Haiti

It has been interesting to watch the world’s response to the earthquake in Haiti. I get a vastly different viewpoint here than I would be able to get in the United States. The Caribbean countries are very interconnected. They share similar histories and cultures, and are connected politically through Caricom. Although I was in Tobago without much access to newspapers or the internet when the earthquake took place, upon arriving back in Trinidad I saw the immediate response by Trinidadians to the earthquake. Caricom held emergency meetings, and supplies and relief workers were sent to Haiti. While I know the U.S. responded quickly to this disaster, the Caribbean countries responded with a sincerity I don’t think the U.S. will ever be able to match. In addition, much of the Caribbean has criticized the U.S. involvement in Haiti since the earthquake. Many people are worried that the U.S. will try to occupy Haiti again as it did for almost 20 years in the early 20th century. It’s just interesting to get a completely different viewpoint on that disaster than I would be getting at home.

I also learned more about Haiti in my theology class. I’m taking Theology of Creation, which looks at the relationship between God, humans, and nature (in the first class we watched An Inconvenient Truth, and I’m going to do a small presentation on Silent Spring). During class I learned about Haiti is down to just 3% tree cover for the country. If you look at a picture of the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, the contrast in vegetation is striking. In all the newspapers they keep mentioning that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, but they never mention why it is so poor. Haiti gained their freedom through the successful slave revolution in the early 1800s, becoming the first island in the Caribbean to be free of their colonizers. However, France refused to accept the loss of their colony. Eventually Haiti agreed to pay 60 million francs in reparations to France in order for France to accept their freedom. They finally finished these reparations payments in 1922. This is a large reason for their current economic situation. Many people around the Caribbean completely blame France and the U.S. for Haiti’s poor economy. Some are even advocating for France and the U.S. to pay for much of the repair for Haiti now, as kind of a refund for Haiti’s payments to France and reparations for the U.S. occupation of Haiti. Part of the reason for the limited tree cover is because after the slave revolution in freed slaves started using slash-and-burn techniques to farm the land, which had huge environmental repercussions. Later, Haiti experienced a swine fever (as in a disease in pigs, not related at all to our current swine flu) and all the pigs in the country were slaughtered. However, for many poor families their entire savings were tied up in pigs, so when they lost them they had to use the only resource available to them, which was the forest.

Anyways, I just thought I’d share with you the perspective I’m getting on this disaster.

Adventures in Tobago

On Monday we headed to Tobago! We flew there, and it’s only a 20 minute flight. The plane is so small! It’s the smallest plane I’ve ever been on, with maybe 15 rows of seats, and 4 seats per row (2 on each side of the plane). But it was really exciting, because you get to walk out to the plane and walk up the stairs onto the plane, which I had never gotten to do before. The airport in Tobago is right on the ocean, which I hadn’t realized before the flight. The wheels for landing came down while we were still over the ocean, and we got so close to the water before we were over land and landed. After landing in Tobago we had a 1 ½ hour drive to Charlotteville, the town we stayed in on the complete other side of the island. Although Tobago is only about 20 miles long, the roads are winding and there are lots of steep hills, which is why the drive is so long.

Charlotteville is beautiful. It sits right on the edge of Man O’ War Bay and is built into steep green hills, and the water is the prettiest blue you can imagine. We stayed in cabins literally on the beach, so I fell asleep every night to the sound of waves and a sea breeze. We got to Charlotteville Monday afternoon, where we had some free time to go swimming before our first J-term class. The water was so nice! It was warm enough so it always felt good to be in, but never so warm that it felt hot. Most of the beach was sand, with some rocky places, which was a nice change from Washington beaches. Candice had a snorkel from the lodge that we got to use, and there was a small reef that had lots of fish to look at. All week we had three hours of class in the morning (Caribbean Short Fiction), and then had the rest of the day to be at the beach before meeting for a group dinner. There was a stall about 5 minutes away from our cottages that sold the most amazing homemade ice cream. I bought some a couple of times, and it was delicious coconut and peanut ice cream! Why doesn’t the U.S. have peanut ice cream?

On Wednesday our whole group went to Pirates Bay, which is a bay a half hour walk away from Charlotteville. The trail to Pirates Bay goes up a big hill, and on the back side there are steep stairs down to the beach. Something interesting about Tobago are the animals that are everywhere. Goats are tethered all over the place, there are cows by the side of the road occasionally, friendly stray cats and dogs, and about a million chickens and roosters that just wander town and the hillsides. According to Nina, at least we know there are no basilisks in Tobago! J So on the way to Pirates Bay there was a group of goats walking through the middle of the road that we had to walk around. It’s just kind of amusing to see random animals running around everywhere. Anyways, at the top of the hill to Pirates Bay there is the most amazing view. All of Man O’ War Bay and Charlotteville and the surrounding hills is just laid out in front of you, which is just beautiful. Going to Pirates Bay it was sunny and bright, but on the way back it had just rained so if was kind of misty and I saw sunbeams shining through the clouds onto the bay. Pirates Bay is famous for its clear water and all the fish you can see snorkeling. However, due to heavy waves a few days before the sand had not yet settled, so the water was not very clear for the most part. But over by the rocks at the edge of the bay the water was really clear and there were so many fish! There were some schools with thousands of little fish only a couple of inches long, and some sea urchins in the rocks and bigger fish swimming around near the ground.

On Thursday we took a boat out to St. Giles Island, which is a bird sanctuary that is about a 45 minute boat ride away. There’s a rock formation called London Bridge, which is a huge rock with an arch with water underneath it, kind of like a bridge (funny, I wonder where it got its name…J). There were so many birds flying around above us! The island was interesting too, because it is so dry that cacti grow instead of the lush tropical vegetation I had gotten used to. Then we got to go swimming right off shore, in the bluest water I have ever seen. It was also really clear, so you could easily see all the way to the bottom. However, the water felt about 10 times saltier than Man O’ War Bay, so when I got out I had a residue of salt everywhere. But it was really fun to just be swimming in the Caribbean, while birds are swirling about overhead and our prof was swimming twenty feet away. Crazy, once in a lifetime experience!

One of my favorite days was Friday, when a group of us went down to Store Bay to take a glass bottom boat out to Buccoo Reef. Getting into that boat was slightly ridiculous, as there is no pier or dock or anything. The boat gets brought close to shore and held as steady as possible, so you just have to rush for the ladder between the waves, trying not to get your stuff or clothes soaking wet. The boat went by Pigeon Point, which is one of the nicest beaches in Tobago. It has the cliché white sand, tall palm trees, turquoise water, grass thatched huts, and lots of windsurfers. The glass bottom boat had a lower level where you could look at the fish and coral we went over, and an upper level where you could sit and look out over the water (it was also a lot drier!). When we got to the reef the boat stopped so we could look at the reef life, and then we go to go snorkeling! It was my first time ever really snorkeling (other than using the mask at Pirates Bay and Man O’ War Bay), and there were so many cool fish. The current was strong, so it was harder than expected to stay in one place, but it was a lot of fun. My favorite fish were the long skinny fish with the long nose, they look kind of like long sticks floating in the water, and the big purple and blue fish. I also liked the little yellow and white fish with big fake eyes near their back fins. The coral was also pretty, but I liked the fish a lot more.

After the reef we took the boat to the Nylon Pool, which is a huge sandbar-like area in the Caribbean. Ocean currents carry dead coral pieces to this one spot and dump them so the coral breaks down into coral sand, and the water is about three feet deep way out from land. There were three different glass bottom boats at the Nylon Pool when we were there, and one of them had a big sound system so there was a little dance party on top of that boat. Some of the girls went up there, but I can’t dance, so I stayed in the water with Sam and Max (who weren’t invited up) and watched. After getting back to Store Bay all of us were really hungry, so we got food. I tried Bake and Shark, which is so good! Bake and Shark is a local food (which I think was featured on the Food Network at some point – it’s famous!) with really good light bread, fried shark, cucumbers, tomatoes, and ketchup. I tried it to be adventurous and to be able to say I had eaten shark, but it was actually really good. So everyone should try it if they ever get the chance! It doesn’t taste fishy at all.

On Saturday our group went to some wetlands and the rainforest. I thought it was funny how there were so many cows tethered in the wetlands, apparently locals depend on the land to help sustain them. We saw some birds, and learned all about different plants and trees, including what medicinal properties they have. We saw mangrove swamps which, according to our guide, are the kidneys of our ecosystem. They cut down on storm power (remember how after Hurricane Katrina people were talking about how it was so destructive because the bayou was diminishing? If only there were mangrove swamps in Louisiana!) and filter salt water to remove the salt and other bad things. Down by the water (the wetlands were just across the beach from the ocean on the Atlantic side of Tobago) there were so many plastic bottles and litter everywhere. Environment Tobago has work days every so often, and at their first one they picked up over 600 pounds of trash. I have only seen one recycling bin since I’ve been in Trinidad and Tobago, which is kind of sad when you think about how much bottled water, juice, and pop is consumed here every day. Also, from the beach by the wetlands you can see where Swiss Family Robinson was filmed. Such a good movie! Coming to Tobago made me realize I haven’t seen that movie in about 10 years, and I need to watch it.

The rainforest in Tobago is the oldest protected rainforest in the world, created with the very first environmental law passed in 1776. The rainforest was so lush and green and beautiful, and a lot cooler than the wetlands! Bamboo taller than trees, bird calls, waterfalls, and so much green. Unfortunately, we were at the rainforest at the wrong time of day to see much wildlife, so I only saw a couple of hummingbirds. But they were pretty! The hummingbird is the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago, and we also saw the national flower, but I can’t remember what it was called. It was red and kind of spiky, but it looked cool, and is also the symbol for the PNM. We hiked through the rainforest to a couple of waterfalls. It was really muddy, but we rented boots so it wasn’t too bad.

After the rainforest we went back to Charlotteville, for one last swim at the beach, because on Sunday we left for Trinidad. The return to Trinidad was kind of hectic, as we got to the airport to find out our travel agent had somehow booked half of our group for a flight that day (January 17), and the other half for a flight on July 17. The rest of the group ended up getting on the flight after our original one, but for a little while it looked like they might have had to take the ferry back to Trinidad or a flight the next day. But we all got back to the lodge safely that night!

Homestay in San Fernando - crazy events!

We’re now back in Trinidad from Tobago, which is kind of sad, because I loved Tobago. But before Tobago was our weekend homestay, which was definitely a memorable experience. I went with Sam to San Fernando, where we stayed with Mr. Mohammed. When we arrived in San Fernando we waited for Mr. Mohammed at the San Fernando Creative Arts Center, which he is the head of. (Most Trinis operate on what we like to call “Trini Time”, which means that people show up and events start anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours later than they are supposed to start. I’m quickly starting to learn patience, although I still operate on American time!) While we were waiting, Mr. Cupid, a member of the National Carnival Commission and one of our lecturers for our Caribbean Culture and Society class, talked to us about various cultural and historical aspects of Trinidad. Mr. Cupid’s talks are sometimes difficult to follow, as he makes these profound connections in his mind that he shares without telling you how he got there. What I have been able to understand is amazing, but he can be difficult to follow. Also, while the national language of Trinidad and Tobago is English, most people speak a Patwa, which is an English creole that is difficult to understand. Anyways, Mr. Cupid told us all about the oil and natural gas industry in Trinidad, which is big near San Fernando. According to Mr. Cupid, World War I was won in Trinidad because the British relied on Trinidadian oil to power all of their war equipment. In World War II German U-boats attacked Trinidad to try and gain control of the oil. Churchill and FDR also met in Trinidad, where they struck a deal in which Great Britain would receive old U.S. war ships and the U.S. received prime pieces of land in Trinidad to build naval bases. The U.S. did not leave Trinidad until about twenty years after the war. Another point that Mr. Cupid made several times was that in Trinidad, there are not really any religious tensions. Almost everyone celebrates Christmas, Diwali, and Eid, whether or not they are Christian, Hindu or Muslim. The Sunni and Shiite also worship together in the same mosques here. This is remarkable if you consider how in most of the rest of the world these different sects cannot get along on anything.

Mr. Mohammed is an old Muslim man, very involved with local politics (he used to be deputy mayor of San Fernando) and local Carnival (he’s one of the mas judges for San Fernando Carnival). Mr. Mohammed is a scary driver to ride with. First of all, in Trinidad people drive on the left side of the road, which is difficult to get used to. Mr. Mohammed honks his horn every time he turns a corner, starts his car, backs up, or just drives down a street to let other drivers (who are not always nearby) know he is coming. Drivers here also barrel through spaces that Americans would not dream of driving though at all, as cars will pass with literally inches to spare. So my hours long tour of San Fernando occurred under these driving conditions. We arrived in San Fernando on Friday afternoon, and got driven all around the city. San Fernando is in southern Trinidad, built on a hillside close to the coast. That night we drove around the city to different mas camps and steel pan yards. Mas (short for masquerade) camps are the places where all the Carnival costumes are made. We went to four different camps, where we looked at the elaborate costumes that people could order. Trinidadians go all out for Carnival, and the costumes were covered in hand done beading and trim. The last mas camp we visited had lots of people working on hats and headdresses. They were attaching feathers and sequins and such to them, and it made me so excited to see/participate in Carnival next month. We also went to listen to several different steel pan groups practice for Carnival. At least one of the bands is consistently in the finals of Panorama, the nationwide steel pan competition during Carnival. The bands were amazing! PLU has a steel pan ensemble, and no offense to them, but these bands were a thousand times better than PLU will ever be. It’s also crazy when you realize how expensive these bands are to maintain. Each steel pan costs around $100,000 TT to tune correctly, and some of the bands have over 100 musicians. But they sound amazing, so it’s totally worth it.

On Saturday morning Sam and I walked on High Street in downtown San Fernando for a while. It has all these shops which look tiny from the street, but then go back a long ways and also end up having multiple floors. I tried doubles for the first time, which are a popular Indian food. The fillings vary, but these ones had fried dough with a lightly curried chickpea mixture inside. They’re pretty good, although I had better ones in Charlotteville, which were a lot sweeter and lighter. We also got lost a few times getting to City Hall where we were supposed to meet Mr. Mohammed, but because he was running late we got to sit and enjoy the few and the old Spanish colonial buildings which house City Hall and the police station. We then drove to the Regional Carnival 2010 kickoff, which was held just east of Tunapuna. When we got there we had no idea what was going on, because Trinis also don’t really like to tell you where you are going, they just tell you to get in the car and then take off. So we arrive at this place where a big stage is set up and there are food vendors set up, and then Mr. Mohammed sent us off with some of his friends. So Sam and I ended up liming on a random street for around two hours, and then watched some mokojumbes (the men on stilts) get ready, and then just sit on their bus, waiting. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a giant parade with all the traditional Carnival characters started coming down the street. There were drum groups on trucks, and bands, and mokojumbes, and the Midnight Robber, and Blue Devils, and it was so loud and exciting and crazy. Then we walked back to the giant stage where all the different groups got announced and performed a short choreographed dance, where the MC was none other than Mr. Mohammed, who is apparently a member of the Regional Carnival Committee. Lots of groups performed, and then were walking around afterwards. Some of the Blue Devils breathe fire, and then walk around scaring people and harassing them until they receive money. When the Blue Devils came around to me I gave the first guy a dollar, but then the devil right behind him came over and wouldn’t leave us alone. The Blue Devils are covered in blue paint and gold glitter, so the paint gets all over everything, including clothes (not fun!). But the ladies sitting in front of me were really nice and tried to get the Blue Devils to leave me alone. Everyone I’ve met here has been really nice and friendly and welcoming, and you can tell they want you to have a really great experience here. After all the groups finished performing different people made speeches, and they played the national anthem on the steel pan, which makes sense because it is the national instrument, but it was really cool to hear the steel pan played again.

On Sunday Mr. Mohammed took us to a Spiritual Baptist church, which was definitely an experience. There was lots of singing and dancing and drums at the service, which lasted over two hours. The majority of the Spiritual Baptists are female, which was interesting, and the archbishop was there, who was also a female. Everyone had on matching/coordinating clothes, which looked amazing but made me feel even more out of place than I already felt. In the middle of the service, Mr. Mohammed got up in front of the congregation (taking me and Sam with him!) and introduced us and made a speech which was kind of a summary of all the various tidbits of wisdom he had been giving us all weekend. It was crazy, because here’s this old Indian, Muslim man, whom everyone knows and respects enough to have him get up and address a completely African, Spiritual Baptist church. In Trinidad the population is pretty evenly split between Africans and East Indians, so it was interesting to see how Mr. Mohammed was able to fit into a different group. After church we got to go to the top of San Fernando hill, which overlooks the entire city, and then we got picked up to head back to Tunapuna.

Also, they don’t have normal milk here, it’s all in a box or powdered and it doesn’t taste the same at all. So I am craving milk so much right now! And I don’t know how I will live without milk for four months!

I will update on my trip to Tobago when I have more time, I haven't had internet in a week and a half, sorry it's so long!

TRINIDAD!

I am in Trinidad! We got in late last night, and the trip was pretty uneventful, other than a few problems getting through Immigration at the airport. Somehow they didn’t have the list from the University of the West Indies formally admitting us so we could get through. But we finally got through, and then arrived at the Caribbean Lodge in Tunapuna where I am going to be staying until May. Ironically, my first meal here was KFC, eaten late last night because it is one of the only restaurants open late (we didn’t get out of the airport in Port of Spain until around 11).

Our whole group is staying in the Caribbean Lodge, which is a sort of guest house only a couple of minutes away from UWI. Nina and I are roommates, we have adjoining rooms and are sharing a bathroom. The Lodge is pretty cool, pretty much everything is outside, and it’s breezy which helps cool us down, cause it’s so hot! We can see the mountains from the Lodge, and they are so pretty and green, and a lot of us are hoping to get to go hiking later.

Then this morning we got up, had a short orientation led by Candice, our site director, before we got to go out and explore Tunapuna. I got some Trinidadian money and some other toiletries, and then we ate roti for lunch. I had potato channa roti, which is chunks of potato and chickpeas in curry all wrapped up in something similar to a cornmeal tortilla. We then went to the open market, which is massive! Nina and I got a pineapple, and it was AMAZING! It was probably the sweetest pineapple I have ever eaten, and it was so messy with juice dripping down my face and hands. But it was totally worth it. For dinner we walked over to UWI to eat at the Subway and see part of the campus.

The group that’s here is a great group, even though it’s so small. There are 12 PLU students, 2 students from St. Lawrence University and a girl from Ithaca College. 13 girls and 2 boys, which is an interesting mixture, but they’re all a lot of fun. We leave on Friday for our homestays, but we don’t really know anything about those yet, and then on Monday we leave for Tobago. In Tobago we work a lot on our short story class and also get to go to the rainforest and bird watching and see the Caribbean (cause I haven’t actually seen the water yet, except for a black expanse late at night when we flew in). I’m excited to get to see more of the country. That’s all for tonight, but I’m here and enjoying it!