Trinidad: First Impressions

I am back in the Caribbean warmth and I am already in love with this new island. The sun is hot, the people are warm, the music flows through the streets; as soon as I stepped off the plane I felt at home. The pace is welcoming and completely welcomed by me. I feel like I can slow down, not worry and just enjoy everything as it comes.
Since we arrived, I have been speechless by the beauty of the country. The city is lazy but busy, the streets lined with small shops, cafes, and homes. The narrow streets are decorated with blooming tropical flowers and mango trees and behind all of it is a backdrop of the dark green mountains. I can’t believe this is my home for the next five weeks. The whole group is pumped about the area, the people we have met so far, the music, and our projects.
The energy of the town is also really strong right now because of next week’s general elections. Next week on Monday the new prime minister will be decided so the spirits are high and the competition fierce between the political parties. We are so lucky to be here to experience it. More on this topic later because I still have much to learn about the different parties and the details about what is really going on.
So far we have met the people who will be taking care of us here in Curepe. We are staying at a place that is usually occupied by Trinity College students who have been coming here for 10 years to study abroad at the University of the West Indies (UWI). Sunity is the woman who takes care of us. Tomorrow we are going to the market with her to buy food and then back to her house to have a cooking class, Rotis: 101. We also have two chauffeurs, Ivan and Tony who drive us wherever we want to go whenever we want to get there. It is a little intimidating because we have to be super careful about safety, not walking anywhere at night, even around our neighborhood. A little different than Havana where it is safe to walk almost anywhere, day or night, even alone. It doesn’t seem too bad but I think it will take awhile for us to get used to.
Our mini-excursions to get acquainted with the area have led us to the nearby Hi-Lo supermarket, the bank, a music stand where I loaded up on local music, our first doubles experience, and our first taste of rotis. So I’m going to give you my first impression/description of these two staples, but since I know they are going to be somewhat inaccurate I might give a better description later. Doubles is a snack you can pick up at any of the little doubles stands on the side of the road. You ask for Doubles slight, medium, or pepper. We were warned that ordering a doubles pepper might land us in the nearest E.R. So I went with slight. The woman behind the counter plopped two round slices of what is kind of like the dough used for fried dough, a little thick and a little sweet but soft like naan, onto a piece of wax paper. She then spooned a chick pea mixture onto the two pieces of bread followed by a dollop of a dark substance, a dollop of a yellow mixture, a dollop of something else and then rolled it up and handed the warm roll to me. We all dug in as if it were a burrito of some sort and in the process made a mess. It wasn’t until later a new friend Gerald taught us the proper way to eat the doubles, more like you would eat Indian food with naan. The flavor was completely different than anything I had expected or have tried. It was spicy, sweet, and curry all at once. Once it hit my tongue I couldn’t get enough. So then today we decided to take a stab at roti. I had no idea what to expect from this experience so I just ordered a goat roti and a Big Red Fanta and dug in. It was amazing. The roti consisted of a Styrofoam container with a scoop of a brown sweet mixture, a scoop of mashed chickpeas, and a sweetish orange mixture of something. Then curried goat and the roti which is a large piece of a thin naan type-bread with spices in the center. You use the bread to eat the different mixtures and you end up with a delicious blend of flavors and textures. I am excited to try the different versions of these dishes and to eat them everyday.
Since I’m tired but still want to get stuff posted here’s a sum up of the other things I have liked or noticed about Trinidad: Men are persistent, people are extremely friendly, it is hot, there is nothing like fresh mango or fresh fruit juice, Carib and Stag beers are the beers to drink while in Trinidad, watch out while walking on the streets that you don’t get run over or fall into the gaping drain ditches along the side of the road, music is necessary at all times.