THE BEGINNING
We left on the 4th of March (Friday). First stop: London Heathrow Airport, and then to Eltham to stay with my brother, his wife and their cute baby girl Sophie for a couple of days.
It felt almost like springtime, and it was good to just spend some family time at home instead of trekking off to Central London, even inspite of the good weather. It was supposed to be the start of a vacation, and so it was. There was no shopping.
Then my brother Raefer was kind enough to drive us to Gatwick Airport, and from there we took our uneventful flight to Trinidad, with a one hour stopover in St. Lucia. We weren't allowed to leave the plane, but they let us stand on the stairway of the plane with the door open, and Catarina got her first caress of a true West Indian heat. We arrived at Piarco Airport, Trinidad, on time, a little after 5 in the afternoon. I couldn't find Pops for about an hour; our phones didn't like the Digicell signal that they were connecting to, so it was a while before he managed to locate us (I had to send a text message to Raefer, who then called Pops to tell him where we were standing).
With all the bags packed up in the mini SUV we were off to... somebody's house party. Blocks away, we heard the music pounding, and Catarina asked her first true never-been-to-Trinidad-during-Carnival-time question:
"Are people allowed to have speakers outside blasting away like that? What about the neighbours?"
Well, a quick look around and we could see all the neighbours hanging around on their patios and driveways, swaying to the rhythms coming from the free party being thrown a couple of houses away. In answer to that question: It's Trinidad. That's quite normal, especially now.
Three hours later, with another quick stop to say hello to someone who remembered me well, and my finding a fragment of a memory attached to the face, and then we headed to Pop's.
ASH WEDNESDAY...
Well, that was quite an intro, and after getting deafened, getting sweaty, pushing and being pushed around, sun burned and all else, it was time to tone it down a bit. So, we chilled for a while and then headed out to West Mall. Later on we drove all the way up to Fort George to take in the beautiful view of the city below... Later on, we stopped by my 'Auntie' Elsie and 'Uncle' Jim for a drink and a chat (political in nature, and we weren't really following a thing..
All in all, Wednesday was a needed recovery day.
THURSDAY
... we drove up to Maracas Bay, Las Cuevas and Blanchisseuse. The drive was on a long, twisty stretch, but the roads were not as bad as I remembered, and once you are in sight of Maracas, well...
Of course, no trip to Trini after all these years can be had without the old rivalry on the basketball court. Sure, there was still plenty bake and shark in my stomach from earlier on, but the court was booked from 9pm to 12, and to Tacarigua went drove (Hugh behind the wheel making good time). I guess I had been away too long; not from the game mind you. The TALK. Man, Trinis can talk, and keep talking long after the talk should done. Half the game was spent arguing a call, or claiming some small foul, or just trash talking. And after the sweat done, at least another 20 minutes of more talk. And sweat was pouring off of me like if I was standing under a faucet. Indoors. No ventilation though. So much so that my lady bus' a sleep in the bleachers. She didn't miss much though.
FRIDAY
We had planned from before to check out Movie Towne: a 'town' on the outskirts of Port of Spain, built on reclaimed land, featuring shops, resturants and a multipex cinema of course. Once in there you were in a different world, and my old friend Hugh dropped by for a lime. So, Catarina, Pops, Hugh and myself limed strong that night and it was just right.
SATURDAY
The first true vacation day, and we stayed home home. We weren't alone though. Some fellah came to fix the water pump. After the install and an hour of testing, the pump, though new, was not working properly, so low water pressure was a certainty in the days ahead.
A long time friend of Pops from Grand Rivere came to the house with his wife to do some yard work. We were lucky to be on the receiving end of his generousity, so we had a ready supply of coconuts, and he pulled out the machete and we filled bottles of the best drink in the world. And de jelly, as promised, was sweeeeeeet! Catarina wasn't that impressed because we were given some sour water, half dried up coconut when we were by the Savannah on Carnival Tuesday. And de man overcharged we too. That was Catarina's first taste, and first impressions, as you know, does last.
But all this sitting around was due to the fact that Pops managed to cop some free tickets to go see Champs in Concert that night. It was a beautiful night to take in all the best from this year's Carnival. I would have to say we enjoyed the Junior Band of the Year the most...
SUNDAY
Well, what to say about this last day of the week at this part of the trip? I didn't expect to head south, and so south, that we end up at the Pitch Lake. Catarina was bouncing around and swinging from side to side in the back seat, because dem roads nah easy nuh. Needless to say she got car sick, so when we pulled over to get some of the best 'doubles' in the world, she didn't have any. Not even a l'il taste. Again, we ended up by another 'pa'tnah' who was enjoying the after Carnival festivities. More food and drink again, and would you believe, it rained AGAIN. Rained whole week in fact (water pressure was still low though).
So, it was after this lime that we eventually pulled up to the Pitch Lake, which, truth be told, was not exactly an impressive sight. And venturing out onto the lake itself just wasn't appealing, especially with the long drive back home ahead. So we took a chunk and we rode out.
END OF WEEK 1