May Musings

On Thursday, for our weekly field trip for home school, we decided to go up to Chaguaramas which is an area we've been wanting to look around more. It's just past Diego Martin, where we go to church. We had looked at some of the stuff to do in Chaguaramas and what looked the most interesting was a hike up to a waterfall they call Edith Falls. My mom talked to the tour guide, who said it was an easy hike and a common sense path. We parked at the golf course, and it was obvious where the hike started. The hike went into the rain forest and it was really pretty, although also extremely humid with not much breeze. For the most part the path was fairly "common sense" but then we got to a place where the path turned into a bunch of rocks. We didn't think we were at the waterfall, but it didn't seem like we were on the trail anymore. We had to climb over a bunch of rocks and finally we got to this place at the bottom of a huge cliff and there was water trickling down the side. It was really pretty! Once we got there, it was obvious. For a while, we just sat there and watched it. Then, we went down to the bottom and watched the tiny little frogs jump around. Roxy caught quite a few frogs actually. Eventually, we turned around and made our way back to the golf course. And right after we got in our car it started raining! We got back just in time.
~Olivia

A major highlight from this past week is that we got a NEW CAR! Actually, it's not really ours, it belongs to Virginia Mennonite Missions. But it's the car that we will use for the next couple of months. It's also not really new, but it's much newer and more reliable than the last one. It's a 2005 Toyota Yaris, with only 38,000 kilometers (about 25,000 miles) on it; and it seems to be in excellent condition. Those who've been following our blog over the past several months know that we've faced a number of issues with the former car (a 1998 Mitsubishi Galant with more than 325,000 kilometers or over 200,000 miles). We never were able to find a gasket to replace the one that's been leaking oil since Christmas. We also finally gave up on actually getting the car repaired from the accident when I was rear-ended at a stop sign almost two months ago. The process of making the insurance claim is still ongoing, and we should still be getting a check from the insurance company.
This past Monday, I delivered the old car to a friend of one of the other Mennonite missionaries here. He buys damaged cars, fixes them up and sells them. So he was happy to purchase our old one. Then on Tuesday, I spent the entire morning waiting at the license office in Port of Spain to get the title transferred from the former owner of the Yaris. Most of that time, the workers were still finishing up paperwork from transfers they had started doing the day before. Finally, at about 1:00, all the paperwork was complete and I was able to bring the Yaris home. We are very happy to have the "new" car to drive. Besides being newer, in better shape, more reliable and using less gas than the old car, we also love the fact that it's PURPLE!
~Richard

During our time here in Trinidad we have been able to experience many firsts. Yesterday brought another first for all four of us. It was the first wake we had ever attended. The father of Linda Gunpath, one of the Mennonite pastors' wives, died suddenly on Friday. So, from that night until the funeral, people gather each night at the home of the family to sit with them and offer support. They believe that the cause of death was a heart attack, but would like to do an autopsy. Because autopsies are not done on weekends, they have to wait till Monday. So we will probably be attending the funeral early next week. That means that the family will have wakes for about 4 nights in a row at the house. Mostly folks just gather and visit. The gathering happens outside under a tent. The atmosphere was very nice and supportive. Small children ran and played happily. Last night the gathering was informal. Tonight they may have more of a worship service in their yard with singing and prayers. Extended families often live together in different levels or additions to one large house or in neighboring homes. So there are many hands to help serve coffee and Chubbies (a local brand of pop) and give help where needed. It was good to see Linda and her family so supported and to have the opportunity to be a part of that.
~Barb

In our homeschooling schedule, Friday is a day we just take our normal classes we chose. One of these classes is cooking, though, so we decided to invite someone over every Friday night for supper. Our first guests this week were David and Shirley Yoder, and Olivia and I made potato quiche, cucumber salad, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and cut up some fresh mango. While they were here, a man from the Charlieville Mennonite Church (where we live) came up and shared cookies with us! We had a nice visit with everyone and it was fun to make the meal too! We learned, though, that when grated potatoes sit out for a while, they turn kind of gray. But they still tasted good, and that's what counts.
~Roxy