Trini sayings

"One time;" immidiately, now. As in, "if I win the lotto, I'll quit my job one time."
"Just now;" soon. As in, "you can use her computer just now." (Very confusing)
"Walk with;" carry. As in, "are you walking with your i.d.?"
"Bathe;" swim.
"Easy;" quiet. As in, "he says the tv is easy, but it's too loud for me."
"Vex;" angry.
"Please God;" as in, "Please God, I'll see you tomorrow." At first, I was flattered that someone would pray to God to see me again, but it's a very common phrase, kinda like "I hope."
"Giddiness;" dizziness. I will first ask about dizziness, and if they look puzzled, will inquire about giddiness. I feel like I'm speaking with a girl from junior high, but they know what I'm talking about.

Strange things I've eaten...vegetarians may not want to read on

Cow skins--Ya, they were as gross as they sound, and slimy, and in a broth. I agreed to "try" it at a creole place across from the clinic (after having some TGIF beers), and he brought me 8! I had 1 1/2, and a coworker gobbled the rest up! Gizzards--they were jerked. I don't even know what a gizzard is! I just looked it up and knew they were gross, but didn't know how gross. It was okay, but that was because of the seasoning. Starfruit (called 5-fingers here) soaked in water, salt, Shado Beni (AKA Mexican coriander, a leafy, spicy herb), and garlic. It's called "chow" and they make it with mango and pineapple, too. Saltfish--Just had saltfish accra, which are small breaded and fried chunks...very good! A coworker today told me that curried iguana is good, and he and another coworker caught a big one and ate it. I said I'd try it another time. Bake and Shark--A bake is a biscuit, as large as the palm of your hand to a whole fist. It's hollow in the middle, and you put whatever you want inside. Bake and shark is with fried shark pieces. It's sooo good.

Pictures from Gary's visit

A view from road to Maracas. Golfing down below. Maracas Bay from above.



Again, view of Maracas. Maracas beach. We ate Bake and Shark. North Coast Road.


Blanchisseuse.Baby Sea Turtle didn't make it, but there were broken eggs everywhere! And beach dogs.




Driving home through the rainforest. It was beautiful and treacherous. The roads were awful!


Gary and I had breakfast at "The Breakfast Shed." It serves local foods, and was established in 1936 (but since has moved) to feed fishermen and sailors. I ate smoked herring and plantains, Gary ate eggs and sausage (they were hot dogs).



The view from the airport is much better when you're picking someone up than when you're dropping them off.

Pictures from Gary's visit

Gary's camera had many photos from his visit, so I had to wait for him to upload them. We went on an adventure north to Maracas Bay, continued along the northern coast to Blanchisseuse (blan-she-shez), to the last beach you can get to by car before you must abandon it and hike. Then, we traveled south through the rainforest on a one-lane road filled with twists, turns, and deep precipices before hooking up with the "highway" again.

sorry i haven't written in so long

been busy! Gary came last week for 5 days, pictures to come. Last night, there was a function for the Rotary Club where I gave a little speech (pictures to come on that, too). Life is good.
Haven't had any water or electricity problems in a week (knock on wood).
I promise to update soon!

I spoke too soon.

I ran out of water this afternoon.

Saturday; getting better

I had no power all day on Saturday, so read a Mad Magazine (don't ask, it was all I could find at the grocery store that I would actually read), and got my hair cut at the mall. I met a very nice neighbor in the building, an older Canadian woman, who has lived here for almost 20 years (16 in this building).

The power lines have fallen on a neighbor's water tanks

Then, I traveled north to Santa Cruz, into the mountains via a treacherous, hair-pin-curve-laden, very narrow road with Simon and his wife, Maylene (with whom I went to Chacachacare) to celebrate the birthday of his neice. They have a wonderful, welcoming family, and May's sister has two young boys, one adopted, the other they take on weekends and other days from the home that we went with to the island. Andre is 8 and Romeo is 5, and they were fun to play with. I spent more time making domino snakes and giving "jockey-back" rides than liming with the adults. The food was delicious...homemade bake (a biscuit that is hollow in the middle) filled with codfish and smoked herring, melongene (eggplant, baked, scooped out, and mashed up into baby-food consistency with garlic), tomatoes, and "five fingers" (starfruit soaked for hours in salt, garlic, pepper, and some Indian herb). I also received the American version of "Happy Birthday," which was probably the best I've ever heard it sung: With people singing harmonies and holding glorious notes out to the heavens (sorry, mom). The Trinidadian "Happy Birthday" sounds somewhat like a funeral dirge, but is entertaining nonetheless.

Me and Andre

Me and Romeo

Oh, and I had power when I got home. If mother nature can read this, ENOUGH, ALREADY!

A Yucky End to a Stressful Week

This week was crazy! Difficult cases, non-scheduled patients and consultations, no lunch, errands to run between patients (making them wait longer). Thursday I woke up without water. OK, I can deal with that, and I now have my own private tank, which I turned on without any problems (thank God, because I can't deal with water problems anymore). So I myself out to eat on Thursday night, to a place called Sweet Lime, and had Creole Kingfish (it was delicious) and vegetables.





Sweet Lime


Friday, after paying a hefty lawyer's fee for making Association-mandated changes to my rental agreement, I hit someone's side mirror. The mirror itself broke off, but the actual housing stayed on. I pulled over, and the man I was with was known by the owner of the car who will bring the bill over for me to pay. I must add here that driving here is extremely stressful at times, especially in the city, after lunch, and on Fridays or before holidays. At the time of the accident, I was traveling down a two-way street, narrow to begin with, with cars parked on both sides. A huge, white SUV swerved onto my side of the street (although the streets here are rarely marked with side-designating lines), and a broken side mirror was a better option than a head-on collision. So, here starts the weekend.


Back at work, I locked my keys inside the audio room. I said, "someone is telling me to leave," and, "I need a drink!" I left promptly at 3, and headed straight to the grocery store for some comfort food (microwave popcorn and a candy bar) and wine, deciding that I would spend the night watching movies on TV and "numbing it."


Alas, the gods decided differently. It seems that lightning struck the pole behind me while I was at work, and knocked out power only to my building, and water to the whole complex. Of course, the shell of a buidling in construction had lights on, and I was tempted to throw an extension cord (if I had one). So, I had some warm white wine and a bag of buttery-flavored popcorn kernels...I just went to bed, defeated.






Me looking enviously (from my porch) at the power in the opposite building

The Testing Room

The booth (which was referred to as the gas chamber by a patient), the GSI immittance machine, and finally, my new BFF the Orbiter 922. A little fickle at times, but pretty good.

The Clinic

A view from the outside of the clinic. There are two huge mango trees on either side of the pathway. The mangoes are delicious, and they use a huge 2X4 to shake them down before the birds get them.

My Apartment

My apartment...First, looking from the kitchen to the porch. Entry is on the right, hallway to the bathroom and bedrooms are on the left. Secondly, looking from the porch into the kitchen

A Field Trip to the Fire Station

Kids are lined up to take a tour of the fire engine. The station is right down the street from the clinic. Thought you'd like this, Julia and mom.

The view from my pool

The mountains and beyond from above the pool area.

Wild creatures abound!

I have been unable to snap the many hummingbirds, woodpeckers, butterflies, and other flying animals, but have managed to snap the slower ones. A baby bat was stuck on my porch (I had to build him a ramp to get off), and these huge frogs were out after a heavy rainfall. There are also tons of stray dogs, and I've seen just one kitten.

Chacachacare (shaka-sha-car-ee)

I spent a wonderful Saturday with over 30 children from a local orphanage. Many of these children still have parents that live on the island, but have given up custody. These kids had never been on a boat before and many had never bathed in the ocean. The water was beautiful! It was like swimming in a crystal clear lake. We spent the whole day at this secluded beach swimming, playing, eating, and liming. We all slept very well that night!

The view on the way home from work

My office at the clinic

My car is a Nissan Almera...supposedly the most stolen car on the Island. Don't worry, I have good security in it, and drive with my windows up and doors locked. Cars here have a registration number, or license plate, for life despite owners. The P is for a private car. H is for hired, and T is for trucks. I wish I could've gotten a PBJ...yum. New cars are getting PCE or PCF plates now.

Driving has been interesting. For the first week, I put the blinker on whenever I wanted to turn on the windsheild wipers, and reached for my seatbelt with my left hand. I've gotten the hang of it now. People drive crazy here, but I've had training in the woods of NH, and the cities of Boston and Miami.

OK, So I'm alive

So much to say...
I've been here almost a month now, and just got internet today. Hooray!
I love it here.
For the first week here I didn't have water--they were repairing some pipes in the West, and we received water trucked in daily from WASA (water and sewerage assoc.), but that went quick for the 15 or so apartments in this compound.
Experienced my first earthquake in the first week.
Began driving on the wrong side of the road. I'm (and the car is) still in one piece! I am staying safely to the area I know to and from work (with a mall, grocery and pharmacy stores in between).
I don't have any good pictures of my apartment, so will take some soon and post them.