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