10 Year Itch

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack! I love when I accidentally post more than once in the same week. Okay, month. Whatever. I have a story to tell you today and I will do it, come rain or shine! And it's "come rain" in this case, cause it's sprinkling outside. As you know (?), I graduated from Holland Hall in 2001. I was a Walter Arts Center (WAC) rat and spent most of my time there singing, dancing, sometimes acting, and playing the violin. I remember the feel of that place and the fun I used to have performing on that big stage. Last night I went back and, after ten years of absence, sang on the stage again. Our beloved choir accompanist, Ms. Shank, is retiring from Holland Hall and our choir director invited alumni to join the current choir students and sing her farewell. Believe it or not, when it came time to go onstage, my heart was pounding furiously. I was so nervous! I've been on that stage dozens of times. I've danced solos, played solos, sung solos. I'm no stranger to the bright lights but WOW was I nervous to sing with all those little kids who look so much younger than when I was their age. Wow, what ten years will do to your perspective. We sang a John Rutter piece that was sweet and easy, which is good since I was sightreading. Yeesh, my voice is out of shape.

It's funny to watch all these performances and inevitably compare my own to each one. Things were different ten years ago, yet I still feel at home in the WAC. I'm glad I'm not in high school anymore, but I did have such good times there. I miss dancing and singing and performing with all my friends. Nostalgia is funny that way. I remember the way the stage looked when the spots were low and we were running to take our places. I remember frantically changing costumes in the wings because I was one of the few students in every part of the show. I remember laughing with my fellow performers when something would go wrong. We were all in on the joke and the audience was just lucky to get to watch us enjoy ourselves. Last night I was watching these 18-year old kids and they were laughing at their own inside jokes. I thought, "What's so funny? I want to be a part of this! You may not know me, but I've done this, too! I've been where you are!" Give them ten years and they'll know how I feel. It's not a bad feeling by any means. It's a little bit warm, a bit melancholy, but wholly satisfying. I'm glad I'm where I am now. I generally love being an adult. But sometimes it's just good to be a kid. Oh, and Ms. Shank? We'll miss you.

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!