Halfway

It has now been nearly six months since we first set foot in Trinidad! Since we will probably not be here for an actual 365 days, we calculated that we are slightly over the halfway point. In some ways it has gone by really fast, but I also can't believe it's only been that long! I will be very glad to be back in Kansas, but I'm also sure I'll miss a lot of the people here that I've gotten to know. And I'm sure I'll be really cold!
~Roxy

The youth groups were taking a break pretty much since we performed the Christmas Programs in December, but they're starting up again this weekend. Last night we went to youth group at Carlsen Field Mennonite Church. Last term, they were having youth meetings every other Saturday and there's a family that is involved in both Diego Martin and Carlsen Field, so they decided that they would switch off. So, every first and third Saturday Carlsen Field would have youth group and every second and fourth Saturday Diego Martin would have youth group and anyone who wants to attend both is welcome! Tonight, Hope Mennonite Church is starting they're youth group up again, so we'll probably be going to that. The only reason I say probably is because in Trinidad, anything can happen. You never can make definite plans. So, we'll be going to 3 different youth groups, but it's only really 2 nights a week.
~Olivia

We have yet another mechanical issue to deal with on the car. Everything was fine when we left church and made our way through Diego Martin and Port of Spain. But somewhere along the highway, I noticed that the steering wheel seemed kind of stiff. It wasn't until we exited the highway, however, that I realized that the power steering was completely gone. It took all the effort I had to make the turn off the highway, onto the road that goes past our apartment and into the garage. After lunch, I checked under the hood to see if perhaps the power steering fluid was low. Before I could even locate the fluid reservoir, however, I noticed that the power steering belt was gone. I must have broken and come off somewhere along the highway. Thankfully, I didn't need to make any sudden turns along the way. I'm hoping that the belt won't prove to be as difficult to find as the gasket that is still leaking oil.
We have gotten approval to get a different car. However, we haven't yet been able to find a decent one in the price range that the mission board can afford to pay. In the meantime, I won't be able to take the girls to school tomorrow. It's not uncommon for people to miss school due to car troubles. In fact, the principal missed three days a couple of weeks ago when her vehicle was not working.
~Richard

It is carnival season in Trinidad. Carnival is sort of what most Americans think of as Mardi Gras. But its origin is in Trinidad. The history is that slaves were given the 2 days before Ash Wednesday off. They used these days to celebrate. Out of this came calypso, which I had always thought of as music but is originally social commentary that both took the form of music and storytelling.
Today carnival incorporates many things. We had first heard that the churches do not participate in carnival because it is mostly now about binge drinking and promiscuous sexual activity. However, as we are here longer, we realize that carnival is more than a 2 day celebration. That part we have not yet experienced. But it is a season. Within that season are many musical events.
We decided that we really wanted to hear some steel pan music sometime during the season. A couple of weeks ago we learned that there would be pan bands parading on Sunday afternoon. But our church music practice that day went long and so we didn't see that. Someone told us that they would take us with them this week to the pan yards to hear a band practicing. But it rained the day we could all go, so we didn't. Yesterday there was an event called the children's carnival which seemed to be oriented to families and feature school pan bands. When we called on Friday to see if there were still tickets available, we learned that it had canceled for yesterday (although there is another time set for next weekend we may try to catch). In the evening there was some music advertised within walking distance of our house we thought we might stop by and see. But a memorial service changed our plans for that. All in all, we are glad there are a month of events so that we can still hope to get in on some appropriate music.
The memorial service was an interesting event. We had attended the funeral of this woman earlier. She died on Christmas evening. She was a very important person in the life of the Mennonite churches here, even allowing one of the earliest churches to meet at her house for a while. Yesterday, about 40 days after her death, a memorial service was held This is common here across religious traditions. I asked a friend how long to expect the service to run. She said, "oh, it will be pretty short - not more than an hour and a half or two. Then they'll serve a meal, of course." The service started at 4:00 and ran the anticipated time. We finished eating, though, around 7:30 and headed home then. Earlier in the afternoon we got a call asking if we could please grab the tambourine from the church downstairs and bring it with us (because how can you be expected to have a memorial service without a tambourine?). The elements of the service were pretty much like the funeral, like a regular worship service, but there was less sadness. It seemed as if the idea was to give the family permission to let go of some of the grief and move on with life. Of course this was all while recognizing the ongoing challenge of letting go. I think this is a nice tradition.
~Barb