Our second last week in T&T

Last Tuesday, we left for Tobago. While last time we rode the ferry there, this time we decided to fly to save time. We flew there in the morning, so we still had time to settle into the apartment before lunch. Some friends of ours here own a townhouse in Tobago that they rent out to people, so they let us have it for the few days we were there. It was very nice - it had 3 bedrooms, 3 stories, 4 bathrooms, 3 balconies, a kitchen, living room and dining area. And we only had to pay for the cleaning lady to come! After lunch, we headed over to the beach and spent most of the afternoon there. There's a really good Arabic place we found last time that we ate supper at. The next day, we spent the morning at the pool across the street. It was all fancy and weirdly shaped! We went to the beach for lunch and spent a little while there but then the weather turned bad, so we went back to our place. That day was actually very rainy, but I had a lovely time sitting under the umbrella by the pool and reading.
~Olivia

We had from mid morning on Tuesday until supper on Thursday in Tobago. As Olivia said, the first half of that time we were able to really enjoy the water, a little ocean, a little hotel pool. But then the rain began to fall. It is, after all, the rainy season here. Since the ocean water is quite warm here and since rainy rarely comes with lightning, we continued playing in the ocean in fairly hard rain. The clash of water from sky and sea sparkled and splashed beautifully. But, after a while, with no end in sight, we retreated to our home away from home.
The second half of our vacation we planned around gray skies and rain. It was wonderful to have the treat of such a nice place to stay since we spent most of that second day inside. The place was bigger than the apartment we've been in all year and made us realize that our home, though quite moderate by American standards, is going to seem huge. And we had cable there too, which was a treat in the evenings. Since it's dark at 6:30 or earlier all year, most things really are not open in the evenings and lots of people just stay indoors then. The hotel pool, for instance, closed at 6:00.
Thursday the gray weather continued. So, we rented a car and explored the island of Tobago. After many wrong turns and closed restaurants, we happened on what I would categorize as a T&T diner for lunch in Scarborough. It served all the standards-macaroni pie, flying fish, fried rice, kalaloo, etc. Later we found both peanut and pineapple ice cream in the picturesque fishing village of Charlotteville. We had a little trouble finding supper near the air port since the electricity in the area had gone out. But, this being T&T, one is never too far from a fried chicken option that somehow keeps going.
All in all, in both rain and shine, it was a pretty nice last get away before returning home. Only 8 more days now.
Barb

The day after we got back from Tobago (Friday), we went to the graduation of the preschool that Charlieville Mennonite Church owns! The preschool is just behind the church, and someone from the congregation invited us to come to the graduation. The graduates were really cute, not only were they wearing their usual checkered uniforms, they had caps and gowns and corsages! They sang the national anthem and recited some poems, and then a bunch of adults talked. Near the end, they handed out little certificates to all the preschoolers. Then at the end, lunch was included too!
~Roxy

This morning we worshiped at Sangre Grande Mennonite Church. At the beginning of the week, it seemed as though this would be the first Sunday in more than six months when we wouldn't have a commitment to be at a specific congregation. Then I heard that Richard Keeler, pastor at Sangre Grande, was needing someone to preach for him. He has been diagnosed with a nodule on his vocal chords, and ordered by his doctor not to speak at all so that he has a chance to heal. So I indicated that I would be available.
This morning, as we were getting ready to make the hour-plus drive to Sangre Grande, I got a call from Richard's wife, Margaret, informing me that there was also going to be a baby dedication in the service that I would be responsible for leading as well. I had to quickly pull together some resources for parent/child dedications. (I didn't actually bring my Ministers Manual with me to Trinidad.) Thankfully, Barb and I have done enough dedications over the years that she was able to help me reconstruct a service. Flexibility is one of the virtues that I've had to learn over the past year!
Our prayers are with Richard and Margaret, that he will be able to resume his normal pastoral duties soon.
~Richard