day two - liming

today was a "free day" with very little scheduled activities. i thought i would sleep in late but i woke up around 9:30a and did the usual... ate breakfast (a simple banana), took a shower, and listened to music. then, treena and i called up our social coordinator lavergne to get directions to the mall. jessica, shannon and i had one thing on our minds... the new harry potter film. i got the directions and began to get ready. we were a little concerned about our navigation skills though. this is still only our 2nd day in trinidad. luckily one of our professors, dr. turley called us up and said that she wanted to come to. so, we got dressed and dr. turley met us outside of our dorm.

now, even though we had directions, we still got a little bit lost. we caught a taxi-bus but it was going the wrong direction and we didn't find this out until a few minutes into the ride. even though we wasted a little money (just 3 TT$ a piece), i'm glad we caught that taxi-bus because the owner had the interior totally pimped out. i'm telling you, these taxi-buses are 1000% better than the ones in south africa. and on our way up the street, we saw a butt-naked man... who i think/hope was washing his butt... although, i didn't see any water. i did unfortunately see all his business. 

the taxi-bus took us to an intersection where taxi-cars pick people up. the taxi-car thing is interesting to me because you really cannot tell the difference between a taxi-car and a regular car. taxi-bues are all white with red stripes on them. taxi-cars are plain cars.. some are nice. dr.turley told us that the way you can tell if a car is a taxi or not is by the driver. if the driver honks at you and then points in a direction (the direction he's going) than it's a taxi. it's still a little sketchy to me. but, our driver was cool. he didn't try to over charge us and took us directly there. people drive a little bit crazy here though. the traffic gets bumper to bumper and people drive so fast ... and weave back and forth in and out of the lanes. we got to the mall safely though and headed upstairs to the movie theater which was just like any movie theater you would see in the states in any mall. they were only playing american films. any american film that you could go see at the movie theater at home was there. and the line was super long. we were worried because we were working with a limited amount of time. we thought for sure that harry potter would be sold out and that we would be late for our planned dinner activity. but, as we got closer, i saw a sign that said that transformers was sold out for like.. the entire day. and i figured that everyone was there to see transformers, not harry p. i was right. by the time we got to the window, it was like 1:55... harry potter started at 1:30pm, but there were still tickets available. we bought them and tried to get in to see the film, but jessica and dr. turley got caught with their cameras in their purses and had to sign them in and leave them with the workers. it was such a hassle but when we finally got into the theater, the film hadn't even started yet. we sat through the "captain america" preview and then the movie began. PERFECT TIMING. and the film was great! amazing! it was really good. usually i feel embarrassed about liking harry potter, but i can't be ashamed for liking that film. it was really good. the whole franchise is the perfect story. i was blown away. 

afterwards, we spent 30 minutes in the mall because jessica and shannon had a few quick errands to run (side note: i forgot to get some milk!). while we were there, we caught a group of children playing steel drums. they were great. apparently they were trying to raise money for their trip to washington d.c.

when we got back, i was starving and tired. i made a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took a quick nap. some of the students were under the impression that we were going to be met by our coordinators at 5pm... lavergne told me 6pm though... and then kenyen told dr.turley 6:15pm. they didn't get here until between 6:30pm and 6:45pm. smh. 

after they finally arrived, we got on our taxi-bus and took a tour of st. augustine and neighboring towns. after our tour, we went to st.james. i'm still not sure if that's just the name of the street or of the town we were in, but it was liming time! liming means chilling or hanging out. you can drink alcohol on the streets here so there's all these bars that play music... and they're open, with no divider between the outside and indoors... so basically there's a big party outside on the sidewalks and streets. the sidewalks are filled with people trying to sell whatever they can make too. while most of our group opted for rotti for dinner, which is some kind of tortilla filled with curry stewed meat and veggies, shannon and i went a little further down the street and got a "double." it was so freakin' delicious! a double is some kind of tortilla filled with chick peas and some kind of sauce all wrapped in wax paper and put in a little paper bag. it's really messy but very savory and very spicy. and and and... it was only 4 TT$. lol. it was very spicy even though i had gotten the mild option (when they ask you how much peppers you want on it, if you don't want diarrhea, as dr. turly warned me, you say "slight"). coupled with a beer, it was very filling, but the social coordinator told me that usually people eat two or more of them. i still can't get over how good it was.

another vendor was selling homemade ice-cream. i couldn't resist since ice-cream is like my #3 favorite food (#2, potatoes.. #1 cereal!). although he had many flavors i'm used to, i had to try the guinness beer ice-cream. it was actually quite good. it had the flavor of butter pecan but with the after taste of beer. we limed for an hour or two and then headed back to the dorms. tomorrow we have to get up bright and early for a trip to the beach... so "good night." 

day one - trinidad

"good evening."  trinis like to greet you and involve the time of day. yes, i made it to trinidad/tobago and so far, i'm enjoying myself. we had a long day!

today we got up bright and early, because the sun rises at 5:24 am (it sets around 6pm). i just cannot sleep with the sun blaring. 4 of us girls share one apartment, called "flats" just like they were called in south africa. we each have our own room but share one toilet and one shower. bathrooms are called "washrooms." the toilet is intense! so much water gushes out. you can't be courtesy flushing or you'll get sucked down in there probably or end up with a soaking wet bum. lol.

one of our "social coordinators" (aka baby sitters.. but they're really cool) met us for breakfast at a place on the campus of the University of the West Indies. her name is lavergne and she's a sweetheart. i only had an blended iced chai tea. the rest of the menu featured fresh fruit smoothies, bagels, and paninis, all stuff i could get in america. trinidad seems really westernized... the #1 restaurant here? KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN. i'm serious. they love it. it's not just my observation. it's a fact our professor told us. mcdonalds couldnt survive here. she told us there are none on the island but kfc is everywhere. i've begun to take pictures of them because i think it's so funny. jermaine, one of the students on the trip, said

"we makin it down here! i ain't never been so proud of kentucky in my whole life." 

lol! i mean, it's everywhere. i haven't had any yet because before i left, i had some for the first time in probably a year or so (we should have gone to taco bell david!), but i heard it actually tastes different here... the chicken is less greasy and more spicy. it should be interesting. they have all the sides too! yum. after breakfast, we took a tour of the campus. the campus seems very small but very beautiful. everything around here seems to be in bloom... colors like i've never seen. trees with bright reds.. yellows... and blues. and it's sheltered by the mountains. it's quite beautiful.

i must mention though that it is extremely hot! like even at night. it's hot! humid but there's wind and lots of shady trees. it's the only thing saving this place from being hell. lol. i mean, it is really that hot. so, when the tour was done,  i was very happy. after the tour, we got our laptops and took them to the technology center to get hooked up to the internet. i knew mine would have an issue because the screen is broken and unless you're used to it, like i am, it's hard to see what you're doing. you can't just click and go to what you want to go to. i usually have to maneuver my way around to get to certain things. i warned the technology guy...when he saw my screen, he just gave me the instructions and told me to do it myself. i couldn't get it working at first... but after a few times trying and with a little help from the technology guys, it finally got connected.

after we were done, we were met by our professors who came down here with us. they won't really be around too much. most of the work is left to our social coordinators, lavergne and kenyen. one of our professors, the director, recently lost her husband. and one of the main reasons she's coming here is to spread his ashes on the island (she is from here. i think he was from guyana but loved it here). it was cancer but something that came on suddenly and spread fast. so, she's still very much in pain. she seemed to be crying a lot on the way down here (this study abroad trip was their yearly joint project). so, she definitely has a lot on her mind. with that in my mind, i'm going to try to be on my best behavior. i don't want to add anymore stress on her. it's not worth it, you know? our other professor will probably be the one checking in the most and she's really nice. she thinks she's going to beat us in gin rummy and spades... not happening! lol.

the campus is squeezed between two towns. ?st. joseph? and tuna puna. we caught a taxi-bus (vans but way nicer than those death trap mobiles of south africa!) and headed to tuna puna. there were so many small businesses and shops and people! the people here are from a racial standpoint, nothing like i've ever seen before. i see people that look indian... blacks... some mexican type people... and like everything in between. all these shades. there are very few white people though. other than the two white students here with us, i've seen maybe one... and who knows? he might not consider himself to be white. it's been a different environment for them though. they felt discriminated against when we went through immigration because the immigration officers seemed to ask them a lot of questions and tried to follow up on their answers with phone calls while our professor, who is a native, and jermaine, who is black, went through a lot faster. i think jermaine got through faster because he was flirting with the officer though. lol. but hey, you know that feeling when you're being discriminated against. also, when we were walking through the market, one guy rolled down the window and yelled at shannon

"hey whitey!" 

but, i don't think he meant anything by it.. he was trying to get her attention to romance her..  the men here cat-call just like the guys in south africa... whistles and blowing kisses and making kissing noises and just generally yelling stuff at you. our professor warned us about it before we came. shannon didn't seem to mind though. she and jessica, the other white student on the trip, were warned repeatedly that they would stick out. they said it was an interesting sensation. and i understood the feeling. i also found being in the majority an interesting sensation. with my braids, i blend in pretty well with the locals. all of the mannequins in all the shops in tuna puna have really big butts and hips. and just everything and everybody is some shade of brown. it's an interesting sensation. new image for my eyes. after looking in all the stores at the clothes (really cute dresses here. i wanted to buy something but i'm on a strict budget.), we stopped in the tuna puna open market. fresh.. and not so fresh fruits and vegetables were being sold buy farmers. there was also dried fish. i also saw something really really weird. i was staring at it for a while and a random guy (people are so friendly here) walked up to me and asked, "do you know what that is?" my response...??  BULL PENISES? lol. he didn't even laugh or seemed shocked. he was like "no.. it's pig tails." i still don't believe him though. look at the picture!!

after the market, we stopped in one little shop for water. again, i stress, it is SO HOT. treena had to take a break. the place happened to sell "creole" food. lavergne and my professor said the "pies" were really good. And the price of these pies was so cheap that I was like "oh yeah! that's the move!" i got the potato one. the pies remind me of fruit pies but with beef, chicken, or potatoes inside instead of fruit and without icing. The crust was flaky and delicious and the potatoes were flavored with curry. It was really good, filling, and cheap. 5 TT$..so less than 1 american dollar! i have a feeling i'll be eating them often.

after this, we headed back to campus and waited around because it was about an hour until our tour of the library. i went with jessica to subway so that she'd have company plus she's pretty cool (subway has grilled fish, bbq shrimp, and something called "seafood sensation" here. lol) and then we chilled out with everyone else. lavergne was busy buying us 2 cellular phones to share, so we just waited. now... let me tell you something about time here. be flexible! everyone is so relaxed when it comes to time. if you have a meeting at 3pm with someone, don't expect it to start until 15 minutes after or maybe later. i mean, i know the joke is "colored people time"... but apparently they take it to a whole new level. we ended up being late for our library tour because the cellular phone place (called "b mobile".. lol) took a very long time, but it really didn't seem to matter. i was so tired too by this point and the library tour was so boring. it really wasn't a tour... it was more like us getting told the rules of the library.

after this, i was thinking, "nap time!" but we were back in a taxi bus headed to the mall. the mall was pretty big.. about the same size as any other mall that i've been to. we walked around for a while... stopping in a couple of shops to look for jessica a new digital camera. but i wasn't really looking for anything because i stay thinking about my budget. i knew we were going to the mall but i forgot that we were also going to the grocery store, which is attached to the mall. so, i idiotically forgot to bring lots of money to buy my cereal and things. all i had was 71 TT$, so basically $11 US dollars. i got a couple of things and then i realized i didn't bring enough so I started putting things back and trying to crunch the numbers. it was hard because some things didn't have prices on them. I got in the 10 items or less speedy checkout, but it still was taking a long time. so... folks are taking a long time in front of me already... and what do you know? she starts ringing stuff up and I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH MONEY at all... I'm like 27 TT$ short. I told her to put the milk back because that was really expensive (although the store had everything from "fruit by the foot" to "golden grahams," they didn't have a large milk section... that was cold. i think they keep their milk on the shelves and not in a refrigerator. i didn't understand what was going on so i went for what i knew).  after she got her manager to put a code into the register, the cashier took the milk off. I WAS STILL 50cents short. ALL OF THIS WAS SO EMBARRASSING. the line was already so long. i looked in my wallet because i had found 25cents in TT$ on the ground earlier. i couldn't even find that. a woman a few people behind me said that she would pay for it. she gave the cashier a dollar.. and i just thanked her. i clumsily helped the cashier put my stuff in bags and rushed away from there. so embarrassing.

after this, we went back to the dorms and just hung out.. told stories about our best vacations and worst hangovers. i'm looking forward to tomorrow because we have a free day. we're going to go back to the mall and go to the movie theater to see the new harry potter film AND MAYBE I'LL BE ABLE TO GET THAT MILK FOR THESE HONEY NUT CHEERIOS!

"good night"

liming

i made it.

hectic!

less than 24 hrs before the trip and it's been a hectic day. i been up since 7:30am. i had to get up early to meet the management of my possible new apartment building to show me the apartment after its been cleaned up. that fool wasn't even there. so, i had to wait around over an hour for him. then i rushed to campus to print off some stuff... got a new student id (and this one is just as much of a hot mess as the last one).. went to the campus health center.. went to wal-mart (why pay a fee at an atm when i can get something and my monies at wal-mart? gotta love "cash back").. and like 3 laundromats looking for a decent price (all to be unsure if my clothes got clean.. and an old lady stole my chair i was sitting in as soon as my back was turned when i went to put my clothes in the dryer). typing this post is literally the first time i've gotten all day to just chill. david did a full day at work and i still wasn't done with these errands. i mean, they literally took up the whole day.

so, i really haven't given much thought to the fact that i'm leaving tomorrow morning. i'm still not looking forward to this trip. my friend patrice went last year and said that everyone ran out of money! she brought almost double the amount i'm about to bring, bought no souvenirs, and still ran outta money. i'm really not trying to do that. i'm trying to come back here with money, yah feel me? i am really stressed about it, but i think i can do it. do you know why? cause anyone who knows me, even for a short amount of time, knows that i can eat cereal everyday and be absolutely happy.. lol. i'm on a strict budget. no more than 60 TT$ a day. and unless its a detriment to the group, i will avoid spending at all costs. however, going to see the new harry potter flick DOES fit in my budget . lol.

well... my next post will come from trinidad and tobago!! <3

trinidad and tobago bound

wow. since the last time i wrote on here, i've been to las vegas, nyc, new orleans... been in a couple of forests... and ran through a couple of airport terminals (i saw soulja boy in the detroit airport. he is very very small. tiny even.). i've graduated and i live in louisville, kentucky while i go to graduate school here. louisville...it's aight. but now comes something to travel blog about... i'm going to be studying abroad in trinidad and tobago for about 2 weeks. i leave thursday!

i'm kind of not even excited about it. for one, there's all these rules. in south africa, i could basically do whatever i wanted as long as i wasn't purposely putting myself in serious danger. it was a real experience, you know? i got to explore on my own a lot... i essentially got to live somewhere. but, the director of this trip has already laid out some ridiculous rules... such as: i have to travel in pairs at all times, i have to stay in a group and make group decisions about stuff  i want to do, and i have to absolutely be on time wherever i go but i have to be flexible because everyone in charge of me can/will be late. it's definitely got the feel of a field trip NOT a study abroad. there's a damn schedule. WE WERE BASICALLY TOLD NOT TO DRINK TOO. what the hell?

another negative is that i also am basically poor. i mean, i have money... i have it. it's just that i'm about to move soon and there's all these little variables that i cannot control that i have to be mindful of.. such as, i have to pay like 3 months of utilities because the person i live with decided to just keep the utilities to herself while she was gone for the summer... and also, unless she finds a roommate for august, i'm going to have to pay august rent in a place i don't really plan on living in... although, i'm painfully tossing around the idea of staying in the apartment in august so i wont be paying 2 full rents. blah. so, i have to save save save. i don't know if i'll be doing many food posts... it's looking like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich type of trip.. lol. chips and salsa. i've been secretly wishing the trip would get canceled... i've been wishing it for about..... .. .. 2 or 3 months now. i've obviously been unsuccessful.

the only positive is the students i'm going with are super cool and i'm looking forward to seeing them outside of the purely academic setting. it's a small group (5 in all) and everyone's nice and determined to have fun. i'm not going to say we seem like rule breakers... bbbutttttttttt.... we seem like people who don't like to get in trouble unless we think it's worth it. lol.