day fifteen - "take 'em to church!"

today, i woke up super early determined to go to the grocery store. i needed to go ahead and buy macaroni and extra sharp cheddar cheese for our lime on sunday at the beach. i have.. like.. NO MONEY… so, i wanted to buy that first before i spent another cent. i got up.. walked to the grocery store, the “hi-lo” (which always reminds me of the “bi-lo” grocery store in chattanooga.. lol). when i got there, i noticed the parking lot was empty. the attendant blocking the entrance told me that they opened at 8am… which was an hour away. -_- . so, i walked around to different gas stations. they actually had what i needed but it wasn’t the right kind of cheese (i just don’t know how i feel about cheese that’s not orange. it’s supposed to taste the same, but it never does to me.) so, i figured i could walk back to the dorm and chill out until 7:50am and then go back to the store instead. i came back to my dorm room, talk to my brother in china on skype, and then headed back to the grocery store.

i don’t know what i was expecting, but i was quite surprised by the store. i guess i was expecting the store to be quite small and maybe grimy inside, because it didn’t look like much on the outside. but, inside, it really did look like “bi-lo” or “krogers” from home. i chose some cheap macaroni (making sure that it was “elbow macaroni” because, as i learned in south africa, there are many different types of macaroni. here, they have big macaroni like in south africa and also, they have macaroni that’s just long tubes kind of like spaghetti). there was only one choice for extra sharp cheddar cheese and while i was hoping it would be cheaper, it was about the same price as it is at home.

after i purchased my items, i went back to the dorm, showered (with moths on the walls), put the other ½ of my tuna sub from subway in my bag, and got on the bus for our trip to pitch lake. south trinidad seems very different from northern trinidad. the land is flatter and life looks like it moves even slower there. pitch lake is located in the town of la brea (which is spanish for “the tar”), and is the largest deposit of asphalt (or “pitch”) in the world. and, it’s connected to other deposits around the world (such as the tar pit in los angeles, california) through veins deep in the earth that go underneath the ocean. the asphalt is harvested and sold to companies all over the world. some of the asphalt is even in front of buckingham palace in england. it’s interesting, however, that trinidad/tobago has really sucky streets. it seems that all of the asphalt is being exported to make streets in other countries better.

the guide took us all around the lake. it was very dangerous… because, if you step on the wrong spot, you can fall into the liquid asphalt. if someone’s around, it will be hard to get you out and everything you have on will be ruined. if no one is around to help you, you will die. walking on the asphalt was kind of fun though. we walked on the hard spots. the hardened parts were still really soft because the sun was melting it a bit. so, as you walked along, the asphalt would mold to shape your foot. it felt really good. and i got to see a really weird plant (mimosa pudica) that i’ve never seen before. if you touch it, the leaves instantly turn brown and shrivel up!

^ you hear that man talking about that sulfur water? how could i resist? i brought my bathing suit so that i could swim around in this alleged miracle sulfur water. i don’t know if it changed my skin at all, but it was so relaxing. i had to slide in because it was literally a crevasse in the hardened asphalt where a pool of water had collected. and, there were air bubbles of natural gas from inside the earth rising to the surface. the water definitely smelled like sulfur (like rotten eggs) but it wasn't too bad. it was somehow really relaxing.

after my swim, we headed back to the bus. on the way back to st. augustine, we stopped in a mostly indian community for something to eat. i had already eaten my tuna sub so, i wasn't hungry. kenwyn was looking for roti (it's kind of like a burrito.. but with curry and veggies/meat inside). during his search, kenwyn was nice enough to buy us all some little treats to taste. i can't remember the names of any of them... just that they were delicious. kenwyn has figured out that i love sugar. lol.

i fell asleep on the bus ride back to st. augustine, but not before we passed by a funeral. as a matter of fact, it seemed like a lot of funerals. and there were stacks of wood on fire... i think cremations were taking place. it was kind of beautiful. the dead, surrounded by their friends and families, being burned and the smoke rising into the air... back into the world.

when i got off the bus, kenwyn told me he wanted to meet up with me later so he could get some help for his blog. i said "okay" and went to my room for a sweet nap. a few hours later, kenwyn came by and i went with him to his office to help him with his own blog. i just showed him a few things.... how to change backgrounds and settings. and, he told me that my blog was really good, which made me feel AWESOME. especially, considering the ridiculous blown up drama from the day before. he even told me that i reminded him of v.s. naipaul, a really world renowned trini author! i was like.. WOAH, because i have read some of naipaul's stuff before. he has a nobel peace prize in literature. and, he told me that naipaul, who many people don't like because he's so blunt (lol.), would go on these trips and take detailed notes... not thinking about it really...and years later ended up using them to write travel books and novels. i hope that's me some day.

after a while, kenwyn, yakira, and me headed back to the dorm to pick up everyone else for lavergne's church play. i really liked being in the car with kenwyn and yakira because they remind me so much of being around victor and ashley... or marquez and tashia. i just enjoy the vibes couples in love give off. that silly.. comfortable.. lovey.. joy that two people in love radiate into the air. since i couldn't be around my love, i just tried to soak up all of their vibes.

the church play was amazing. it was the best church play i've ever been to. my church back home needs to step their game up! the costumes, dancing, singing, set design, playwriting... nothing was skimmed over. our social coordinator lavergne and her husband and sister were in the play. constance, lavergne's sister, is so nice. she's not quiet.. but she isn't loud either. she's the choir director and had a solo during the church play though. I COULD NOT BELIEVE HER VOICE. she had some celine dion pipes. i mean, she can really sing.

the church play was about a mother who used to be on drugs but had found god. she had two sons... one who was really bad, who sold drugs and robbed and was an all-around thug... and one who was good, smart, but attracted to that thug lifestyle like all young teen boys are. the mother had cut off the bad son and he had cut her off too. they were "dead" to each other. there were two stories going on simultaneously really (which is why the play was so good). there was the story of the mother and her sons and then a story about the church. old, gossiping women in the church were against the youth choir. the pastor brought in a new former drug addict to do some work around the church and have a job/place to sleep. and the two stories were woven together. in the end, all of the main characters end up in the church. a guy that the bad son tried to kill comes to the church and accidentally shoots the good son in the scuffle. he dies but is revived by god. i have forgotten which story in the bible it's supposed to mimic (i cannot remember for the life of me) , but it was really good. i enjoyed it.

what i found most interesting though was the fact that i was IN A CHURCH IN TRINIDAD/TOBAGO. i think that from now on, wherever i go, i'm going to make it a habit of going to a church there (and i'm really glad i went to church in south africa) because you learn about the country through the church. it astonished me how similar it was to church back home. i don't know many church songs, but they did many of my favorites. there was a steel pan in the church band and they did do some songs with recognizable island flavor, which i really enjoyed, but not many.

as unique as trinidad/tobago culture is... in that church, i saw such a reflection of america that it astonished me. it made me miss my church family too. i especially missed my aunt robin. the church play was just their dress rehearsal.. so,  there weren't many people there watching but our group. but... nobody clapped... nobody sang... nobody shouted... nobody did anything but watched. some people closed their eyes and caught a few minutes of a nap. but, i really wanted to stand up and move to the music at least. i at least wanted to hear my grandma's (r.i.p.) voice shout "tell me about it" like she always used to do if the pastor said something she liked. the environment just didn't feel right.. it was missing those real "church folk." so, i just swayed from side to side in my chair and mouthed a few words. i wish my aunt robin was there... i can always depend on her to get crunk for god. lol.

after the play, lavergne gave us to-go bowls of food constance had made. i just saved mine for later. the plan for the next day was to go to port of spain to go shopping. but it didn't really seem like anyone wanted to go. i didn't really want to go either.. cause i mean... why would a broke person go shopping? lol. i know i can't buy anything. so, everyone decided to just not go. on the ride back to campus though, yakira was describing port-of-spain and talking about how when you visit somewhere, you should always visit the capital. i immediately regretted the decision not to go! it was too late though. i got back to campus and crashed in the bed.