this morning, but the trucks for the whole neighborhood never showed up...so I have a stack of dirty dishes, pile of dirty clothes and I'm still on the smelly side.

But please don't get me wrong, despite the late nights, water shortage and crazy birds, things are very good here. Actually today I found out that I received Ethical Approval on my project from the University which means I can start working with the Ministry and the hospitals/clinics that I've proposed to study. I've also set up a week long observation/pilot study in Tobago and have accommodations lined up for it, which is very exciting. So while USA got the point this week, I think Trinidad is still in the game! -I'll try to put up some pictures tomorrow!

Food Day

My landlady, for lack of a better term, runs the Family Development Center for the University here and I work at the Center a couple days a week to help out and kill time as I wait for my approvals. There are quite a few teachers there, but I mostly work with 4 other people in a little room downstairs, so we talk a lot and it is often about food! So today we decided to have a little food day for everyone and we would each bring in something that is representative of our family or country (there is also a girl from Barbados). It was great! I made Chili and of course Cornbread and Hot Dogs. For those of you who are American and have never in your life heard of Cornbread and Hot Dogs, don't worry, you are not less American. It is really a family thing...and in our family we top it with syrup (although there is a great debate going on at the moment with those marrying into the family, they would like to change the condiment to ketchup, but really they are just talking crazy).

So after I had decided what decidedly American/Lee foods I would make, I headed off to the store in hope that they would have all that I needed and that it wouldn't cost me a small fortune. After a great deal of searching, I found one kind of cornbread mix hidden in the back of the cake mix section...obviously this was not an often purchased item. This was actually the first time I had ever made Chili, that was usually mom's job, so finding the ingredients for that was a bit of a challenge. I walked up and down the canned foods isle about six times to find the beans and diced tomatoes I was looking for. The bill wasn't too bad (especially since I now have 3 days worth of left overs!) so I headed on home.

I don't have an oven and I have an ity bity pot that is just big enough for me to make one serving of pasta let alone chili for the masses, so I headed to the Logie's main house to do my cooking. Dr. Logie first asked if I needed a pan to boil the "sausages" aka hot dogs, I laughed and said no. She was astounded by what happened next. I mixed up the cornbread, poured it into the pan, just covering the bottom, and plopped two jumbo hot dogs right in it. I set the timer and tossed it, ok gently placed it, in the oven. She was in utter amazement, turned the oven light on and proceeded to check on the cornbread every 2 minutes, continually commenting on how I just put the "sausages" right there in the pan and that the cornbread was rising over the them now. She called her mom in to see what I had done. Her mom, who makes the most amazing food, now wants me to show her how I did it! If you are not a member of my family and have no idea why this is so funny...Cornbread and Hot Dogs is the easiest and most simple meal possible. You have cornbread mix, add what the package says to add, pour it in a pan and put hot dogs in it. It is cooking for second graders...why do you think I love making it so much!

But what was even better then their reaction to the cornbread making process was how people responded to it today...they loved it, couldn't get enough of it. I had to steal myself a piece to bring home so that I could actually have some. They didn't even know what it was called at first and now they want to know how I made it! The Chili was also a hit. I got shredded cheese for it, which they referred to as "fancy cheese," and crackers. Only a few of them actually but the Chili in a bowel with cheese and crackers...the rest thought it was a sauce that you put over macaroni pie (Trini food) or the flying-fish (Barbados addition). I guess it could be used as a topping, but I had never in my life thought of that! So I guess even food can become good and Trini-ized!

Point, Trinidad

So this has been a really great week. It started off with a trip to Tobago with Nicki, another Trini Fulbrighter, and we met up with Cara, our Fulbright Coordinator. We hung out on the beach and went on a sunset cruise, learning the latest dance steps from our drivers. Then we had the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar all week which brought all the other Fulbrighters from around the Caribbean together here in Trinidad to present our projects. We had people from Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Everyone's projects were really interesting and we had a great time on our excursions into Trindad. We got to Turtle watching again (and was able to take flash photos, so these came out way better than before) and hiked to a beautiful waterfall and natural pool. Side note for those of you who have read my blog before...we ate Roti and I figured out how to eat it! No green sauce all over myself yay!

Here are some pictures...

Crab and Dumplings, Tobago's famous dish. It was really delicious and really hard to eat! You have to crack open the crab shells and then try to dig out little tiny pieces of meat. I've never been so messy in all my life!


Sun set from our cruise tour around Tobago


A group of us from the seminar


Me and the Turtle!



Rio Seco, the waterfall we hiked to. The water was so nice!


A group of us at the waterfront on our last night

Post Office Debacle

My wonderful mother sent me a package...5 weeks ago. The post office at home said that it would take about 3 weeks (which is about a week longer than a letter, so that made sense). So about week 4 I began to get worried that it had fallen into the black whole that can come with the postal service. I went into the office nearest to me to pepper them with questions. They scanned all the boxes waiting patiently on the shelves for their owners. I said that I thought it was a smaller, white package and they checked one more place and shrugged. Dang it.

I asked mom that night about the package, was I correct in my description? Turns out not even a little bit. I was correct in the fact that it was a box, that was about it. It was a large, brown box, and armed with this new information I returned to the post office the next day. Luckily someone new was behind the counter so I didn't have to worry about looking too dumb. She also scanned the shelves of lonely packages, coming up empty handed. Guess I shouldn't have been surprised. That was about a week ago.

But a break through moment came yesterday. Returning home from work, I was unlocking my front door when I noticed a little yellow slip in my mail box...could it be? Eyes wide, I searched for the mail box key, opened the door and almost shouted out loud! It was the slip for my package! Unfortunately I got home about ten minutes before the post office closed, so I would have to pick up my package the next day (today).

Today I had an ultimate plan...work in the morning until about 11:30, get the package, go home to drop off the package and pick up all of my bags for the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar (which I am currently at) and head to Mt. Hope for a 12:30 meeting. When the meeting was finished I would head to Port of Spain and our hotel. I'd be cutting it short, but it was doable. Leaving work I was so excited to get to the post office I could barely stand it. I walked in with a smile, seeing the guy behind the counter from my first visit to the post office. I handed him the slip and he went into a filing cabinet and pulled out a stack of letters. Hmmm...wait a second, I'm here for a package right? Turns out I had to sign for the package here and get a slip from customs that said the package was not filled with drugs and the processing fee for that realization (about $3US so no big deal, but a isn't that what postage is for?). I signed and waited with smile. He just looked back at me. Turns out this wasn't actually where I pick up the package. That building is about 3 blocks down inside a pharmacy, I have no idea why.

Time is now running pretty short and I'm a little pissed. I flag the nearest Maxi and tell them Lee's Pharmacy please (ironic name, huh). I'm not quite so smiley walking in here, but I present the slip and start digging for the money. "ID please." No problem, here's my Illinois Driver's License...turns out passport is what she was looking for. Who doesn't carry around their passport? Oh right, I don't. You have got to be kidding me. 12:05. This is not going to happen is it?

Defeated and totally angry, I walked out hailing a Maxi going in the other direction so I can get to Mt. Hope in time for the meeting. Change of plans. Now I will go home after the meeting, get the passport and all my bags. I'll just bring the package with me to the hotel, it can't be too much to carry, right? I even grabbed a bag that I can fit it into on the way...then I'll leave the box at the hotel and back the contents in the bag on the way back. Take a guess, did the box fit in the bag? Of course it didn't, what kind of debacle would this be if it fit? Walking in the 95+ heat, I now had a full backpack of clothes, a shoulder bag with my computer and a book or two and a handle-less plastic bag with the oversized package. I made it, I did. Nothing broke, nothing stolen, no irrevocable damage except a bit to my ego. I think I enjoyed the package a little more with all I went through to get it!

Smoldering

I walked out of my house yesterday around 4:30 and the hills across from me were just smoldering. There was smoke pouring out of three places and you could hear the crackling. There have been a lot of brush fires lately, about everyday I see smoke coming from some mountain somewhere. We have gone over 30 days with just one morning of barely misting, so it is real dry and real hot. We've seen mid 90s everyday this week and that doesn't seem to have an end in sight. The mornings and evenings, while the sun isn't out are still really nice though. Here is a picture of the fire across from me and then one mom took on our way to Grande Riviera.



Things here are good otherwise...I booked my flight home today, yay, less than a month! I'll be home April 8-15 if you want to see me! I have a big meeting tomorrow with the Cheif Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health! YAY, maybe something will finially move forward with the research, can't wait!

Tutoring

So I tutor at this center called Cyril Ross, which is a home for kids with HIV. It is a really great part of my week to go there, but it is so sad too. The youngest kid I’ve seen is under two years old and it just boggles my mind that this child has to deal with such a harsh reality already. I wonder how much the kids know about the disease they have and what it means. Unfortunately for them, they also seem to be disadvantaged at school. Many of them seem to have passed without really knowing the material…the tutor coordinator seems to think it might be the teachers passing them on in sympathy of the disease, but it is really hurting not helping.

I worked with a girl today that must have been 13 or 14 and she really struggled with reading. She would sound out each letter of the word than kinda just guess, usually coming up with a word that was way longer or shorter and had totally different letters. Every time she looked at me, hoping for approval my heart dropped a bit. She is so ill-prepared for what she is going to face and I didn’t even know how to really help in the best way. She also didn’t usually know what the word meant or what whole sentence was saying or asking. We went over the problems in a quiz that she had missed and she could barely read the question let alone understand it and the choices enough to pick the right one. It did really make me realize that reading is hard!! I don’t know how we remember all the letter and sound patterns when there are always exceptions to the rules. I give a lot of credit to early childhood teachers because it so much about foundations! Which makes me remember how amazing the letter people were!!

Ok well this has been depressing. Good things have been happening too. My research is starting to move along. The ethics approval process is well underway for both Trinidad and back in the States. I have meetings set up with the head of the Ministry of Health (really exciting, really scary!) and other major players in the health community. I’m hoping to learn how to make stewed chicken, I’m going back to Tobago this weekend and I went on another hike on Sunday. This one wasn’t quite as good as the first since we left too late and had to stop too much for the slower ones (I was in the middle and a little impressed by that!) so we didn’t get to make it to the top of the mountain. So that has been life in a nutshell…next week is the Fulbright Enrichment Seminar so I’ll try to write again soon!

Mom and Dad Visit

Sorry that it has been so long since I've written, but I do have an excuse for at least part of the time...my parents were visiting!! It was so wonderful to have them here and of course it was nice to get a little vacation of my own (not that I have much to vacation from!)I know that many people run from spending time with their families and dread going home for the holidays, but I could not be more opposite. I have the best family, and that starts with my parents...I just really feel at home when I am with them! Ok, so I'm guessing you actually want to hear about what we did...



The first day we went to Canori Swamp and Bird Sanctuary. The bird sanctuary is home to Trinidad's national bird, the Scarlet Ibis, which are a brilliant red/pink color. They come back to their nesting area at dusk so you can see hundreds of them flying. It was really beautiful. You go by boat through the swamp to get the their nesting areas and along the way we say a couple alligators and a boa.



We went by Maxi Taxi to Port of Spain on day 2 to catch the ferry to Tobago. We had a tough time of carrying all our luggage on the Maxi and decided to call a ride for the way back! We made it though and this sign was on the wall as we pulled up to city gate.



This is the sunset from the ferry to Tobago. The ferry was actually really nice, they even had a movie playing. Although the way there the movie was much better than the way back...and the movie playing on the way there was Muppet's Wizard of Oz, so imagine the quality of the movie on the way back! They showed Noah's Ark, but the producers took some creative liberty with the story. It was the most ridiculous movie I've ever ever seen and it was a full 2 1/2 hours long. I wish I could better explain how weird this movie was!



Our first day in Tobago we went on a Glass Bottom Boat tour and beach bbq. Mom and I snorkeled in the Bucco Reef which was really cool and then all three of us bathed in the Nylon Pool which is a big sand bar in the middle of the ocean - very cool. The bbq was pretty tasty but very interesting. The above picture shows all of the crazy British ladies that were there with us. They got a little tipsy (little is being kind) and danced out in the water with a the group of local boys that did the tour. The term "danced" is also being kind since it was mostly awkward grinding. The beach was great, the water nice, and the show left us ready to go home!!



Our last full day in Tobago we ate at this great place called Cafe Coco. It was good food and cool ambiance. We walked there, getting lost and asking for directions 3 times. And as we walked in, we quickly realized that we were the only people there! The restaurant didn't open for another hour, so we walked around the corner and down to the beach without getting lost once! This is the view from the beach we sat at and waited, we had a good time watching a pelican fish...it tended to fly in a circle and dive head first into the water.



This is the view out of the front window on the way to Grande Riviera...mom and I get car sick and the 2+ hour drive was done really really fast and you could never see more than 100 feet in front of you because there was another curve coming. We didn't fare so well, but we made it. This particular picture was on the way up to a little homestead that had all kinds of goats, fowl and honey bees. The drive up there was a bit spooky because it was up a very deserted dirt path...we weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into! The hotel in Grande Riviera was great though...so peaceful and serene!



I think this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip! Our full day in Grande Riviera was just hanging out on the beach. It was great! We took a few trips into the ocean and had fun fighting with the waves...unfortunately the everyone can use boogie board was already being used, but we still had a good time!



TURTLES!! We went out on the very first day of Leatherback Turtle season so we didn't think we'd get to see anything, but look, there it is! It was amazing, we got to watch her dig the whole, lay the eggs and cover them up. While she lays, she goes into a trance and we could touch her, it was so cool and a highlight of the trip! This turtle was probably about 5 feet long and the guide said that she was relatively small, wow!



Here we are on one of our last days together! We had a great time and hopefully they'll get to come back towards the end of my time here. And remember, I'm always willing to house visitors...