The Trinidad Post, Pt. 2

Aaaaaand we're back! And it's only been two days, suckas! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And you thought I couldn't do it. I didn't think I could do it, for crying out loud. But anyway, back to basics. Back to the Motherland. Back to Trinidad.

No, not back to Tobago. We were supposed to go to Tobago on Thursday, but that didn't work out on account of all the boat races in the waters on that day. The ferry was full! No matter. We didn't need that tourist spot anyway. (Just kidding - I've been to the Bag and I love it. Hmmm, "The Bag" [pronounced with a long A sound]...I think I just started something.) Instead, we traveled to Harry's Water Park in T-dad. I just want you to know, it's way more fun than Big Splash. Don't think I'm being disrespectful to Tulsa, cause I'm not. I love me some Big Splash. However, in Trinidad they let multiple people go down the twisty slides at once. That's right. Three grown adults can all spoon up and go down the twisty slide at break neck speeds. What a rush. I almost killed my mom and me when I launched us from the top of that slide. And Laurel, Uncle K and I were flying down that thing. Good times, though. Good times. You haven't lived until you've seen your life flash before you whilst traveling down a water slide. Anyway, we swam, we grilled out in our own little cabana, Kyle and I practiced jumping and swimming in the kiddie pool, and the cousins and I had somersault contests and underwater distance swimming contests. It was an unofficial family olympics of sorts.

Now, on the way to and from these various site seeing adventures we had plenty of time in the maxi to get to know each other. For example, I know exactly which one of my cousins is the most competitive at the alphabet game, and who will get frustrated the quickest playing Mafia. Ha! The adults were up front singing old hymns and gospel songs and we young ones were in the back killing each other off in games of Mafia. Generational divide, peeps. Granted, we young kids also did some singing, but it was more along the lines of songs from Glee and not so much the sacred stuff. Oops. OH! I missed one important site seeing event. The night before the water park trip (Wednesday, for those keeping track) several of us family members took a long ride out to some Trinidadian beach to watch giant sea turtles lay eggs. I don't have any pictures of this since we're not supposed to use flash photography with the turtles (*cough* Laurel *cough*), but this thing was COOL. This turtle was bigger than I am and it was all laying its eggs and stuff. I even got to touch its shell and flippers once it had gone into its egg-laying trance. That was cool. I also got to see another smaller kind of turtle laying eggs and even released a newly hatched sea turtle into the water. Those things are squirmy. Now that's what I call vacation. Of course, it's a little scary walking along a dark beach, listening to the sounds of the waves absolutely CRASH against the shore. I kept thinking turtles were going to bite off my toes. And those stars there were incredible. I've never seen so many stars in one stretch of sky in my life. HOlla!

Alright, so the day after we went to Harry's Water Park we headed out to San Fernando, Trinidad to check out the world's largest natural pitch lake. Well, it might not be the largest but it has some sort of world record that's impressive. I don't remember these things. This lake is strange because half of it is soft pitch that you can walk right over, and then there are random pools of water in which you can swim. We saw people in a swimming hole and right next to them, still in the lake, were some kids kicking around a soccer ball. Cool. In some places our feet would sink inches into the pitch.

There were also pockets of sulfur water in the lake. We all splashed around in the green sulfur water, filling our water bottles with it and making sure it got to every single mosquito bite and blemish still afflicting our skin. Natural healers. Gotta love 'em.


There was also a white sulfur water stream that we used to clean jewelry. Unfortunately, this water quickly revealed what jewelry was real and what was fake. Some people ended up with black metal that used to look gold.

Wow, I can't believe we're up to Saturday morning now. But we are. I've skipped over a bunch of the fun parts, but how many times can I say that we watched Kyle dance to Michael Jackson songs, laughed at our own silliness and played board games till we keeled over from pure exhaustedness? HOW. MANY. TIMES? Saturday morning we foreigners did some souvenir shopping. We walked into the shopping hub of Arima....um, I think it was Arima...and bought things to take back to our friends and family in the States. And Japan. Saturday night most of us headed to the church to rehearse for the church service we were commandeering the next day.

Let me just tell you about how I ruin people's things. I was slated to play the violin for service, right? I didn't want to transport my own instrument internationally (flying with an instrument anymore is just ridiculous), so my family found a church member who was willing to loan me her violin for the day. What a nice woman. Um, sorry about what happens next. Well first she brought out her electric violin. I was like, YES! I've never played one and always wanted to. Well I'm warming up and I'm having a hard time not hitting two strings at once. This is not good as I'm not playing double stops in this piece. Turns out, the bridge on an electric violin is flatter than one on an acoustic. Luckily she had an acoustic violin, so I took that one over and proceeded to tune it. And that's. when. it. happened. I was trying to wrench the D-string peg into place. It was being very stubborn. All the others had done my bidding with a little coaxing. Why wasn't this one doing the same??? I yanked that peg one time too many and. * POP* The string broke. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! I felt like the biggest jerk on the planet. Um, hey stranger, thanks for being so generous with your stuff....that I broke. She took the D-string from the electric violin and put it on the acoustic. She was very gracious about her loss. My dad and I played and it was fine. But wow. That wasn't the most fun I've had breaking something.

Let me tell you a little bit about this church service. We took it over. I mean completely. We made up the band, the worship team, the special music, the announcements and the preaching. It was all Ryans. Poor congregation. Sorry we shoved ourselves in your face. They didn't seem to mind too much, though. We sang, we danced the electric slide, we clapped. I even got to play the bongos during one worship song. That's right. Me, playing bongos. Living the dream. I had to concentrate so much and I was not good at all, but it was the most fun.

Sunday was really the last day that we all had together. Family members started heading out that night so we had one last dinner/hurrah to end the week on a good note. In fact, in honor of my dad's (gulp) 60th birthday, we even roasted him. Surprise roasting, if you will. We played games, ate our faces off, danced more salsa, watched more music videos, played more Michael Jackson for Kyle and hugged each other goodbye as people started to leave.

That's the best trip I've ever had. Even though I can't talk Trini to save my life. (My sister told me I sounded more Hispanic than anything else.) Never mind that. And no offense to anyone I've ever visited. I had fun with you, too! But that trip, with my family, in the motherland....it was just...perfect.

The Trinidad Post, Pt. 1

It's here, it's finally here! I know you three have been DYING to know how my trip to Trinidad was. Aaaaaaand I've made you wait a month, just about. RUDE! My apologies, medears.

Trinidad, in short, was 8 days of pure bliss. Okay, not pure bliss exactly. There was a mosquito infestation that threatened to drive us all, natives included, batty. However, one of our hosts came up with "Eau de Reunion", a potent concoction that kept the little buzzers at bay. If you'd like to repeat this recipe, just mix together petroleum jelly and citronella oil till you feel the consistency is right. Slather this mixture over your exposed skin. The end. You are safe from bites. Oh, and your skin will be so soft and supple and somehow you'll avoid breaking out. Seriously, you will. Makes for great pictures.

I'm getting a wee bit ahead of myself. I'll start from the beginning. I mean, I've forgotten every single thing we did, but I'll try to give you the highlights in order since you people are so about chronology. You like, majored in it in college. Gee willackers. Willikers? No one knows.

Sunday, August 1st, I got to the Regan National airport at the ungodly hour of 6 ish. Blech. No worries, I was so excited to get to Trinidad and see the family that I didn't mind the early hour. I felt alive. That's a lie. I felt sleepy, but I also felt sweet anticipation and that makes up for the sleepy part. Okay, so I had a nice uneventful flight to the Houston airport. Got myself some Jamba Juice and sat next to my connecting gate to wait for Mom, Dad and Barron to show up. Here's what happened when they did.


So there's that. It was a great reunion. We grabbed some lunch. Dad and Barron fiddled around on their iPods and I told everyone that I was going to win my little cousin Kyle over and make him mine, despite the fact that Laurel already had a head start with him because she got to Trinidad two days before we did. Goals, people - they're good to have.

Due to the grace of God, and that's no joke, I got a seat right across the aisle from the rest of the fam. I didn't even plan it that way. Holla. So Barron and I annoyed each other from across the aisle...okay, he just sat there listening to his music and stuff and I kept poking him in the ribs and staring at him with my tongue sticking out and stuff. I was happy to see him, k?! Good grief, don't judge me. I'm an instigator. Everyone knows this. We got to Trinidad around 9 Sunday night, went through customs (s...l....o.....w) and met up with the driver my uncle hired to take us to the family compound. Uncle T let us out-of-towners stay in his guest house, so it was one big party at that joint. We arrived at the tail end of the inaugural family dinner/party and were greeted by almost every reunion member. It's funny how family reunions start. There are pleasantries and exclamations of greeting as you get used to each other again. Especially with us Trinidad/U.S.A./Canada/England/Japan cousins, aunts and uncles - we don't see each other for years at a time. That can be a little intimidating in those first few minutes when you're greeting cousins you used to give piggy back rides to and now they're taller than you are.

Well that introductory period lasted about 20 minutes. Then it was on. Laurel, Barron and I were back together. Kyle had already given me a hug on first meeting - this boded well for the rest of the trip, I thought. I mean, for crying out loud we had a dance party that first night. We were good to go, I'd say.

Monday was a holiday for all. Emancipation Day, I think. No, I don't know the history behind that whole thing. Wikipedia is your friend and mine. So anyhooos, Monday all the shops were closed and the banks were closed so Barron and I were mooching off Laurel who'd already changed her US$ into TT$. First stop on Monday was to get Doubles. This is a Trini staple and you can get doubles from vendors on the street. Cousin Randell knew of a guy who was selling them not to far away so several of us cousins set out to get doubles, no spice. (True Trinis eat their food with slight or heavy pepper, but we wusses can't handle this, believe me. Slight pepper was good, but my digestive system preferred the "no pepper" version. I digress.) Doubles involve some good pita-like dough, some chick pea stuff and then some other stuff that's just all really good and mixed in there. Google it! We all ordered two or three doubles, at least, and ate them on the street. We also took some for the old folks at home.

Digression: food is a big deal. Of course when you go to another country part of the experience is tasting a different type of cuisine. Trinidad has such great food. And drink! It's worth planning your days around good food when you get to eat stuff like doubles, roti, bake 'n' shark, bake 'n' saltfish, pholourie and palau. Um, yuuuuummmmmmy. And of course, there are all those beverages you don't get easily in the States: Solo Apple J, Peardrax, mauby, and sorrell. Plus, every afternoon and evening almost we drank tea. That tea kettle whistling was always a good sound. A little black tea, some condensed milk, stir and mmmmmm. No, I didn't take any pictures of my food. Laurel did. She's smart. Plus, when she does presentations on Japan for her Japanese students they like to see these things. Who doesn't?

Some of our best outtings as a family were to eat at various people's houses. We'd linger over a meal, talking and laughing. And of course, dancing. We brought the electric slide BACK, people! We gave the cha cha slide its due, but the electric slide was our dance of choice. Well, that and salsa. Randell is a salsa king and he taught us female cousins all the smooth moves on the dance floor. Actually, he taught everyone who was willing to learn. We ladies just got the special privilege of being spun round the dance floor by an expert. One time he told me to stop looking so scared. I mean, I didn't know which way I was going to spin next, and I'm an amateur. But we were all in good hands. Barron, come back to DC so we can salsa. Kthanksbuhbye. I just want to say, we turned everything into a dance opportunity. House parties, guest house hang outs, walks down the street, church. Yeah, church. We did the electric slide during worship and it was AWESOME.

Of course, we did also do quite a bit of sight seeing. Trinidad is a beautiful, lush island, so green and warm. (Read: humid.) It's gorgeous, it really is.

The picture above is from the Asa Wright Center bird sanctuary. We went there on Tuesday, the second full day of our trip. There were so many birds and lizards and plants. We had a tour guide lead us on a nature walk and it was pretty fascinating. Naturally, we were all wearing Eau de Reunion and repelling any unwanted insects.

Our transportation for the week was a maxi. We had a great driver who took up to 25 of us all around the island. Maxis are public taxi vans, just so you know. Informational, I am. You're welcome. So remember how I said that my mission, and I chose to accept it, was to confiscate Kyle and allow him to love none other? (I exaggerate. He can still love his parents.) Well, welcome to Tuesday.

He was a bit resistant at first, seeing as how I was a stranger and all. However, when I did a dramatic reading of The Gruffalo, complete with (inconsistent) character voices and picture demonstrations, he knew we were meant to be. It was only a matter of time.

Anyway, on Tuesday we also took a trip to Maracas Bay, this great beach where you can get bake 'n' shark at a number of different cabanas. We got a little lost on the way there, so our time at the beach was cut a little short, but we had a great time eating good food and playing in the waves. Great times. My swimsuit kept falling down, by the way. The bottoms. The elastic broke (not my fault!) and so I was trying to hold Kyle on one hip and use the other hand to pull up my swimsuit bottoms, all the while being pummeled by waves. It was fun :). For reals, it was.
Here are a couple views of the bay...


I'm going to leave you with that for now. Roomie B and I have to head out to Fairfax for a bridal shower for Roomie K and I still have only told you about half of everything I have to tell you. Challenge! Anyway, tune in next week (or in two days or a month, you never know with me) for the second installment of the Trinidad Post. You won't be sorry!

Hanging With the Ryans

Blood is thicker than water. Ew, that's just weird. Well, this past week I was blessed to get not one but two opportunities to spend time with the Ryan/Trinidadian side of my family tree.

Family time part 1 - In the first picture, you'll see my dad's niece, Karenmay, and her children Zane, Kariel, and Jariel. Before last Thursday, I hadn't seen this family since my 2001 trip to Trinidad. Last I remember, I was giving these kids piggy back rides, having tickle fights with them and chasing them around the house. Now the oldest one (Zane) is more than half my age. Sheesh. When did I stop being the kid and start being the grown up that says, "Last time I saw you, little Bobby, you were knee high to a grasshopper!" (Please reread this aloud whilst holding the small of your bag, smacking your gums and leaning on a virtual cane. Why? Because that's how I intended it.)

These Ryans were in DC for a day so the boys could get a surprise visit to the National Air and Space Museum. Karenmay called me up and asked if I could meet them on the Mall, and I was more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them for very long. They had to catch that Chinatown bus back to the Big Apple. But I did get to hang out with them for a few minutes, and it was totally worth it. It was so much fun to hear my little cousins rib each other in their cool Trinidadian accents. I can't mimic that one at all. Believe me, I've tried. And they've laughed. They've all laughed!


Family time part 2 came this past Saturday. My dad's first cousin Audra (not pictured) lives in Hay Market, VA, with her husband and kids about 50 minutes from my house in Arlington. Sweet miracle of miracles, three of her siblings were going to be at her house that night and I was invited to come hang out. That was so much fun! First of all, it's nice to know that my love of the Olympics comes honestly - everyone of us was cheering on the marathon runners as they stumbled through the last 6 miles of their race. (Can you have a dishonest love of the Olympics, though? Seems that would just be sacrilegious.) Anyhoo, I got to hang out with Patti (to my right) and her mom Aunt Eulah (far right...and Dad, correct me if I've spelled that incorrectly). Oh, and second of all I got to eat some great Caribbean food. Yum! I need to learn how to cook that goodness. That night I also got to hang out with my second cousins Elliott and Jordan. Again, cousins I hadn't seen since they were babies. It's so weird to be the one that kids don't remember now. And I can just hear my dad laughing at me - yes, Pops, it's a delight to age :).

It's so cool to get to spend some time with relatives that I haven't seen in years and listen to (and try to understand) their Trini accents. I'm going back to the Motherland ASAP and I will study the socks off that way of speech. Then I will never speak like an American again. Ever. I'll use words like "vex" all the time and say "and so" at the end of my sentences. Oh, and the family says hi to everyone. And they want you to come visit, too.

In related news, I found out not half an hour ago that my beloved Wright family will be driving my way in about a month. Aunt Karin and Uncle Keith, I'm going to show you a good time! Woot woot.

In completely unrelated news, I auditioned for the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic community orchestra on Saturday before I headed out to Hay Market, and I am pleased to announce that I'm the newest member, I think, of that group of musicians. Yes! I'm back in an orchestra and so excited about it. The past two weeks I've been working up the first movement of the Bruch g minor violin concerto so I could wow the music director at my audition. Though I didn't play well enough to wow anyone (except maybe for his greyhound, Grace, who slept through it all at my feet), he was pleased with my playing and said I was in like flin. So, starting Sunday the 7th of next month I will be rehearsing. It feels so good to play again. So there you have it. That's the news for now. I'll be back soon with more exciting (not really) details about my life in DC.

Cheers!