Felt the Earth, Move, Under my Feet

I sleepily rolled over, trying to readjust and get comfortable again to fall back asleep. I peeked at the clock and saw that it was 4:40am, go back to sleep. Then I felt a strange jerking, there was a rumbling sound and everything started to shake. All the sudden I was wide awake, threw off the covers and hopped over to the door. This was my first earthquake! I know, from my years of training in elementary school that the safest place to be during an earthquake was in a door frame and that was the only thing going through my mind. From the time it took for me to get out of bed and over to the door (probably about 4 feet in distance) the shaking was over, everything was back to normal. Nothing had fallen off my desk or counter, there was no dramatic rattling of dishes, it might have been the most boring earthquake in history, but as my first one, I thought it was quite exciting. I stayed awake for awhile wondering if there was more to come, but the only thing that happened was another intense rain storm (the last couple weeks we have had SO much rain!) The newspaper said that it was a 5.1 quake on the Paria Peninsula (in Venezuela) that did not cause any damage here in Trinidad. So what else has been going on, you may ask...well lots of work, lots of soccer and not a ton of anything else. I've visited 3 blood donation centers as a part of my project in different areas of the country, so it has been fun to see how things work in different regions. Politics have shaken some things up with my project as well, since the new government is in power, they may be replacing the Ministry of Health team that had been working with the HIV Surveillance Project that I'm researching. Hopefully the change will be for the better and they will take my findings seriously. I am heading home in just a week, YAY!! I can't wait to see everyone and spend some time with Brenton and the family. I also get to go to a college friend's wedding while home and have some interviews with companies for when I get back (wish me luck!). I'll be back at the beginning of September and mom is coming with to spend a week with me here...then I'll have just 2 months left. Wow. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything done and still get to see all of Trinidad and spend time with some new friends! Here are a couple pics...soccer team I've been playing for, curry duck cook off, and a picture from a concert (sorry I wanted to put up a video of it, but it isn't working!).


Drumming at the Curry Duck Cook-Off, people were dancing like crazy to the drummers, I think alcohol had something to do with it!


Me, Sharon and Christian enjoying our Curry Duck!


A butterfly at the house, I just thought it was pretty...


Me, Oceane and Karyn at the Pan Concert


The soccer team!! Guess what, during our last game (Sunday) I scored a goal!!! I have maybe scored like 5 times in my whole soccer career, so this was very exciting and a perfect way to end my season with them!

Last One Standing

Dave is leaving tomorrow which means I'm the last Fulbrighter left in Trinidad. I think a new crop of them should be coming about a month before I leave, so I'll be the expert I guess. That's kinda weird! Although I think I really do know my way around pretty well now and have some people now, so maybe I won't be the expert but I can certainly help! I'm sad Dave is leaving, but luckily we had a good farewell for him up in La Laja...that's really what the rest of this is about.

So La Laja is up in the mountains on the Northern Coast, up literally where cars can barely reach. We had a regular car, not a 4-wheel drive jeep or van, so we had to walk about 15 minutes to get from the road to the house. The walk was almost completely done in a light misting rain, which was actually really nice because it kept us cool on the practically straight uphill climbs. We each had our overnight bags and then 2 or 3 grocery sacks with food for the weekend weighing us down. Oleo, Dave and I started the trek happily, excited but Alister and Olivia were more serious, knowing the torture to come. The hills were numerous and relentless, slippery and muddy. We had to stop 3 times to breath and poor Oleo, with his recent asthma attacks, was close to going into cardiac arrest. But when we turned the corner, seeing the house and the view, every step was worth it. The house's water supply is supplied by a nearby natural spring and there were trees with oranges, grapefruits, plums, breadfruit and much more, flowers of all colors and types dotted the landscape.

Our weekend pretty much consisted of three things: cooking, eating and relaxing. We'd prepare a meal all together, eat and clean it up and then sit around and talk, read, walk around the grounds taking in the sights. The house had a tin roof and the rain tinged on it throughout the weekend. You could hear the rain coming in the distance, a low roar that would creep closer and closer. Finally the rain would reach us and the crash it made on the roof almost drowned out all other sound. It was a cozy feeling, listening to the rain, book in hand, smells wafting in from the kitchen.











So that's La Laja...it was really great! Since then I just have one day left with the Blood Transfusion Service. I spent a week at the center in Port of Spain and then a day in the Point Fortin and San Fernando centers (both in the southern part of the country). Tomorrow it is off to Sangre Grande (east side) and then a weekend to relax! Actually I probably better do some work since my time here is quickly dwindling! Dave leaving made me realize how little time I have left to finish the project and how much work I have left to do! Guess I better stop writing and start doing something huh...