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!