Wow May has flown by! So today I had an apple for breakfast. Andre came and visited for a little bit. After he left, we left for Saint Bennedict Monastery. I had some dates which made Nikki go crazy as she felt I would go crazy; I just had 3. The whole car ride to St. Bennedict was marked by Nikki and I singing and dancing in the car until we arrived. The place was beautiful. It overlooked the the city and was breathtaking. Nikki and I broke rules and went through the monk's home (we just looked from the out side. we saw the church, got some snacks and proceeded back the way we came. The monks dress up in all white. It took Nikki and I some time to leave as the view was spectacular and it is sooo peaceful, but we did after we pulled ourselves away from relaxing and taking pictures. I bought a small card on Archangel Raphael as he is a healer and ensures good travels!! We drove to the temple on the the sea in Waterloo. En route we stopped for Doubles. Doubles is like a small tortilla, but fuller/thicker with chickpeas and lots of spice inside. You find Kiosks all around. So Nikki and I are waiting patiently in line but are never called. Now this cute, part Asian gentleman helped us out by handing us a napkin and telling us where to wait and he took a picture of us. We talked a bit about the football team he supports. Shucks, forgot his number! Ok so we get to the temple! Now the this is a Hindu Temple. It is also Indian Arrival Day. Indian Arrival Day honors the day when Indian first came to the islands. It is a huge celebration. They put up a plaque in honor of this day. The last individuals surviving from this day were there. One was 102! People were taking pictures and enjoying :D So we go to the temple and it is like a mix of dry and slush. Looking far north you could see the ocean and boats. We asked why it was like this; b/c of the dry season and that the tides are low :( We went inside to see the large statues. I knew most of them, but there were two I didn't recognize. I asked for information, and the lady said we would have to give a "donation" to get information. Now to my knowledge a donation should be provided as something one wants to do, not forced to do. I gave 1 TT. We got our information and left. We then tried to find the big statue of Lord Ganesh! We asked all these people. It was quite far down aways. However, Nikki asked me to ask for directions this time around and no one could understand my accent. When we were going to the Temple on the Sea, we asked the guys from a Kiosk directions. When we returned we asked for water, and as Nikki asked if anyone of us needed anything else, I took her water bottle and put it around the face as the outside was cool. The guy laughed and told me to buy a water and throw the water on myself. The Lord Ganesh statue was huge!!!!!! Nikki asked what the coconuts are for. I said they are for fertility. I also looked it up, and when you break, it is supposed to break the ego. It is also used to help spiritual growth. As we left I developed hives on my arms and felt very weak and cold. I took my Clorox wipes, that I bought at the supermarket here, and wiped down everything, to clean everything off. I put lotion on to cool the itching. But I still felt, eh. We got to Fort George at which point I felt very dizzy. I still managed to climb hills, and see everything. The view of Port of Spain and beyond was amazing. However, I knew I needed food. So we went back down and went to the the next available spot. I got chicken. I took a picture of the place, which was right next to a bar. A lot of folks were drunk, one was dancing in the middle of the road. So, as I was taking this picture, one of these guys videotaped me. Then he proceeded to videotape all the girls that were there (our backs/bottoms). One of the girls looked at me and then looked at him and was like what are you doing and I told her not to worry about it as safety is always first. Why start a fight that doesn't need to begin. While we were leaving to our next destination, a man asked us for money. Nikki's mom packed some chicken for him, which he smelled and gave back. We saved it for the dogs! I also got a Sprite. So the food and soda kicked in, and we were singing again! This time to Bollywood stations. We got to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary. We didn't go to the Pitch Swamp as they weren't calling us back to confirm our visit, and we didn't want to drive that far to have it be closed, considering it is a holiday today! However the Sanctuary was an awesome 2.5 hours of seeing animals, birds,snakes, fish, snails, etc. We also had a baby who was very cute and playful so Nikki and I found her to be the highlight of this adventure. Our guide pulled over to give us information and to also inform us to lower our voices so that we could see the birds; noises make them fly of. The biggest attraction was to see the national bird. We got to a tree and all the birds flew in. The blue and white birds went inside the bush and the red stayed on the outside. On the way back to the entrance, I began singing Hakuna Matata and Lean on Me to which Nikki did the dance moves and the beat. So, it was too early to just end the day (it was 6:30 PM). So the plan was to go to the pool and swim or watch a movie, neither of which happened, because we met Nikki's paternal grandparents and aunt. Nikki's aunt's birthday is tomorrow and she is so proud of her age and the fact that she does 4 miles 3x a week. We went home and then to Santa Rosa to pick up supplies for Nikki's event on Saturday. Unlike the U.S., where you hardly get greetings, here you have to plan out visiting people here b/c you may be around for an hour just chatting! Just like when we visited Nikki and Andre's friend, it was unscheduled. We just showed up and sat there and chilled in the car for about two hours. That rarely happens in the U.S. We are to focused on the dependency on technology. We came home and made homemade mango juice. I freaked out this am when Nikki's mom used her hand as a cutting board! I told her I'm a bumsee when it comes to cutting. After taking out the seed and the skin, you blend the mango, with water and ice. You just mix in a bit of lemon, sugar and biter, and that is all! So sweet.
Oh and I burned my eye but touching it after eating food which had spices in it :/ Luckily it wasn't too bad!
Well tomorrow is the last day here :( so sad. Will make the most of it!
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| At the Monastery |
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| Temple on the Sea |
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| Fort George |
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| Sanctuary |
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