The Final Week of the Best Month of My Life

Marsicans Steel Orchesta

     After a fun weekend, it was time to go back to class. As usual, Monday began with steel drum class. This week, we were joined by the arranger for the Supernovas Steel Orchestra, Amrit Samaroo. Amrit began teaching us a piece he had arranged for the Melodians Steel Orchestra, a popular calypso song called The Hammer by David Rudder. He taught us the song using the traditional method of Trinidadian steel bands, rote learning. As I explained in an earlier post, this type of learning is based on repetition. The arranger teaches one part of the song to each section in the band. Once everyone has learned it, the part of the song gets played in repetition until it is memorized. Then, the next part of the song is added in the same process. Learning by rote was so much different than reading music. It was kind of cool because there was no dependency on sheet music, but it was difficult because if you forgot a part you had to hope that someone in your section remembered. Also, it was a very slow process. Because everything had to be taught by section, there was a lot of downtime waiting for the arranger to get to your section. While we waited, we spent time liming (Trini word for hanging out and relaxing) with our sections. Monday was also my day to present my presentation about issues faced by colored people in the 19th century caribbean. I ended up doing pretty well on it thankfully. That night we visited some more pan yards. This time we visited the Melodians and the Marsicans Steel Orchestras. I was in awe of the incredible talent that these bands both had. Many drummers were playing very complex scales and rhythms, and it was so impressive to witness.

     Tuesday was another day of pan class where we continued working with Amrit on The Hammer. It was also our last full class of history and the last day of presentations. Tuesday was also Harvey's birthday. In celebration of his birthday, our host, Mr. Wayne organized a birthday party for him complete with dinner, cake, drinks, and karaoke. We all had a great time and I'm sure Harvey did, too. A few of the girls and I also sang karaoke again. This time we chose to sing Bohemian Rhapsody We were inspired a few days earlier by a game we played on the bus called Head's Up. We had to hum songs for people to try and guess them, and Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the songs.  Humming the song turned into a full on chorus of a bunch of us singing.  Since it was very clear that we all knew the words and it is such a fun song to sing, we decided it would be a great choice for karaoke.  So naturally we just belted it out, and we killed it. It was a blast. After karaoke, things mellowed out until bed time, and then it was super mega bed time.

Our group at the pan yard after our last class

Scarlet Ibis roost at Caroni Swamp

      Wednesday marked our final day of classes. In steel drum class, we practiced and recorded The Hammer, In De Minor, and Jamaican Farewell. The Hammer is already posted on my facebook page, and videos for the other two should be surfacing soon.  So keep your eye out for those. Also, Wednesday was our last lunch at Trincity Mall.  While we were there, we happened to run into some students from UD who had come to Trinidad with the Intervarsity Club on a mission trip.  I even ran into two of my floormates from freshman year!  It was so strange, but also nice to see some familiar faces. After lunch, we went to our last history class. Dr. Pemberton handed out our grades and surveyed us on what we learned, and that was it for History of the Caribbean class. After class, it was time to travel to the Caroni Swamp to watch the Scarlet Ibis, the national bird of Trinidad, roost. We got to see a lot of wildlife, including some boa constrictors and tree crabs which were entirely too close for comfort. We also saw some blue heron and white ibis, but the main attraction was the scarlet ibis. These birds are only found in two places in the entire world: Trinidad and Venezuela. As the sun was setting, we waited patiently for the birds to begin roosting. Soon, we saw flocks of them soaring over the lake. They were such an intense color of red, and as more and more of them flocked to roost, the trees became dotted with a redness reminiscent of beautiful flowers. It was quite a spectacle. As the sun began to lower over the horizon, we headed back to the dock to avoid being stuck in the swamp at night. After our visit to the swamp, we all quickly showered to get ready for our night out at Zen nightclub. Apparently, the first time we were there we didn't see the whole club. When we got there, there was this huge room with two levels and a huge stage that we didn't even know existed. We danced a lot and even got to see a popular soca artist, Nadia Batson, sing. The night was an awesome experience, and was absolutely unforgettable.

The five before Zen Nightclub
From L to R: Abby, Me, Leah, Tori, and Julie

     On Thursday, we travelled by bus to a place about an hour away to go on a hike.  At least, we were told we were going on a hike. Dressed in hiking clothes and sneaker with flip flops and a bathing suit packed for swimming later, we were informed that we could not bring anything we wouldn't want to get wet. So we all scrambled into our bathing suits (thankfully, I had mastered the towel change through many surf contests), unknowing what was ahead of us and irritated by the ambiguity of our adventure.  We followed our guides down a muddy trail that ended at the river and began trudging downstream through the river.  After a while, we came to a small waterfall, which we were informed we would be jumping off.  I love stuff like this, so I got excited. I jumped off and continued swimming down the river. After more walking and swimming, we came to a second waterfall which was higher than the first, probably about 10 feet.  I enthusiastically jumped off of this one too and continued along. Finally, we arrived at the final waterfall, which was about 15-20 feet.  I hesitated slightly due to the fact that I had no idea how I was going to get back up the waterfall.  There was a rope set up that none of the boys had been able to climb yet.  I decided that it would all work out and went for it.  It was such a rush, and eventually, with the help of our friend Kevin and the guides, we all managed to get back up the waterfall. After an exhausting day at the waterfall, we still managed to have enough energy to go out to the clubs on last time.  Of course, Thursday meant our final appearance at Club 51, and we did it big. We danced the night away, and my friend Leah even managed to get on stage with the performer that night.  The night was pretty outrageous and was a great end to our nights out.

     Sadly, Friday was our final day in Trinidad.  But fortunately, we got to spend our last day at Maracas Beach one last time and eat Bake and Shark one last time. This time, there was not a cloud in the sky and no rain to be seen. It ended up being a perfect beach day and the absolute best possible way to spend our last day. We limed the day away on the beach until sunset, and then made our way back to the resort.  That's when reality started to hit.  We all realized how soon we were leaving and began reflecting on the amazing time we had.  We spent almost the entire night hanging out, reminiscing, and just enjoying each other's company for as long as we possibly could. That night, the five of us girls super mega bedded for the last time in Trinidad. The five of us had become so close over this trip, and it was so difficult to imagine us being apart. 

Me at Maracas Beach

Back row girls' last visit to our
favorite doubles stand in Curepe

     Eventually, 5 AM rolled around and it was time for us to leave Xanadu for the airport. Around 7 AM, I took my last glance at the beautiful landscape of Trinidad and boarded the plane for Miami. Once we landed in Miami and got through the tedious process that is customs, Abby, Leah, and I had our last meal of the trip together at the Jose Cuervo Tequileria.  I got chicken quesadillas and a spicy mango margarita, which were both delicious.  At this point it really started to sink in for me that the trip was over.  I sat with these girls in the back row of the bus for every trip each day for almost an entire month. The three of us spent almost every waking moment (and most sleeping moments) together, and now it was coming to an end. We reminisced about the trip some more before we had to board our plane for Philly. This plane ride and the days that followed really gave me a lot of time to think about what I have learned and taken away from this trip.  I couldn't put it any better than Abby did: 

   "My favorite part about the trip was leaving, not because I was happy to leave, but because it gave me a chance to reflect on what an amazing time I had the whole month, from wining in the club to jumping off waterfalls to the Nylon Pool. I met people who I can tell will be life-long friends. I learned that I am meant for life in the tropics, and I hope to live as stress free and happy as Fruits, Mr. Wayne, and Mr. Greene. It was the time of my life."

Piggybacking off of Abby's incredibly accurate statement, this is what I've taken away from this trip:

1. I've made some amazing friends who I am so incredibly grateful to have in my life and who I love and deeply hope remain in my life over the years to come.

2. I have incredible memories that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

3. I've rediscovered my passion for music and hope to find a way to integrate it back into my life.  And ideally, I'd love to find a way to continue playing the steel drums.

4. Doubles and Bake and Shark are my two favorite foods I've eaten in Trinidad (not necessarily in that order).

5. Tobago is absolutely beautiful. Anyone who loves the beach should visit in their life time.

6. Soca music > everything else

7. Newark bars do not compare to the Trini club scene

8. Wining is not easy.

9. I must come back for Carnival one day.

10. I can name all the islands in the Caribbean.

11. Puncheon is not for the faint of heart.

12. I will never get used to food with lots of bones.

13. I'm so thankful for the generosity of everyone in Trinidad and Tobago who made this experience possible.

    Overall, thank you so much to everyone who made this trip one of the best experiences of my entire life. I was honestly slightly nervous going into it, but I had such a great time and I really wouldn't trade it for anything. Thank you to all my new friends, and a special thank you to my girls, Abby, Leah, Julie, and Tori. I am so fortunate to have gotten to know each of you beautiful women, and I hope that we have many more great memories together to come. I love you all. Thank you to Harvey Price for arranging this trip, and for being an absolutely amazing steel pan and music theory teacher. Thank you to Linda Henderson for being our female intermediary and for being helpful with anything that we needed. Thank you for Mr. Wayne and the staff at Xanadu for making our stay in Trinidad such a pleasant experience. Thank you to Fruits for being a fantastic guide and for putting up with all of our shenanigans. Thank you to Mr. Greene for driving us around at all hours of the day and night, putting up with our american music, and not caring when we decided to stand on the seats and dance after the clubs. Thank you to the staff at SunSpree for giving us a good deal and making our stay in Tobago very comfortable. Thank you to Sugarlips for hooking us up with good deals on the boat trips that were easily some of the best parts of the entire trip. And thank you to Mr. Wayne's friends who treated us to a free meal and drinks at their restaurant. I'm sure there are people I'm forgetting so just thank you everyone who made this all possible!

     And thanks to everyone who has been following and sharing my blog.  I'm so grateful for all of you, and I really hope you have enjoyed following along with me on my endeavors in Trinidad and Tobago.

Final shot of our pan classroom

Panorama of Maracas Beach

Pan Yards and Maracas Beach

Me and Port of Spain at Night

     Hello all!  Sorry I haven't posted recently. This week has been pretty hectic, but I'll try and fill you in as best I can. Let me resume where I left off. I mentioned in my post last Wednesday that we were heading off to some pan yards. We visited a couple pan yards that night: Supernovas and Desperadoes. The bands are definitely making a lot of progress since we first saw them. Also, at many of the practices we have seen not all of the players have been there. As we get closer to carnival, more people are coming to practice at the same time and the bands are more filled out. While we were out visiting the pan yards, we also went up to the top of this hill overlooking Port of Spain. The view of the city at night was spectacular, and it put the size of Port of Spain in perspective. 

     Thursday was a normal day of class. In pan class, we began working on a song called Jamaican Farewell, continued practicing and recorded In De Minor, and learned the Blues scales and chord progressions. After class, we had lunch and history, and then we had a free evening. Of course, we chose to spend our free Thursday evening at the club again. I know I had said before that we probably weren’t going to go back to 51, but we decided to give it another chance.  This time, we had no problems getting in, and we all had a fun, wild night.

    On Friday, we began the day with pan class. We continued working on Jamaican Farewell, In De Minor, and the Blues Chord Progressions.  We also recorded Jamaican Farewell, but I think we are re-recording it tomorrow.  Friday also marked the beginning of our history presentations, a major portion of our history grade.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to present until Monday, leaving me some time to procrastinate.  After class, we visited some more pan yards.  This time we went to Supernovas, Phase Two, and Silver Stars.  After our pan yard crawl, we got dropped off at a different nightclub, Zen.  It was not very crowded there, but it was a pretty cool club and the DJ was good.  I’m sure it would be awesome if we went there on a night when it is super busy, but because it was relatively empty we decided it would be better (and cheaper) to keep the party going at Xanadu. We might be going there Wednesday, though, because apparently that is the night to go.  

     Saturday was the first day where we had absolutely nothing planned. We took this opportunity to catch up on sleep. Then, we realized we had no food, so we called our driver, Mr. Greene, to come take a bunch of us to the mall. We decided to eat at an actual restaurant instead of the food court.  The restaurant was an Irish Pub called J. Malone’s, and was reminiscent of restaurants like Kildare’s and Catherine Rooney’s. I split some bacon cheese fries with friends and got a sandwich called Swagger Pork.  I’m not totally sure what was on it besides pork and spinach, but it was delicious. After lunch and a little bit of shopping, we went back to the resort to relax for the rest of the evening. Our guide, Fruits, brought us a DVD player so my roommate Abby could watch the Sound of Music for the first time. (I had never seen it either, despite the number of times my mom has encouraged me to watch it with her.) We ended up speed watching it, which basically consisted of us fast-forwarding through some of the longer songs and boring parts while our friend Leah filled us in on the plot. I’m not a fan of musicals, so this method made the movie tolerable. (Sorry, Mom, Aunt Jessi, and anyone else who likes the Sound of Music and/or musicals.)

Me at Maracas Beach

Roommates before dinner

            Sunday we went to Maracas Beach again. It was raining off and on all day, so that was a little annoying, but we did manage to get a few hours of sunlight. Also, the rain brought some waves with it. I did scope out the beach for surfboard rentals, but I couldn’t find any and the waves were closing out anyway. I opted to go body surfing instead.  I got roughed up and stuck in a rip current at one point, but it was still a lot of fun. And of course, being at Maracas again meant that I had to get Richard’s Bake and Shark again. I honestly would have been very upset if I didn’t get it again because it was so good! After the beach, we came back to the resort to shower and get ready for dinner. We enjoyed free dinner and drinks at a restaurant owned by one of Mr. Wayne’s friends. He served Buss Up Shut with Shrimp, Chicken, and Chickpeas, and it was all really delicious.  Some of the locals also attempted to get us to take puncheon shots, but I opted for more Stag instead. It was a great night, nonetheless, and I was so grateful for the generosity of Mr. Wayne's friend.

   So that was the rest of last week.  Thanks for reading and sharing on facebook.   Keep an eye out for more posts, trip photos, and videos of our band on my facebook page.  I only have a few days left here, so some photos and videos may surface after the trip, so look out for that.  See you all in less than a week!

Our group with Rhett and Chike at Club 51

New Drums and Puncheon Rum

Me and Ben playing congas and the iron

Playing our old drums for the last time
From L to R: Abby, Leah, Linda, Me

     This week began with picking new drums to learn. This time, I chose to play the quads. The quads consist of four drums that hang on stands like most steel drums but have a bass voice like the 6 bass drums I played in middle school. I liked the double seconds, but so far I enjoy the quads much more. I like playing the background bass music that helps keep the tempo, and I think it's fun to flail around across the four drums. Also, I think that I feel the music more on these drums than I did on the double seconds. Anyway, once we got familiar with our new drums and learned some chords and scales, we began learning some new music. One of the songs we began working on was In De Minor, a song that is popular among the steel bands this carnival season. As I mentioned before, these bands learn the music piece by piece, building on each piece until they have learned the whole song. They don't read music, so sheet music for songs is hard to come by. Fortunately for us, Harvey plays with the Supernovas, one of the bands learning the song for Carnival, so he was able to learn the music and write it out for us. The melody is slightly difficult because a lot of it is off beat, but we've been practicing for the past couple days and it is starting to come together nicely. We will hopefully record it later this week. We also began learning the song Jamaican Farewell today. It's not too difficult, and we will probably be recording that song soon, too.  

     Aside from the actual steel pan playing, we are still learning a lot about music and theory. I now understand how to determine the notes in the different major scales, how to modulate keys, and how to find the relative minors and majors of different keys. We also have learned a little bit about percussion. Harvey had each of us play rhythms on the drum kit, the congas, and the iron. He also explained the differences between rhythms used for rock, blues, calypso, and soca music. I am learning so much more about music than I expected in this class. It has definitely renewed my passion for music and makes me want to begin playing some of my instruments again. (Mom and Dad, I hope you get the piano tuned before I get home!) Though the class is really fun and enjoyable, it isn't all play. We've had to read about carnival music, and we had our second quiz on our readings and music theory yesterday. I think we still have a couple more before the end of the month. We also have had to do a bulk of our work for history class this week. Today, we had to turn in a 3 page research paper that accounts for 40% of our grade. Also, beginning Friday each of us has to do a presentation on a chosen topic of Caribbean history, another major part of our grade. Fortunately, all the work for that class is essentially done once we present. But it is also a reminder that winter session is almost over, which is sad because I am having a lot of fun and have made so many great friends over the past 3 weeks. Though this trip was very expensive, I am so happy I decided to go. It has been an amazing experience thus far, and I know the next week and a half will be just as great.

Learning new drums

     Aside from school, there hasn't been too much going on. Monday night and some of yesterday evening were mostly devoted to working on our papers. We did have Karaoke night at Xanadu last night, though. The other girls and I sang Spice Up Your Life by The Spice Girls together. (I was Scary Spice. She's my favorite.) I didn't do any solo sessions because I recognize the fact that I am an awful singer. I was considering rapping some Nicki Minaj, especially since she is from Trinidad, but then Abby and I decided to go swimming instead. Tori and Leah and some of the boys decided to join us, and we had fun swimming, dancing, and trying to replicate Trini music videos in the pool. We also met and hung out with the Xanadu employees and some of Mr. Wayne's family and friends at Karaoke. Some of the employees decided that this was the perfect opportunity for us to take our first puncheon shot. Up until this point, we only had puncheon in mixed drinks or rum punch. And from this point forward, I will probably only have it in mixed drinks or rum punch. The shot was terrible, not necessarily because of taste but because it burned the entire way from mouth to stomach. By the encouragement of the locals, I decided not to chase it. Big mistake. I was immediately scrounging for anything to wash it down with and get rid of the burning sensation in my mouth. Even though the shot was terrible, I'm glad I got to try it because it's something you have to do while in Trinidad. I just won't be taking another one any time soon.

Tyler and Zach singing Backstreet Boys - Larger than Life

     So those were the events of the past couple days. Tonight, we are heading to some pan yards again. This time the bands should be practicing in full force, so I'm sure that will be awesome. I'll let you know how it went in my next post. Thanks for reading, and look out for my next post. If I can figure out how to do it, maybe I will post some videos of our band and some of the legitimate bands soon. So keep an eye out for that too, but try not to be too disappointed if I can't get it to work. Thanks again for reading, and thanks to those who have been sharing my blog on facebook and social media!

School and Another Weekend in Tobago

Silver Stars Steel Band

The bass player with 9 drums

     After our nice weekend off, it was tough to get back into the routine of going to class.  Because we flew back to POS Monday morning, we had a shortened steel band class.  We grabbed a quick lunch at the mall and then headed back to Xanadu for history class.  After history class, we had some time to relax in the evening before heading off to visit some more pan yards.  We visited both the Supernovas and the Renegades again.  We also got to see some different bands: the Silver Stars and the Desperadoes.  The bands were all very talented and impressive.  A lot of them are playing a song called In De Minor, and it’s interesting to hear the different takes on the same tune.   

     Tuesday was another typical day aside from the fact that we didn’t have History class.  Instead, we had to take our first test for steel pan class.  We spend our lunch break in Arima, where we came across a stand that was selling doubles for 3TT, equating to 0.50 USD.  So I got a full, delicious meal of 2 doubles for $1. We also did some shopping before we had to go back to the resort for our test.  After the test, we spent the next couple hours swimming and sitting poolside.  Then we went to visit more pan yards.  This time we saw the Marsicans Steel Orchestra and a couple other bands whose names I don’t remember.  One of the bands had a drummer who played a set of bass drums with nine drums.  I played a 6 drum bass in middle school and that was difficult enough; I can’t imagine playing 9 drums.  He was really good, though, and I think everyone was collectively mesmerized by his talent.

      Wednesday was more of the same.  We had both classes and took a trip to the mall for lunch.  We also did some shopping for club clothes, and I bought two new dresses for approximately 60 USD.

Me (in my new dress) and my roommates before the club

Sunset in Tobago

Contadina pizza

Thursday was yet another typical school day, except for the fact that it was the day of the map test.  At the meetings preceding this trip, Harvey stressed the importance and difficulty of this test, which accounts for a large portion of our history grade.  Basically, the map test is the most challenging part of this program.  We had to memorize all the islands in the caribbean, which ones were first and last to get emancipation and independence, who colonized each island, and a lot of other historical details. The test was pretty difficult, but I’m glad that it isn’t looming over my head anymore.  After the test, everyone was ready for a night out.  Yet again, we opted to go to Club 51. I took this opportunity to wear one of my new dresses.  This time we had a lot of issues trying to get into the club.  It ended up working out and being a lot of fun, but it was such a hassle that we decided we should probably try somewhere new next week.

     Friday marked the beginning of our free weekend.  Of the 14 of us in our group, 12 people opted to go back to Tobago.  We spent the entire day lounging in the sun and swimming at Store Bay Beach.  It was nice getting to relax and function on our own schedule for the first time during the trip.  Last weekend, we saw a place called La Cantina Pizzeria, which has a reputation for making the best wood-fired pizza in Tobago.  We all decided to go there for a nice group dinner.  The pizza was excellent.  I got a pizza called la contadina which was covered with tomato, mozzarella, spinach, mushrooms, eggplant, and sweet peppers.  I devoured half of it in minutes, but decided to save the other half for later.  Everyone was pretty tired so we opted to catch up on rest so we would have energy for Saturday’s boat tour.

   Saturday we woke up early for Sugarlips to pick us up for the boat tour. Sugarlips is good friends with Harvey and Linda, and had arranged our boat trip the previous weekend, so he hooked us up this weekend.  This tour was similar to the one we did last weekend, but the boat was smaller and faster so we were able to visit some places that were further up the coast. The tour began with us boating up to coast to see a couple different beaches.  Some beaches we saw were Mt. Irvine Beach, Back Bay, and Washerwoman’s (or Lovers’) bay.  We stopped at another bay to do some snorkeling, and we actually got to do legitimate snorkeling this time.  It was a lot of fun, and we saw a lot of cool fish and marine life.  After our snorkeling session, we went to No Man’s Land for the barbecue.  The barbecue was essentially the same as the one last weekend, except this time we had the chance to jet ski.  I got to drive the jet ski around Buccoo bay and out to the Nylon pool, and it was so much fun.  As the sun was setting, we boarded the boat again and went to spend the sunset at the Nylon Pool. It was absolutely beautiful watching the sunset over Tobago from the middle of reef.  This concluded our boat tour, and we headed back to the resort to nap.  After our nap, we spent the night out at The Shade again, and as always, we had a blast.

     Sunday we went back to Store Bay Beach and spent the entire day relaxing again.  The boys spent most of the day at the hotel watching football games, so we had a nice girls day at the beach.  We visited some of the little vendors at the beach to buy some souvenirs and ate some delicious coconut home made ice cream.  After our long day on the beach, we headed back to the resort for a dip in the pool and a shower.  Then, the five girls went out to a nice dinner at a restaurant called Karawak Village.  We had a four course dinner of breadfruit soup, tomato salad, mahi mahi or steak with rice, breadfruit, and grilled cauliflower, and chocolate cake.  I chose the mahi mahi, and it was cooked and seasoned perfectly.  All in all, it was an awesome evening with great friends and delicious food.  Unfortunately, our free weekend had to end, and we flew back to Trinidad last night so we could make sure we were on time for class today.

     Thanks for reading!  Hopefully, I’ll have more opportunities to post now that I don’t have the map test hanging over my head (given our wi-fi decides to actually work when I want to post).

The Rest of Tobago

Our chariot for the tour

Me and my roommate Abby

Tobago from the boat

     So Saturday was our day on our boat tour.  After a bit of a drive, we arrived at the dock, boarded our glass bottom boat, named Sugar Lips, and began our adventure.  Our first stop on the boat was at a shallow spot of Buccoo Reef.  Through the glass bottom, we could see some of the 40+ different types of coral and a variety of marine life while the captain explained what we were seeing.  Our second stop was a slightly deeper part of Buccoo Reef where we were supposed to snorkel.  Unfortunately, our captain forgot to bring the snorkels and enough masks, so we had to take turns swimming with the masks.  I still got to see the reef, but I was bummed that I didn't get to experience it to the extent offered by snorkeling.  Next, we headed to the Nylon Pool, a shallow spot in the middle of Buccoo Reef.  The pool was named by Princess Margaret who, when viewing it for her villa on the shore of Tobago, thought it resembled nylon.  The pool is a popular spot for wading and swimming in Tobago, and many boats were anchored there, including one called Cool Runnings which was blasting all the best Soca hits of 2014.  Our visit to the pool turned into a huge dance party, complete with great music, rum drinks, and beer.  This was probably one of the best parts of the trip so far; you really can't beat partying on a sand bar in the middle of the ocean.  Everyone was having such a great time dancing and singing, I don't think anyone wanted to leave.  Unfortunately, we had to move on to the next part of the tour, a stop at No Man's Land.  This part of the trip of the tour also proved to be a lot of fun.  We enjoyed a barbecue and more drinks, music, and dancing as the final rays of sunlight waned away. When we returned back to the resort, the group dispersed.  Some people headed to Store Bay beach, while others went to nap in preparation for our night out.  Later that evening, we went to The Shade Nightclub, one of the most popular nightclubs in Tobago, which also happened to be within walking distance from our resort.  We encountered many of the locals that we had met earlier that day at No Man's Land and had another great night dancing to a mix of Soca and popular US songs, but we decided to turn in early because we had another busy day ahead of us.

     We began our day Sunday with a trip to the Tobago Cocoa Estate.  At the estate, we were given a tour of the grounds and were informed about the many different types of plants that grow on the estate.  One of these plants we saw was called the Mother-in-Law, which featured large black spikes strewn across its bark.  I believe it was named for the pain and unpleasantness associated with encountering one (because I guess that's how most people feel about their Mother-In-Laws). I got to experience this unpleasantness later in the day.  Most of the tour address the cocoa plant and its cultivation.  We got to taste the pulp of a Cocoa pod, which is the part that is dried to make cocoa beans.  I enjoyed the taste, but the texture reminded me of the texture of mucus, which was repulsive.  After tasting the pulp, we got to see the process involved in using the pulp to create cocoa beans.  Essentially, the pulp is dried in large shallow bins in direct sunlight.  Workers push the pulp around the bin frequently to ensure complete and even drying, and the bin must get covered when it rains or the beans will be ruined.  After this demonstration, we got to the best part of the tour: tasting the chocolate.  The samples were pretty small, but the chocolate was so dark and rich and delicious.  In retrospect, I really should have bought some, but at the time, I didn't want to spend 15 USD on a chocolate bar.  

Argyle Falls

     With the conclusion of the estate tour, we set off for Argyle Falls.  Getting to the falls entailed a long, muddy hike through the woods, but it was worth it.  The falls were so beautiful and evoked a strong feeling of peace; I would have been content sitting at the bottom of the falls all day. Then I learned about the trail up the hills to the top of the falls.  The trail was steep and slightly dangerous, but many of us decided to give it a try anyway. The first part of the trail let out halfway up the waterfall, and the view was great, but the climb was tiring and many people decided to stop there.  Nonetheless, some of my classmates and I decided to continue up the trail to the top of the falls.  This part of the trail was even more perilous, but it was worth it.  The view from the top of the falls was absolutely beautiful, and looking down on everyone below made me feel like I was on top of the world, or on top of Tobago at least.  I wish I had taken my camera up there to capture the experience, but I was too afraid to drop or break it on the way up.  A few of us sat up there until it was time to leave, and then we slowly made our way back down the trail.  The climb down proved to be harder than the climb up, and many times I had to just reach out for anything to prevent myself from falling down the trail.  This was when I had my encounter with the mother-in-law.  In the clamber of my descent, I reached for yet another tree the prevent a tumble down the hill, and this time it happened to be that awful tree.  I grabbed hard and immediately felt the pain of its thorns digging into my hands.  I quickly withdrew my hand and found it full of long, needle-like thorns.  Fortunately, it didn't hurt much to remove the thorns, but I'm pretty sure I still have a small fragment of one stuck in my hand.  Aside from my encounter with the mother-in-law, I managed to finish my descent unscathed.

     Once everyone made it safely back to the bus, we headed out for a late lunch/early dinner at Jemma's Seaview Kitchen and Treehouse Restaurant.  Our meal consisted of salad, breadfruit pudding, macaroni pie, fried rice, veggies, plantains, corn fritters, and a choice of chicken or fish.  Many of us hadn't eaten all day and the service was pretty slow, so when we finally got the food we devoured it quickly.  It was all really good, and I left the restaurant feeling happily satiated.  Once we returned to the resort, we spent the rest of the day swimming, hanging out, and enjoying our last few hours in Tobago before our early morning departure on Monday.
     So that was the rest of my weekend in Tobago.  The past few days haven't been incredibly eventful, and we have a huge test tomorrow that I need to study for, so I'm going to conclude my post here. Keep an eye out for my next post, which will hopefully be tomorrow or Friday.  As always, thanks for reading.

My girls

Our group at the Nylon Pool

Me with some classmates at the Nylon Pool

Another photo at the Nylon Pool

So Much Steel Drums, and Tobago

Julie and the Supernovas practicing

Some of the Exodus band members practicing

Renegades pan yard

     I last left you with the events of Tuesday, so I will begin with Wednesday.  Wednesday was another day of classes and lunch at Trincity Mall.  This time I broke out of my American food bubble and got a Bombay Chicken wrap which was absolutely delicious.  I'm definitely going to be getting that more often.  We also did some shopping briefly.  I didn't buy anything, but my friends got some pretty outrageous clothing.  Hopefully, we will have the chance to go back and shop some more because I definitely want to get some Trini clothes for the clubs.  After history class was done, we relaxed before heading out on our pan yard crawl.  We visited the Supernovas Pan Yard first, which is where we have our steel drums class.  The band was pretty impressive.  Apparently, everyone in the band is related except for Harvey and his wife, Linda.  My roommate Julie is also playing with them this year, which is awesome.  Next, we headed to the Exodus pan yard.  Exodus is a well-known steel band in St. Augustine.  One of the songs we heard them practice was a rendition of the Electric Slide.  Our final stop was the Renegades Pan Yard.  The Renegades are a huge steel band in Port-of-Spain.  This band had so many people and a larger variety of drums that smaller bands don't have. Watching the way these bands learned songs was very intriguing because it is so different from the way people learn to play music in the US.  The arranger essentially has all of the music in his head, and he teaches the players to play a section of the song.  After many repetitions, he adds the next part to the song.  This cycle continues until the players learn the whole song.  The pan players don't read music; they just learn from repetition.  Once we returned from our pan yard crawl, we hung out some more (we do a lot of that) and then headed off to bed.
    Yesterday, we had a shortened steel drum class where we recorded our rendition of Can't Help Falling in Love.  I'm looking forward to hearing it when it is done; it was impressive how quickly we learned the music and learned to play it well.  Our instructor, Harvey, told us this was the earliest he was able to have a group record a song, so we must be pretty legit.
After class, we traveled to Curepe to visit Gill's Pan Shop and the accompanying Scherzando Pan yard.  At Gill's, we got to see all the stages required to produce the high quality steel drum that the shop is known for.  I never realized how much work it takes to make one, and now I understand why they are so expensive.  The process involves a lot of hammering, tuning, retuning, and firing the drums, and all of this is done by hand.  While at the pan shop, we also got to watch one of Trinidad's well-known steel drum band arrangers play.  After our visit to Gill's, we grabbed lunch in Curepe.  I got more doubles because they are insanely cheap, filling, and delicious. Then we headed back to Xanadu for our history class, which still remains a struggle. After class, we spent the afternoon relaxing in preparation for another night out in Port-of-Spain.  We opted to go to Club 51 again, and it was just as much fun as the first time.
     This morning we headed to Tobago bright and early.  Staying out until 4 AM the night before didn't lend itself to us all successfully getting up early and being fully functioning, but somehow it all worked out.  A 20 minute plane ride later, we landed at the Tobago airport, an airport that overlooks beautiful Caribbean water.  After a 10 minute walk that consisted of us dragging our luggage down rough and uneven sidewalks, we arrived at our home for the weekend, Sunspree Resort.  We checked in, and my roommates, Abby and Julie, and I immediately decided to make another mega bed, though it's not as big as our super mega bed at Xanadu.  Then we swam in the pool and napped before heading off to Store Bay Beach.  The beach was beautiful, and the water was that crystal clear blue that the Caribbean is known for.  We had a fun afternoon of swimming, bodysurfing, and sunbathing on one of the most pristine beaches I have encountered.  Unfortunately our day at the beach had to end and we had to go back to the hotel. When we returned to the hotel, we swam some more and then headed into town to explore a little and grab some dinner.  The town in Tobago definitely has a different vibe than any of the places we've visited in Trinidad.  It is much smaller and does not have the metropolitan vibe of cities like Port-of-Spain or even towns like Curepe and Arima.  Hopefully we will get to check it out some more this weekend.  Tonight, we are keeping it mellow to catch up on rest and prepare for our day of snorkeling and boating on a glass bottom boat.  That should be a lot of fun.  Anyway, thanks for reading, and look out for my next post about the rest of my stay in Tobago!

Making the bubbles

Initial tuning of the drum

Lining the drum

Rain, Rain, Go Away

     Since my last post, we have had two more steel drums classes.  Honestly, I am learning a lot more than I expected to learn in this class.  I figured I would learn more about playing the drums themselves, and specifically learn how to play a new drum, but I didn't realize how much I still had to learn about music.  Though I do have a pretty strong musical background, that background does not include a solid basis in music theory.  Harvey incorporates a lot of music theory into his steel drums lessons, and learning it on the steel drums has definitely made it easier to understand.  I already knew what keys and chords and scales are, but I guess I never really knew how to figure out which key you were playing in or the chords associated with that key.  Also, I didn't really understand the logic or methodology behind transitioning between keys within songs.  I'm sure I will learn a lot more about theory throughout the duration of this class.  Aside from the theory and scales and chords, we are learning to play Can't Help Falling in Love.  We actually played the song in its entirety in class today.
     We have had two history classes since we got to Trinidad.  The class is definitely going to be a challenge because there is a lot of material, and the professor moves very quickly.  The class is a constant reminder that this is not a vacation, and this trip definitely isn't going to be no work and all play.  Hopefully I can maintain a healthy balance of mostly play and minimal work, though.
Apart from class, we have done some fun stuff over the past couple days, including a lot of bonding.  Yesterday after steel drums class, we went into Arima to get lunch and go to the market.  As I have mentioned in my previous post, the food is very different here (and laden with bones).  Many of us needed a break from the local cuisine, so we opted for KFC and Pizza Hut for lunch.  Also, we saw a lady with a KFC bucket on her head at Maracas beach, so we were trying to acquire one so we could wear it like she did.  Unfortunately, we failed in acquiring a bucket, but we did get some good food that we already knew how to eat and that reminded us of home.  After eating, we wandered around the market area, bought some bananas, and browsed in a few stores.  We didn't have much time though because we spent all our time in line at KFC and we had to get back to the resort for history class.
     Upon our arrival at the resort, we learned that our history teacher's car had broken down and she wouldn't be coming.  Obviously, we were all thrilled and immediately headed to the pool. We spent entirely too much time taking underwater photos and selfies and "instis" with Tyler's GoPro and Leah's iPhone (once she finally decided to try her lifeproof case in the water).  After our pool session and a nice lukewarm shower, my roommates and I pushed our beds together to make a super mega bed so that everyone could come and hang out and watch TV (and cuddle).  Collectively, the three of us have the largest area of bed out of anyone else on the trip, so it accommodates all of us much more comfortably.  The beds are going to stay like this for the rest of the trip.
     Today, we had both of our classes in the same day for the first time, and that was definitely rough.  It was especially rough because we had a 3 hour history class today instead of a 2 hour class to make up for yesterday's missed class.  For lunch, we got food at Trincity mall.  I opted for subway today, so I could take half of the sandwich home for dinner.  I swear I'm going to start eating more Trini food while I'm here, though.  I was just feeling too lazy to deal with bones today.  Today was a pretty long day, so the rest of the day will probably consist of napping and hanging out and avoiding the rain.  It has been raining on and off every day for the past couple days and is suppose to continue for a couple more.  Hopefully, it clears up for Tobago this weekend.  Tomorrow, we have both classes again and might be seeing a steel band play later.  Thanks for reading, and I hope you aren't getting too jealous!

The Beginning

       Sorry I haven't had the chance to post until now.  The first couple days have been very hectic. Thursday was a long day full of traveling. We flew from Philly to Miami, where we had a 3+ hour layover.  To kill some time, we went to a restaurant called Clubhouse One for a beer and some food. Naturally, I had to get a Miami Cuban sandwich, and it was pretty delicious.  After a 3 hour flight and an hour long ordeal with customs and immigration, we were finally on our way to the resort.  We arrived at our resort, Xanadu, around 1 AM (or 12AM at home), and my roommates, Abigail and Julie, and I got settled. Then, we headed to the pool area where were served buss up shut with curry chicken and potatoes by our host, Mr. Wayne. Buss up shut is a thin, crumpled and torn type of roti (a layered pastry), named for its resemblance to a "busted up shirt".  After dinner, we crashed for the night.

Doubles

      Friday we began the day around 10AM with a trip to Trincity Mall for food and groceries.  I got barbecue chicken thighs and sauteed veggies from a caribbean cafe, and it was pretty good. One thing I didn't realize about Trini food is that a lot of meat products, and especially chicken, are served bone-in.  I also attempted to order an iced coffee at the popular chain, Rituals Coffee.  Apparently the notion of iced coffee does not exist in T&T because I received a cup of watered down, hot coffee with the remnants of ice cubes still floating in it.  After grabbing some groceries and stocking up on the local beers, Carib and Stag, we headed back to the resort for a nap and our first history class.  After class, we sat poolside and basked in the last of the warm sunlight.  Later, we headed in to Port-of-Spain for dinner and Panorama, a Steel Band competition held before the beginning of Carnival.  I got doubles for dinner, which consisted of two small pieces of roti topped with curried chickpeas.  I was grateful for  a delicious food option that didn't involved bones, and it was also insanely cheap.  One order of doubles cost 4TT which calculates to about 70 cents.  I got two, one with the popular pepper sauce and one without, and both were very good.  At Panaroma, the bands were all really good, and all the players looked so happy when they were playing.  It really got me excited to start playing the steel drums again. I'm not sure who won the competition because we left before it ended, but it was an fun, awe-inspiring experience.  When we got back, a bunch of us sat by the pool with our hosts Mr. Wayne and Mr. Chris.  We all told stories and enjoyed some beers by the pool (because, as Mr. Wayne said, not having a drink by the pool at night is "against the food and alcohol ordinance of Trinidad") until the early hours of the morning.

One of the awesome bands at Panorama.
The girl on the double seconds in the front was amazing

     Yesterday, we headed to Maracas Beach.  The trip there involved traveling on long and windy roads through the mountains of Trinidad.  Near the top of one of these mountains was Maracas lookout.  The lookout provided a spectacular view of Trinidad and Maracas Bay.  When we finally got to the beach we enjoyed a nice swim in the warm water.  After our swim we headed to Richard's Bake and Shark (which was featured on the show Bizarre Foods) for lunch.  Of course, I had to try the bake and shark complete with all the toppings.  Besides the fact that I put way too much pepper sauce on it, it was delicious.  It rained on and off for the rest of the day, so we left the beach earlier than planned.  When we got back, we swam and sat by the pool.  Afterwards, we napped and had dinner while streaming the Eagles game.  Around 11, we headed to this club in Port-of-Spain called Club 51 Degrees.  We had a great night whining to soca music until 4AM, and they even played a few of our american favorites.  It was a lot of fun, and we will definitely be going back there again soon.

A view from Maracas Lookout

      After our late night, my roommates and I woke up around 1:30 for our first steel drums class.  It really felt great to get to play again.  I decided to learn a new drum instead of playing the bass again.  Instead, I chose double seconds, which is the a two drum, alto instrument of a steel band.  We learned chord progressions and a simple melody for a popular song called Matilda.  When we got back to the resort after practice, we went to dinner in Arima.  I got rice and pork ribs because I was not in the mood to pick through my food for small bones.  The ribs were delicious and I got a lot of food and a drink for about $6.  The food here really is great and cheap for the quality and the amount that you get.  Now, I am relaxing at the resort and waiting for the rain to stop so I can go sit out by the pool.  Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to update this more frequently so I can provided a more detailed account of things.  I hope you enjoy my blog, and I hope everyone at home is doing okay with the snow (I don't miss it at all.).

Maracas Beach

Bake and Shark