Rockin New Shades

BARBADOS BABY!! So last weekend I hopped on a little plane and flew right on over to Barbados. I went with Ty and her cousin, Lisa, to celebrate Ty's friend's graduation and well, just to hang out in Barbados! We were all Barbados virgins and ready to live it up, starting with a big night out right off the plane.



Local house, they had different architecture, many with big grand staircases

Barbados time works just like Trini time, so we were picked up from our guesthouse after getting ready an hour later than planned. We got to a cute bar that would've been a great limin' spot if we knew anyone or wanted to just lime...I mentioned we wanted to get the most out of our short weekend vacation, which meant a getting a little on the tipsy side and dancing the night away. We were told we would just be there for a drink and then were going to a club...couple hours later we headed to "The Gap" and immediately realized that our night would be better spent getting food and sleeping. So back in the car we hit Chefette, the local fast food craze, and had the best chicken sandwich of all time, although we might have been a little biased since we were essentially starving.


Saturday was then one of my favorite days since coming to the Caribbean...we went on a catamarang tour and got to actually swim with turtles! I kid you not, we were in the middle of the ocean, swimming around and able to touch turtles. Then we got to snorkel around a few shipwrecks surrounded by beautiful fish. Being on the boat was a first class experience, we sat out on the deck and were served Jammin' Juice (yes that would be alcoholic) and wonderful food. One problem...my lips got so sun burnt and still hurt like crazy! Poor Lisa wasn't feeling good and didn't get in the water at all, but Ty and I didn't miss a chance to take a dip!


Ty and me with our Jammin' Juice and then ready to see those turtles!

Saturday night we were supposed to go to a big graduation party...but that didn't start until midnight and after our day in the sun we were asleep by 10! We did venture out of the house for dinner, heading to Oistins for a fish fry. Bajans don't lie, they really own the flying fish! Dinner was heavenly. Well no matter how tired I was on Saturday, my body refuses to sleep past 7:30 anymore, so I was up and ready to go quite early. I took a walk down to a nearby beach and got to play paddle ball with the locals. Once everyone else was awake, we went to Harrison Caves in the center of the island. Really cool cave system that we totally got lost trying to find, but worth the effort. A last dip in the white-sand, aqua-clear water and we were back on that little plan, destination Trinidad. It was a short trip but lots of fun...glad I was able to see a bit more of the Caribbean before heading home! (Barbados is super clean compared to Trinidad...no trash, stray dogs or vagrants, but that all comes at the higher tourist prices!!)



The above pictures are from Harrison Caves

So sad day...my sunglasses broke while I was there! They've been with me since I arrived here and seen lots of things, so I was a little sad they were gone. I tried to hang on to them by taping the side back on, but it really didn't work out too well! In fact, I'm pretty sure I looked kinda like a crazy person. So I bought some cute new shades, and as corny as it is, I think it represents my new view on life. I view Trinidad differently as I am about to leave and I definitely see myself and my future in a new light.

I'm definitely starting on the "oh this is the last time I'll do X on a Friday here." Which might start getting a little ridiculous! But it has really made me appreciate all of the wonderful things about life here...the beautiful mornings and scenery, the people, even the unconditioned maxi rides are starting to get nostalgic! I have learned to appreciate every part of life here and to go enjoy things, even when they go completely wrong. I hope I can keep the attitude, and the confidence that comes along with being on my own here...in fact I give you full permission to pinch me if I begin to lose it! More to come on the last 12 days, as I rock out my new shades...

Learning about the other side of the road

I'm starting with a side note: I went to a Caribbean Folk Dance class tonight! Yes, I was of course the only white girl and clearly the most awkward one, with my non-dance skills but it was lots of fun! Everyone else was wearing black leotards and black leggings with ballet-esc shoes, I had one a t-shirt (yes, it was luckily black) and purple soccer shorts with pink striped socks, so clearly I was looking good. I was given this big skirt thing to tie around my waist to use in our folky moves. The teacher, who was maybe 17, would show us a move and then we'd do it in pairs in front of everyone. At the end we incorporated each move into a dance...luckily I was in the back! Ok side note over.

The true purpose of this wonderful blog is to tell you all about Annie coming to visit! Annie Ingersoll and I grew up together, we've known each other since I was 3 and her mom babysat me so we spent many a early days playing with barbies, making music videos and creating our very own tree climbing show, which ABC was seriously considering. Well Annie and I went to different high schools and then college, so over the years we've really only kept in touch through our parent's "hey did you hear that Annie is going to France?" and stuff like that. So this was our reunion, right here in good ol' Trinidad. Annie spent a year in France and Italy during college studying Architecture, so she gets the being far from home, in another country, trying to figure out where you fit in. She quickly realized that Trinidad is nothing at all like France and living here is just a bit different, go figure! We talked a lot about how there is no blending in here, you are picked out as being foreign from a mile away. Being here also really challenges your perceptions of class, race and what it means to be American. Ok so that is the boring part, I'll get to the good stuff...

Day 1: Asa Wright Nature Center...super beautiful place, we ate termites. I kid you not, everyone on the tour tried them, they really do taste like carrots, I feel like the two of us could really survive in the wilderness now!


Day 2: Walked around Port of Spain, landing at a wine tasting, yum! We head home ready to make a gourmet meal and 10 minutes into cooking the power went out...that's right it is now dark dark dark, our stove doesn't work and we're hungry! We picked through my cupboards to have a make shift dinner and took our food outside to a little table that was illuminated by a street lamp, which was mysteriously still on. The lights came back on maybe two and half hours later and, surprise, we found a gecko in the apartment! Brave Annie grabbed a broom, stood on the counter and shooed it out the door!

Annie's first doubles!! Another successful convert!


Annie's brave gecko extraction

Day 3: TOBAGO BABY! We flew to Tobago to begin our big road trip. Map in hand, we set off, Annie keeping careful eye on which side of the road we were on. We meandered our way up the west side of Tobago, stopping for Crab and Dumplings, to see an old sugar plantation and visit a number of forts. We had quite a run in at what would be our last fort ever when a homeless, hungry, possibly handicap man chased us as we drove away trying to get money from us. As Annie said, "He had the crazy in his eyes" and from here on out our doors were always locked and "crazy eyes" was our code for get the heck away from that person! Turns out there are a few "crazy eyes" in Tobago who saw us as banks or in need of a "rastatute." You see there are a good few American/European women who come to the islands looking for a little lovin from a good rastatute (how great is that term!)and since neither of us were in the market for such attention, we had to side step a couple not well-intentioned gentlemen.

How cool is this tree? Annie actually got out of car to display how big it was!


Other side of the road!!

Day 4: This day could also be called beautiful beach day! We spent the morning at Bloody Bay (named for a brutal battle between the British and Natives) and afternoon at Pirate's Bay. We stayed in Charlotesville with in a guest house run by the sweetest couple who also owned a delicious ice cream stand. It just so happened to be Fire Safety week and the fire station put on a musical event that ended with a calypso song entitled "Fire Safety" that was brilliant!




Day 5: Our last day in Tobago was highlighted with Argyll Falls, which was directly followed by our low point when we were insanely hungry and couldn't find ANY open restaurants during a 25 min drive into Scarborough. There were many angry words, but eventually we did get food, then ferried on back to Trinidad.



Day 6: Originally we wanted to drive all around the southern part of Trinidad but we couldn't find any reasonably priced rentals the day of...so we just relaxed. Great lunch in town and then went to Cyril Ross to tutor with the kids. Annie took home half a suitcase filled with my stuff (bless her!) and we sat outside enjoying the beautiful night!

We had just a good trip...thanks for coming Annie! Now I have just 3 1/2 weeks left and am trying to make the most of it!