We had an amazing week with the work team, but the last week has not been so great. First of all, our car got bashed. This happened when Richard was going to pick up Roxy and Olivia at their school on Monday. He was turning onto the highway and there was some traffic that went past, so he stopped and the car behind him didn't. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the car is still drivable. In the aftermath of that, however, Richard's had to go to the police station and report what happened, get an estimate on how much it's going to cost to repair the car, tape on the back light when it was falling off, and try to get the trunk opened and closed every time we need to, which has required wiring it shut. Roxy and Olivia's school has been having some issues as well. The teachers came even less than usual last week, and you could just tell that everyone was ready for Easter Break. Also, the tests that Olivia and Roxy had been planning to take on Monday didn't happen all week. On Thursday they went in and saw that, 15 minutes after school started, there were no teachers there, and less than 10 students. Even the security guard said they should have just stayed home. Fortunately, Richard had been waiting to see if they were staying, and was able to turn around and take them home. Barb spent a while on the phone with the principal on Friday, trying to figure out a way that the girls could take their tests, but ultimately figured out that they didn't really need to. We are trying to figure out what we will be doing next term. On top of all that, K-State lost their basketball game last night.
There were also, of course, good things that happened this week. At WITC, where Richard and Barb teach classes, there was a celebration yesterday called Harambee. They had barbecue pigtail from Barbados, pepper pot from Guyana, jerk pork and festival from Jamaica, and barbecue chicken and chips (fries) which we think was just from Trinidad. We tried some of all of this except the chicken and chips, which didn't seem as exciting. The barbecue pigtail was long and slightly curved. It was very salty and fairly chewy. Roxy thought it tasted a little too much like what it used to be. Olivia enjoyed the spices it had, but was a little grossed out by the bristly hairs. The pepper pot had cow heel, ox tail, and beef in it, and it came with rice and bread which tasted home-made. The jerk pork and festival was our family's favourite. Festival is like deep-fried dough in a little nugget shape. The outside is crunchy and the inside soft. There was face-painting and football going on then as well, and just as we were leaving, the people for the dog show were arriving. We might have stayed around longer, but there was a program at the Charlieville Church downstairs. There was an Easter play done by a Trini theatre company, and then there were four people/groups who did special music. Our family did two songs, and we were also with the Diego Martin worship team, who did two more songs.
This morning, Richard and Barb went to the airport to pick up some family of ours who will be spending a week with us! This week is Easter break at WITC and at the girls school, so we look forward to spending some time playing with our guests.
~Roxy, Olivia, Richard & Barb
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Work Team Reflections
Tonight is the last night our work team from Kansas is here. (Pictured from left to right: Janet, Sarah, Troy, Sara & Hannah) We had anticipated more guest blogging throughout the week, but we must have kept them too busy. Even now as I begin this, it is 7:00pm and several members are finishing painting the church downstairs. So tonight we will post a sort of collage of group comments.
What was your favorite part of the week?
I think my favorite part was going to the market. There are all sorts of different foods that I have never seen before or smelled before. It was one of those places where I really felt like I was somewhere other than Kansas - Hannah.
Getting to know the members of our church better: like when you're driving in the car or sitting around the table and you suddenly break into a song or something. Those are just really memorable moments-Sarah
I'm torn between the food and the people. Here is even more of a melting pot than the US. -Troy
The bats and the scarlet ibis- Sara
Oh, add the scarlet ibis to mine - Hannah
Meals with local families, the market, spending time with the Gehrings!!! - Janet
What surprised you most this week?
How there is a really high crime rate, and it's a really small area and how often I hear the ambulance go by. Our work project at WITC in which we catalogued old newspaper articles really made that more real. Also, that day we were supposed to be plastering at Hope church and we heard the roosters crowing. It is a sound I hadn't heard since I was on my friend's farm when I was little. - Hannah
That I didn't feel white - Sara
KFC and narrow, mountainous roads - Janet
official one word reflections of the week:
ouch (sunburn), yum, hot, spicy - Hannah
20-incomplete-social-work-hours-and-cultural-awareness - Sarah
mind-opening -Janet
Wow - Sara
Driving - Troy
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Janet's Guest Blog
Greetings from guest blogger Janet! Hey, I've never blogged before! Anyway, our group of 5, Troy, Sara, Sarah, Hannah, & myself safely reached Trinidad Friday evening on time. We left Manhattan at 4:45 am on our way to KC for an 8:35 am takeoff. Our flights were really pretty smooth & the transition in Houston went very well. We had time to explore the airport and eat. Right after we got in the air from Houston they announced they'd be serving the meal shortly - we thought the plan was just a snack. But the airplane food was so good I think we pretty much ate it all. Everyone made it through customs just fine & we found the Gehrings waiting for us all in Camp Mennoscah t-shirts!!! Of course lots of hugs followed (and some tears at least for my part!). One step outside of the airport & we knew we weren't in KS anymore, no more 40 (F) weather for sure!
Yesterday was our 1st full day here. We made a trip to the supermarket for some immediate supplies (we'll hit the open air market tomorrow). I really enjoyed going to the store! I was surprised to see how many brands I recognized. Their rice section is huge! In the afternoon we joined a Diego Martin youth activity. There ended up being about 34 youth and adults. We drove a couple of hours up into the mountains (that alone was a very interesting experience!) then took a hike up to the top to see the view. There was a cave part way up that we stopped at on the way back down. At dusk the bats began to leave - there seemed to be millions - it was so amazing!
This morning we are splitting up and headed to 3 different Mennonite churches, Charlieville, Diego Martin, and Hope. We'll all gather at Hope for lunch and then begin our service this afternoon working on the Hope church building.
In closing, I'd just like to say how good it is to be here and want to thank all who helped make it be possible. We'll share more as the week goes along.
P.S. Roxy is as tall as she looks in the pictures!!!
Yesterday was our 1st full day here. We made a trip to the supermarket for some immediate supplies (we'll hit the open air market tomorrow). I really enjoyed going to the store! I was surprised to see how many brands I recognized. Their rice section is huge! In the afternoon we joined a Diego Martin youth activity. There ended up being about 34 youth and adults. We drove a couple of hours up into the mountains (that alone was a very interesting experience!) then took a hike up to the top to see the view. There was a cave part way up that we stopped at on the way back down. At dusk the bats began to leave - there seemed to be millions - it was so amazing!
This morning we are splitting up and headed to 3 different Mennonite churches, Charlieville, Diego Martin, and Hope. We'll all gather at Hope for lunch and then begin our service this afternoon working on the Hope church building.
In closing, I'd just like to say how good it is to be here and want to thank all who helped make it be possible. We'll share more as the week goes along.
P.S. Roxy is as tall as she looks in the pictures!!!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
March Begins!
We go to a private school, so therefore, there is a fee all students have to pay to get in. All payments were supposed to be due in January. However, there are some students who have not paid that fee. This means that there has not been money to pay the teachers. Last week, the teachers went on strike. Usually one or two would come to school, but most teachers weren't there. So, for most of the day there wasn't really anything to do. Then, on Thursday and Friday the teachers all came and had meetings. Yesterday seemed better. There was only one teacher who didn't come I think, but then today there were a bunch gone again. Not as many as last week, but still a number of them weren't there. I'm hoping that this situation will resolve soon, but we'll just have to see. It's very frustrating, though.
The other day a student handed out a survey for a project he was working on, and it was the first time I've ever filled out a survey and had to put 'other' for my ethnicity! I thought that was kind of interesting.
~Olivia
We are eagerly anticipating and preparing for the visit of several people from our home congregation in Kansas! Even before we came to Trinidad, there was interest in sending the youth group to visit us and do service during their spring break. In the months since then, plans changed somewhat as some of the youth who were hoping to come decided that it simply wasn't financially feasible for them. However, the group was opened up to the adults in the congregation, and several of them took advantage of the opportunity. The result is that, in just three days, we will be welcoming five of our old friends to Trinidad for a week.
We've been busy making arrangements for their stay here--planning outings, setting up service projects and working on various logistics. We are excited to renew these relationships, and to give them a taste of what our life in Trinidad is like. We hope that their presence and service will also be a blessing to the churches and other institutions to which we relate here. Perhaps next week we will have several of our visitors sign on as guest bloggers.
~Richard
We realized last week that we had been here 7 months. We do not see the weather or seasons change and it is amazing to realize how much of our time here is done. We have only a little more than 4 months remaining with a departure sometime in mid July. We are also beginning to hear from a couple of family members who may come and visit, which we are excited about. I think these last months will go by quickly.
~Barb
Last Saturday we went to the beach! It was a beach that we had not gone to, but had heard of. The most known beach here in Trinidad is Maracas beach, and Las Cuevas (the beach we went to on Saturday) is just beyond it. You actually have to drive right through the parking lot of Maracas to get to Las Cuevas. Anyways, we went in the morning when it was nearly lunchtime. There were a few things about this beach that we noticed made it very different from its neighbour. For one, the waves were much calmer. Also, the water is very clear, which sort of surprised us. It reminded us of the water in Tobago! And the land at Las Cuevas is very flat, so we could go pretty far out, like behind where the waves broke, and it was only up to my waist! Being flat is part of why the waves are calmer, probably. We spent a while there, playing in the sand and the waves. It was really fun, because you usually don't get to swim in the ocean because the waves are too rough. But if we got to a place past where the waves broke at Las Cuevas, we could just swim like fish! I definitely enjoyed my birthday on the beach!
On a different note, I had a class assignment to draw my house and label it in Spanish. The floor of our house (as well as many, many buildings in Trinidad) is made of large tiles. I assumed that all the tiles were square, and all the same size. I was wrong on both counts. First, I drew the house so that each line was a tile, but the rooms seemed kind of off, and the house very narrow. So I measured tiles in different rooms, and some of them were even 5 inches different from each other! Very few were square. I thought that was very strange.
~Roxy
The other day a student handed out a survey for a project he was working on, and it was the first time I've ever filled out a survey and had to put 'other' for my ethnicity! I thought that was kind of interesting.
~Olivia
We are eagerly anticipating and preparing for the visit of several people from our home congregation in Kansas! Even before we came to Trinidad, there was interest in sending the youth group to visit us and do service during their spring break. In the months since then, plans changed somewhat as some of the youth who were hoping to come decided that it simply wasn't financially feasible for them. However, the group was opened up to the adults in the congregation, and several of them took advantage of the opportunity. The result is that, in just three days, we will be welcoming five of our old friends to Trinidad for a week.
We've been busy making arrangements for their stay here--planning outings, setting up service projects and working on various logistics. We are excited to renew these relationships, and to give them a taste of what our life in Trinidad is like. We hope that their presence and service will also be a blessing to the churches and other institutions to which we relate here. Perhaps next week we will have several of our visitors sign on as guest bloggers.
~Richard
We realized last week that we had been here 7 months. We do not see the weather or seasons change and it is amazing to realize how much of our time here is done. We have only a little more than 4 months remaining with a departure sometime in mid July. We are also beginning to hear from a couple of family members who may come and visit, which we are excited about. I think these last months will go by quickly.
~Barb
Last Saturday we went to the beach! It was a beach that we had not gone to, but had heard of. The most known beach here in Trinidad is Maracas beach, and Las Cuevas (the beach we went to on Saturday) is just beyond it. You actually have to drive right through the parking lot of Maracas to get to Las Cuevas. Anyways, we went in the morning when it was nearly lunchtime. There were a few things about this beach that we noticed made it very different from its neighbour. For one, the waves were much calmer. Also, the water is very clear, which sort of surprised us. It reminded us of the water in Tobago! And the land at Las Cuevas is very flat, so we could go pretty far out, like behind where the waves broke, and it was only up to my waist! Being flat is part of why the waves are calmer, probably. We spent a while there, playing in the sand and the waves. It was really fun, because you usually don't get to swim in the ocean because the waves are too rough. But if we got to a place past where the waves broke at Las Cuevas, we could just swim like fish! I definitely enjoyed my birthday on the beach!
On a different note, I had a class assignment to draw my house and label it in Spanish. The floor of our house (as well as many, many buildings in Trinidad) is made of large tiles. I assumed that all the tiles were square, and all the same size. I was wrong on both counts. First, I drew the house so that each line was a tile, but the rooms seemed kind of off, and the house very narrow. So I measured tiles in different rooms, and some of them were even 5 inches different from each other! Very few were square. I thought that was very strange.
~Roxy
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Paria Waterfall Hike
Yesterday, the Diego Martin youth group went on a hike. We left our house around 6:30 a.m. to drive to Maracas Beach, where we met up with the rest of the group. Then we drove about another 30-45 minutes until our car and one of the other 3 vehicles wouldn't go any farther. There was an SUV and a pickup truck that could make it a little farther. So, everyone piled in the back of the pickup, except those that were riding in the SUV, and we went until the road completely ended. Then everyone got out, grabbed their bags and started walking. It took us about 3 hours, including some stops, to get to the beach where we stopped to play in the water. Then, it took us another 2 hours to get back. The hike included 7 big hills, and we stopped at 2 beaches, plus tried to find another one on the way there. By the time we went back to Maracas, got some bake and shark and drove home, it was 8:00 p.m. We all showered and went right to bed! Today, my legs are pretty stiff, and kind of sore, but I enjoyed myself on the hike very much yesterday!
~Olivia
Here is what I learned from the hike yesterday:
1. I am not as young as I used to be.
2. My children are in much better shape than I am.
3. I am grateful to have a husband who walked at my pace and offered me a hand on the depth perception necessary parts.
I am also grateful to have had the experience, the fellowship, the exercise, the beautiful views and the personal challenges that a hike like that offers. I am glad to have gotten to meet and begin to know still more youth. There were 9 youth and 8 adults on this particular outing. God is quite an extraordinary artist as seen both in the fabulous diversity of nature and of people!
~Barb
The north coast of Trinidad is where the best beaches on the island are located. There is, however, no road that runs all along the north shore. There is a road that goes along the western part of the coast, which includes Maracas Beach--the most popular beach on the island, and one that we've been to a couple of times. There is another road that covers the eastern part of the northern coast, an area that we have not yet visited. There is, however, no road that connects these two coastal roads. The only way to drive from one to the other is to go all the way around the mountains that run all along the north coast. It was into this area wit
hout roads that we hiked. The only way to access Paria Beach is by foot, as we did, or by boat.The ultimate destination of the hike was the beautiful Paria Waterfall. After hiking several hours through the forest, it was amazing to come to this place where the water came cascading down the rocks. It was also a very hot day, even by Trinidad standards. My shirt was literally drenched with sweat by the time we arrived at the falls. So the opportunity to soak in a refreshingly cool pool for a while was quite welcome.
~Richard
Along with all the water, my favorite part of the hike was the detours we took. One of them was optional. Basically, the adults and a few of the youth stayed where they were on the hike and just took a rest, and most of the youth went down the mountain a little on a detour. You see, we were trying to find a beach that the leader of the hike had told us was there, but after a little while, the path seemed to stop. We chose to keep going, trying to follow the sound of the ocean. We decided to stop when there was a long drop off that went down very far, and didn't even seem to end on the beach. It went down to a couple rocks, then into the ocean. We were pretty sure that this meant that we were on the wrong path. We doubled back to where the path ended, then turned farther right, where we thought the beach was, and tried again. The same thing happened, and again the beach looked much farther off to the right. So we just decided that this was the wrong way to the beach, and climbed back up the very steep way we had just come. When we got to the top, we told the group leader what had happened. Then he told us that, after we had gone down, he had remembered that you couldn
't actually get to the beach through that path. How convenient! It was a fun excursion, though. Another detour we took, which was probably my favourite, was out to "Turtle Rock". We took a turn off the path, and ended up on a very narrow path. At one point, I could see through the trees that there was water off to my left. A little while later, I turned to my right, and saw water on that side too! We were walking on a strip of land that led off to this "Turtle Rock". At the end of the path, there was a larger clearing which was essentially a large rock. All around it, on three sides, was water! It was almost a tiny island in the ocean, because of how thin the connection looked from there! They said that they called it Turtle Rock because sometimes you could see turtles swimming in the water around there, but I think only my dad saw one. The whole hike was nice, and I am actually surprised that by this afternoon I wasn't even sore!
~Roxy
't actually get to the beach through that path. How convenient! It was a fun excursion, though. Another detour we took, which was probably my favourite, was out to "Turtle Rock". We took a turn off the path, and ended up on a very narrow path. At one point, I could see through the trees that there was water off to my left. A little while later, I turned to my right, and saw water on that side too! We were walking on a strip of land that led off to this "Turtle Rock". At the end of the path, there was a larger clearing which was essentially a large rock. All around it, on three sides, was water! It was almost a tiny island in the ocean, because of how thin the connection looked from there! They said that they called it Turtle Rock because sometimes you could see turtles swimming in the water around there, but I think only my dad saw one. The whole hike was nice, and I am actually surprised that by this afternoon I wasn't even sore!Monday, February 22, 2010
Post-Carnival Roundup
Last Wednesday, we weren't completely sure whether or not to go to school because no one really seemed to be going since it was the day after Carnival. But, we decided to go anyways, which I thought was a pretty good decision. There were only 11 students out of about 60, I think, from forms 1-6 (except there's no form 3), but there were a few teachers and it was nice and quiet which I thought was kind of nice. Then on Thursday, we went again and there were 17 students; most of the teachers were there. But, there had been a student who was suspended but kept coming to school anyways. He was "unsuspended" today, but on Thursday he came and had a bunch of stones and ended up breaking a bunch of glass and threatening some of the teachers. No one was hurt, and everything turned out okay, but it was a little worrisome at the time. Because of all that, combined with the fact that we didn't think anyone would actually come on Friday, Roxy and I decided not to go to school on Friday. When our parents got up and got in the car to go grocery shopping, it turned out the car wouldn't start, so we couldn't have gone to school even if we had wanted to!
~Olivia
Last Friday, our family attended a 1-year-old's birthday party! However, it was very different from what we had expected. In fact, it was very much like the 25th anniversary celebration and memorial services we've attended in Trinidad, and not as much like what I had expected. It was a Thanksgiving like the other services I mentioned were. It had songs, prayers, and a sermon, much like a regular church service. There was barely any mention of the little boy until the sermon was over. Then he and his cousin (actually, his cousin's daughter), whose first birthday had been the day before, went up to the table where they put the cake and we sang The Happy Birthday Song to them, as well as Jesus Loves Me. After that, they served a huge meal like they do at all Thanksgivings, with roti, channa alloo, chicken, curried mango, pumpkin, and there were also soya chunks at this one. The dessert was ice cream (as ALWAYS, whether it's just a church meal or a birthday, or a Thanksgiving, or any big meal of any sort!) and birthday cake. Speaking of that roti, I helped to make some last Thursday! A lady from the Mennonite Church here came over and showed Mommy how to make 'Buss-up-shut' roti, also known as oil roti or paratha roti. Once she and Mommy had each flipped one (roti is cooked over a stove top), the lady suggested that I might want to cook and flip one too, which I did! My favourite part, though, is when the cooking is over and you take it off the stove. At that point, you put the roti into a towel and you 'buss it up'! This essentially means you smash up the towel until the roti is good and busted. I really liked this part, but I might have gotten a little overexcited and buss' it up too much. That's okay, though, because it still tasted good, plus it was so much fun!
~Roxy
I agree. That roti is our favorite kind to make and to eat. There are many kinds of roti in Trinidad. There are also many kinds of music. One of the nice things about the carnival season is that you really get a flavor for a variety of indigenous forms of music. They pretty much each have their own competition. Of course we had heard of the steel pan music before we arrived and enjoy that very much. They have junior and senior competitions for all the music pretty much but also have pan classifications for single, small, medium and large bands. Other forms include chutney and soca (a combination of soul and calypso). During carnival they are combined as musicians compete to be the soca chutney monarch. But my favorite discovery was calypso. I had an American idea of what that was, but it did not bare much resemblance to what it means here. The Kaiso calypso is a kind of music sung to an energetic beat and horns in which the state of the country is examined and sometimes funny sometimes poignant social commentary is leveled. It sometimes includes props and costumes to draw attention to the situation it speaks about. It is thoughtful and entertaining performance art. The most entertaining is the extempo competition in which people draw a topic and have to sing about it on the spot. The finalists are called on stage in pairs and banter back and forth as they sing trading good-natured insults either toward politicians or toward each other. While I'm glad to get back to normal here, I could listen to pan and Kaiso all year - while eating roti.
~Barb
Olivia mentioned that the car wouldn't start on Friday. When I turned the key, there was just a single click, and nothing more. Some of our friends sent over someone who was able to get it started so that we could take it in to a shop to have the starter worked on. It was fixed and running by Saturday noon, so we were able to get to church yesterday morning without any problem. Barb, however, had been planning to participate in a Lenten retreat over the weekend at the Mt. St. Benedict monastery. Without the car, though, she wasn't able to make it to the retreat.
~Richard
~Olivia
Last Friday, our family attended a 1-year-old's birthday party! However, it was very different from what we had expected. In fact, it was very much like the 25th anniversary celebration and memorial services we've attended in Trinidad, and not as much like what I had expected. It was a Thanksgiving like the other services I mentioned were. It had songs, prayers, and a sermon, much like a regular church service. There was barely any mention of the little boy until the sermon was over. Then he and his cousin (actually, his cousin's daughter), whose first birthday had been the day before, went up to the table where they put the cake and we sang The Happy Birthday Song to them, as well as Jesus Loves Me. After that, they served a huge meal like they do at all Thanksgivings, with roti, channa alloo, chicken, curried mango, pumpkin, and there were also soya chunks at this one. The dessert was ice cream (as ALWAYS, whether it's just a church meal or a birthday, or a Thanksgiving, or any big meal of any sort!) and birthday cake. Speaking of that roti, I helped to make some last Thursday! A lady from the Mennonite Church here came over and showed Mommy how to make 'Buss-up-shut' roti, also known as oil roti or paratha roti. Once she and Mommy had each flipped one (roti is cooked over a stove top), the lady suggested that I might want to cook and flip one too, which I did! My favourite part, though, is when the cooking is over and you take it off the stove. At that point, you put the roti into a towel and you 'buss it up'! This essentially means you smash up the towel until the roti is good and busted. I really liked this part, but I might have gotten a little overexcited and buss' it up too much. That's okay, though, because it still tasted good, plus it was so much fun!
~Roxy
I agree. That roti is our favorite kind to make and to eat. There are many kinds of roti in Trinidad. There are also many kinds of music. One of the nice things about the carnival season is that you really get a flavor for a variety of indigenous forms of music. They pretty much each have their own competition. Of course we had heard of the steel pan music before we arrived and enjoy that very much. They have junior and senior competitions for all the music pretty much but also have pan classifications for single, small, medium and large bands. Other forms include chutney and soca (a combination of soul and calypso). During carnival they are combined as musicians compete to be the soca chutney monarch. But my favorite discovery was calypso. I had an American idea of what that was, but it did not bare much resemblance to what it means here. The Kaiso calypso is a kind of music sung to an energetic beat and horns in which the state of the country is examined and sometimes funny sometimes poignant social commentary is leveled. It sometimes includes props and costumes to draw attention to the situation it speaks about. It is thoughtful and entertaining performance art. The most entertaining is the extempo competition in which people draw a topic and have to sing about it on the spot. The finalists are called on stage in pairs and banter back and forth as they sing trading good-natured insults either toward politicians or toward each other. While I'm glad to get back to normal here, I could listen to pan and Kaiso all year - while eating roti.
~Barb
Olivia mentioned that the car wouldn't start on Friday. When I turned the key, there was just a single click, and nothing more. Some of our friends sent over someone who was able to get it started so that we could take it in to a shop to have the starter worked on. It was fixed and running by Saturday noon, so we were able to get to church yesterday morning without any problem. Barb, however, had been planning to participate in a Lenten retreat over the weekend at the Mt. St. Benedict monastery. Without the car, though, she wasn't able to make it to the retreat.
~Richard
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Church activities and Carnival
On Saturday, we had the first youth group meeting at Diego Martin Mennonite Church for the term. My parents led it. They will lead it every second Saturday of the month, and someone else will lead it every fourth Saturday of the month. Six youths came, as well as six adults. People were pretty quiet, and didn't talk a lot, but I still thought overall, it went pretty well. We had no idea how many people would show up, so we were glad at least some came. We started out with a prayer and some singing. Then, we had a little bible study and spent most of the time discussing the story. Although, the adults had more to say about it than the youths. And then people talked about what they had done previously during youth group and what they liked and didn't like and all that. For the first one, not knowing who would come or how it would work exactly, I was pleased.
~Olivia
As I write this, the Carnival holiday is winding down. For the past week, there have been events televised every evening. We watched some of the calypso, steel pan and costume competitions. For the past two days, the TV has been showing the constant streams of people parading through the streets of Port of Spain--some in very elaborate costume, and many wearing hardly anything at all. There are smaller celebrations in many other places as well. Many Christians stay away from the celebrations on Carnival Monday and Tuesday because of the heavy drinking, lewd behavior and violence that sometimes breaks out. We are told that the beaches are packed as people who don't want to be involved in that sort of thing head there to get away from the reveling. In fact, a number of churches schedule youth camps over Carnival weekend as a way of providing alternative entertainment. Tomorrow it's back to school for all of us, although we've been warned that there may be very few students who show up.
While Carnival has been on full display, it has been very difficult to keep up with the Winter Olympics here. Not surprisingly, Trinidad and Tobago has no team competing in Vancouver--although there has been a 2-man bobsled team at a couple of winter games. I guess they figured that since Jamaica had one, there ought to be a Trini team, too. None of the local stations are broadcasting any of the competition. We have managed to find some streaming video online, but it is inconsistent. Also, since we are four hours later than Vancouver, the event finals often go late into the night.
~Richard
Because our work happens mostly at home and because we still have classes tomorrow, most of our carnival has been spent working at home. That's been fine with us as the roads and crowds are generally deemed unsafe. With the girls home we have managed to find time for family fun here. Today we finished our preparations in time for a cricket game on the concrete slab between the church and the preschool. We bought the girls a cricket set for Christmas. Of course theirs is really a children's set, not what real cricketers would use and our version of the game with only 4 people and limited space was quite scaled down. But since we are all new to the game (not to mention my lack of depth perception and general inability to see flying balls), scaled down was just right for us. This is what Carnival Tuesday looked like for us.
Most of the Mennonite churches here do not really observe lent. We are introducing it at Diego Martin. But since it is a new concept to digest, we are not planning to observe Ash Wednesday tomorrow. Still, we are teaching our music group at church the song From the Depths.
~Barb
~Olivia
As I write this, the Carnival holiday is winding down. For the past week, there have been events televised every evening. We watched some of the calypso, steel pan and costume competitions. For the past two days, the TV has been showing the constant streams of people parading through the streets of Port of Spain--some in very elaborate costume, and many wearing hardly anything at all. There are smaller celebrations in many other places as well. Many Christians stay away from the celebrations on Carnival Monday and Tuesday because of the heavy drinking, lewd behavior and violence that sometimes breaks out. We are told that the beaches are packed as people who don't want to be involved in that sort of thing head there to get away from the reveling. In fact, a number of churches schedule youth camps over Carnival weekend as a way of providing alternative entertainment. Tomorrow it's back to school for all of us, although we've been warned that there may be very few students who show up.
While Carnival has been on full display, it has been very difficult to keep up with the Winter Olympics here. Not surprisingly, Trinidad and Tobago has no team competing in Vancouver--although there has been a 2-man bobsled team at a couple of winter games. I guess they figured that since Jamaica had one, there ought to be a Trini team, too. None of the local stations are broadcasting any of the competition. We have managed to find some streaming video online, but it is inconsistent. Also, since we are four hours later than Vancouver, the event finals often go late into the night.
~Richard
Because our work happens mostly at home and because we still have classes tomorrow, most of our carnival has been spent working at home. That's been fine with us as the roads and crowds are generally deemed unsafe. With the girls home we have managed to find time for family fun here. Today we finished our preparations in time for a cricket game on the concrete slab between the church and the preschool. We bought the girls a cricket set for Christmas. Of course theirs is really a children's set, not what real cricketers would use and our version of the game with only 4 people and limited space was quite scaled down. But since we are all new to the game (not to mention my lack of depth perception and general inability to see flying balls), scaled down was just right for us. This is what Carnival Tuesday looked like for us.
Most of the Mennonite churches here do not really observe lent. We are introducing it at Diego Martin. But since it is a new concept to digest, we are not planning to observe Ash Wednesday tomorrow. Still, we are teaching our music group at church the song From the Depths.
~Barb
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