Trinidad # 4 Sun, sand and sea

It must be a good sign to begin the year at my favorite beach in Trinidad, Maracas Beach. Turns out some friends of my brother stopped by his house on New Year's day and upon hearing that I was home on vacation, called me up and next thing you know, we were all on the merry road to Maracas Beach.

The weather was great, the company was fun and even though the time was short we all had a great time.

One Week Down...

...and counting.

Its the end of the first week of classes but I feel as if I have been at it for weeks or even months. Not a good sign I am sure but I am hoping that over the weekend I can get myself together and get on with it.

For some strange reason I have not been able to adjust and get back into the swing of things here in NY and I want to balme it on too much sun, too much home-cooked meals and definitely too much fun over the previous five weeks.

For those of you who don't know, this is my fourth semester and I will be graduating this Spring and transfering to a four year college to complete my degree. Its decided and I will do my under grad in Social Work at either York College in Queens or Lehman College in the Bronx. These are the only two CUNY (City University of New York) that has a BSW. Hopefully I can do my MSW at Columbia and if not Hunter College will be fine.

Time for me to start my weekend...

Quote of the Month

I just came across this quote in a newsletter from an organization called Hope For New York and thought I'd share it. Think about it.


"I've seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people living ordinary lives."

Tracy Chapman

Trinidad # 3 "Nicing" Up De Place

If you know anything about Trinidad culture, you will know that Christmas is the time when everyone makes that extra effort to make their homes more beautiful and/or replace existing furniture and appliances with brand new ones (thanks to all the no deposit/take it home for 3 mths credit. etc. available) This is something that most people do and in just the space of a month before and after Christmas, homes are completely transformed.

When I got home, our house was being repainted to match all the blooming flowers in the front yard and I got right into the swing of things. I am not really one for DIY but I do enjoy painting with some sing-along music to keep me distracted. We did this for the first three days I was there and it was well worth it.

Here I am all messed up with paint as well as the front of the house with all the plants. (Not that I had anything to do with the beautiful plants)

Trinidad # 2 Family History: Lost Forever?

One of the things I was hoping to accomplish while in Trinidad was to visit some relatives and try to get some information about my grandparents and great grandparents. This proved to be much more difficult than anticipated.

I visited my father's two sisters, the only ones left of his many siblings and was very disappointed with their responses. They could not give me any names of either of their grandparents and I could not help but think they could not be bothered by what is past.

I was certain at least one of them would be able to give me something to work on but I got nothing, absolutely nothing. I left their homes feeling like the day was a complete and all the family's history was lost forever. The sad part is that it is lost. If they don't want to talk about it or don't remember, then it is lost for sure and there is nothing I can do about it.

On my mother's side, there is one of her mother's sister still alive but at 75, there was little she could tell. Turns out most of the older Indians in Trinidad used only one name and children never used the proper names of their parents and grandparents. This resulted in another dead end with the other side of the family long forgotten. So much for that.

The picture is of my father's youngest sister and another of his older sister.

Trinidad # 1

Before leaving for Trinidad on Dec 19th I was way too busy with finals ans other school activities to really fell the excitement of going home but by the time I got there and stepped out of the airport, I was ready for five weeks in the sun.

I was met by my mother and sister Molly as well as my friend rakesh and his wife Anjanie and their adorable daughter Adrianna. Turns out that Adrianna's b-day is they same as mine so from my 39th, we celebrate together.

My day was spent at home eating some much needed home cooked curry and then we were off to the mall to hang out and relax.

Here are some pics from that first day. You can see all the persons I mentioned as we hung out at home and at the mall.

Trinidad to New York

After five weeks in Trinidad and Tobago I was not prepared for the cold of the NY Winter. My first day here made me want to stay in bed all wrapped up in blankets but I had to face reality and eventually leave the house.
Now that life is back to normal, that is, no warm days in the sun on the beach, I have to face my fourth semester of college as well as all the topics I want to blog about and also catching up with friends that I seem to have lost touch with in the past few weeks.
So, get ready, look out for regular updates and tons of photos from my trip back home where I spent my first Christmas in Trinidad in four years.