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).