GROCERY STORE WINE SAMPLES AND PRICE COMPARISONS

If you shop regularly, you know how it is when you go into Wal-Mart or the grocery store and they have little samples stations for various items set up, right? Have you ever been in a grocery store that had wine samples? I was just in the store a few minutes ago, when I noticed a bunch of people crowded around a sample station..and lo and behold, I peered through the crowd and saw the wine bottles...4 different flavors...and you could get a Dixie-cup-sized sample of each one. Now, I have never been one to have the urge to get lit while in the grocery store, so no, I didn't indulge. But these people were getting drunk on samples. It was hilarious. Maybe the store owners were hoping wasted shoppers would spend more money? Times like these, I wish I had my camera in my pocket. :)

Folks have asked me about price comparisons to stateside, so here is a sample. I don't know how locals afford to buy groceries, because an example of a good monthly salary for the locals is about 700-800 USD a month. Keep in mind, that is a well-paying job. The foreigners who work for the oil companies or Nestle tend to make a killing...hence, when you have locals working side-by-side with foreigners doing the same jobs and one is making 5 or 6 times than the other, there tends to be a lot of friction. That is why there are local rates and foreigner rates. That is why it cost me 20 TT to take a taxi from the mall to my house (about a mile) and my neighbor only has to pay 5 TT. Trust me, the only reason I took a taxi was because I had too many bags to carry all the way home. My limit is about 20 pounds for each arm to walk that mile, and that day, I think I had way more. Anyway, price comparisons....

Product, US price, and Trinidad price (converted to USD):
BK Whopper (I only eat one about once a year, but aren't they about 3.50 or so at home? Here, right at 4.75 USD).
Tide Detergent, US 7.50, Trinidad 10.00.
Cosmo magazine...US 4.50? Here, 10.00.
Guinness Beer (anyone know how much at home? I know some of you drink it..but here, it is about 75 cents a bottle). I haven't seen any American brands of beer here at all...wonder why? LOL
Coke, 20 oz. bottle...US 1.50, here 50 cents.
DirecTV, the package with the usual channels plus HBO, Cinemax, etc. etc. US 92.00 a month (at least that is what we pay at home in PA), same package in Trini is about 55 USD. (This was told to me by someone at the school).
Bounty Paper Towels..US 1.59, here 3.30 USD.
A Cheap CD Walkman - US 19.99, Trini 53.00.
Marlboro Lights (oh shut up..I know..)...US (PA) 4.00, here 1.90.

No icees here, no Wendy's, No Taco Bell, No McDonald's. No Olive Garden here. Quincy has begged me when I come home in a couple of weeks to get something from Olive Garden, freeze it, and bring it back with me because he is sooo sick of seeing the Olive Garden commercials on the US stations and it is KILLING him to see it and never be able to try it. I will have to do this and see if I can get it through customs and security at the airport. I heard they like to stab frozen items to make sure they don't contain any surprises, so I told him that it may not survive the trip..but he said he doesn't care if they stab it, he is still going to eat it.

On the brighter side, since I am a resident now, I get local rates in Tobago...which means when my gang comes down, we don't have to pay 100 USD for a beachfront hotel, only 52 USD per night. Now I like that one. :)

SPA!
Oh, did I tell you? There is a spa over at the mall, and you can get a complete 90-minute seaweed facial for the equivalent of 19.00 USD...and you can get a "deluxe" deep tissue aromatherapy massage with heated stones and steam therapy and a body polish (90 mins) for the equivalent of 25.00 USD. Maybe I will schedule one...maybe to coincide with the next wine sampling at the grocery store in the mall. :)

Tomorrow, the beach, no worries. Nothin' but tannin' and relaxin'.

See ya.

HAPPY SPIRITUAL SHOUTER BAPTIST LIBERATION DAY!

Today was a holiday, so no class..woohoo! One of the student teams came over to my house in hopes of filming a segment of their "mockumentary" for class, but they got here and the camcorder wasn't working right..it was probably 10 years old and worn out anyway. lol So since it didn't work, they decided they just wanted to hang out for a while. I think that was probably the plan anyway, as one of them knew something was wrong with it anyway. So they all show up except Camille (my Muslim student), and we are just sitting around..and then Camille shows up with her family in tow to meet me. So all these Muslims show up with me in shorts and a tank top, feeling like i need to cover my head or something...and Camille announces, "I want you all to meet the greatest teacher in the world!" and i am like, "Huh?" It was so embarrassing. lmao They were all very sweet. Maybe they wanted to check out where it was they were dropping her off. She lives a very sheltered life. She is such a sweet girl. Heck, all of my class members are sweet.















This is Shelly and Camille.
















This is Petronilla. She is a real firecracker. Five kids, my age, and wearing a "Looking For a Few Bad Boys" tank top. haha Gotta love it.
















And finally, Stacy. She is not your typical Trini. She is an extreme perfectionist, is always punctual, and is very competitive. She thinks everything here is wayy too slow. I think she will be the valedictorian of the class. :)

So we had Christians, Hindus, and Muslims all together to celebrate Spriritual Shouter Baptist Liberation Day. We walked to the mall, ate lunch, walked back home. They all had their prissy high heels on, except Stacy, like Trini women do. Not me. :) All 3 religions in one place, getting along great. Why can't the world follow suit? LOL

BABY NIECE UPDATE
No baby niece yet. Hurry up and get here before your mama goes out of her head! hahaha

Random Thoughts
Eric, I heard both of these movie quotes within the past two weeks, hearing both of them as I was passing through the livingroom and not even watching the tube..and I figured you were watching both movies for the umpteen millionth time.

Anyone want to guess the movies? Eric, you can't play on this one.

Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Jake: Hit it.


This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my rifle is useless. Without my rifle I am useless.
*************************

I have had at least 6 people ask me where I was from, and when I state, "Pennsylvania," they reply, "oh, like where vampires are from????" Of course I inform them they are way off base geographically. Haha Funny, my dad lived in Transylvania, Louisiana, though.

The other question I get is
Do all people from Mississippi hate black people, or is that just on TV? Then I have to break out pictures to PROVE that I actually have black friends. Talk about stereotypes. Jeeze. Come on, people, have you ever felt anything but LOVE from this Mississippian? haha Give me a break!

Bye:)

Hola!

Hey There,

Well, looks like I start Spanish classes next week. Yes, I am getting a head start on it because within the next 15 years, I am tellin' ya, Spanish will be the official language of the United States. My friend Pam and I are taking the class together, and we will practice with her Venezuelan neighbor (and I can practice with the school administrator, as well). Too bad I won't know too much when I go back through Puerto Rico in a couple of weeks. Oh well, I will fly back through Miami in July, so maybe I will know some Spanish by that trip home.

I had forgotten that I had the tech guy scan my official rejection notice from the immigrations fiasco upon my return to Trini last time. Here, see where they kicked me out. haha


























I am in much better spirits today, as my baby niece will be coming into this world any day now, and I am so excited. I think they are naming her Hazel or something. haha just kidding, I don't think the baby will have a name for a while. If they don't name her something good, I am going to just call her Martha Jean..as I am sure some traits from our good ol' mom will pop up somewhere down the line - let's hope they are the GOOD traits :)

Can't wait for the weekend, staying up at Maracas on Saturday and Sunday, so when I come home, maybe I will have a decent tan and look like I have been living in the tropics. LOL

We are out of school on Thursday for the Spiritual Baptist Shouter Liberation Day holiday. Hallelujah! My students are working on their mid-term team presentations, and one of the teams has borrowed a camcorder from someone and they needed a "decent place" to film their mock documentary (could that be "mockumentary?") for that segment of their presentation - and they are invading my house on Thursday..so I guess that will be interesting. They told me to cook them some American food. Lord, I have no clue what to cook them. Jeeze.

The local company finally arranged for my grass to get cut today after I sent them hate mail and informed them that I bought my own darn weedeater from Amazon, having it shipped down here, and I am taking care of the yard myself from now on. That is what they use for the yards here, you don't see any lawnmowers. I can't wait for my weedeater to get here. How lame is that? Excited about a weedeater. I am also gonna do some landscaping, I think, cause I am bored with the yard. Today, when they came to cut the grass, it seems that they found a dead, swollen cat with its head stuck in a drain pipe outside on the side of my house..apparently it had been trying to get something that went into the drain pipe and it got stuck and probably broke its own neck trying to get unstuck. That was the stench I was picking up on outside. Ugh.

Nothing exciting going on. Miss y'all. Bye!

EBAY SUCKS

Here is the email I got from them...apparently someone reported my "false charity"..LMAO

Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:04:33 PST

Dear eltonfan2133,

We appreciate that you chose eBay to list the following multiple item listing(s):6616875043 - PLS HELP FLY MY BROKE-A** FRIENDS TO SEE ME IN TRINIDAD. However, your listing was in violation of eBay's Charity policy and has been removed from eBay. We have credited all associated fees to your account and notified eBay users associated with the transaction that it has been cancelled.

But if you are a Canuck looking for freakin' coffee donations, you can stay on eBay all you want.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Please-help-me-buy-a-coffee-from-Tim-Hortons_W0QQitemZ9501913480QQcategoryZ1469QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That sucks. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted. LMAO

EBAY LISTING - HELP FLY MY FRIENDS TO TRINI!

HAHA I got inspired by the "Cricket for the Blind" thing, so I did a pity post on eBay, just to see if anyone out there wants to contribute to a ticket fund to fly my friends down here. Don't believe me? Go look! haha

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6616875043

Of course, I only did this as a joke (and to just see how many hits I get out of it). I mean, I can't expect anyone to be generous enough to send anything...ah, but you never know. LOL

CRICKET FOR THE BLIND..right, that is not a typo. :)

There is a big push here for donations and fundraising for Cricket for the Blind. Forget AIDS awareness in a population in which 1 in 10 people are HIV-positive....let's watch a bunch of blind people run around attempting to play cricket. Just think about it...just try to picture it..um, "Michael, the ball is over there! Two steps backward! Now, to your left!" I am sorry, but I can find nothing but comedy in this. Just saying "cricket for the blind" makes me laugh. Next, it will be "the league of blind one-legged ass kickers." Here is a link talking about Cricket for the Blind..go read it and get inspired. haha DISCLAIMER: I love blind people. I just have a hard time believing that in a country so eaten up with HIV that the focus is on something like this.

http://www.cricketworld.com/wbcc/detail.asp?articleid=5305&menu=0&sid=50&sn=World%20Blind%20Cricket%20Council

In the meantime, if you would rather not donate to CFTB, and you just want to throw some money around on something that IS worthwhile, send some money to the Elton John AIDS Foundation (his 59th birthday is tomorrow, by the way). http://www.ejaf.org

Meanwhile, I am going to start my own foundation... the "Fly My Friends To Trini" fund. Maybe I could set it up like all those emails I get from supposed African people who can't get access to their fortune without having access to my bank account information. lol I could say, okay, I need your help to access my fortune...call American Airlines and order a plane ticket, and the keys to the nonexistent kingdom are yours! Now THAT would be worthwhile.

I MISS Y'ALL. I say that every day, don't I? That is because I MEAN IT.

Bye!

Wednesday, Hump Day, Thank God

Another lovely Wednesday has come and gone, so we are closer to the weekend. :))

Just had to show you the lovely tribute to the Soca Warriors outside Piarco International. We pass by this every morning on the way to work, and it just gets me sooo inspired. (yes, that was sarcasm). For real, though, I guess it is sorta nice, I mean, that they are so excited about the World Cup shot.

I made a friend here in the community..her name is Pam. We have been walking about 5 miles every evening. She is native Indo-Trini, but just got back from living in Paris (her husband works for Schlumberger..which, ironically, is the same company my long-ago ex-husband worked for in MS. haha) She brought me some dahl tonight (some indian bean soup kinda stuff) and i was polite and tried some and was able to maintain my composure. Just something' about curry that I don't like. I can't pinpoint it, it just kinda makes me nauseous. Okay, give me a jar of jalapenos and something to drink and I can down that (bet me), but hold the curry. YUCK. ;) We are going to take a Spanish class together, and I am also hiring her housekeeper to come clean my house 2 days a week, do my laundry, iron, and even clean the windows (yeah, i know, i don't really need someone to come clean, but what the hell) for a grand total of 20 USD a week. Hey, I am doing my part to help the local economy! :) That is 10 bucks a cleanin'! and the laundry, too? wow. I am so excited to have a social life now, I mean, without having to have Quincy babysit me too much. Maybe I can find a single chick in here and get him a girlfriend..just that he is so damn stubborn and hard-headed, no one would want to put up with him. I smoked 3 cigarettes today, ALL DAY, and I got a lecture tonight when he saw me light the third one up. Three beats a pack any day of the week in my book. I don't smoke around him anyway. I guess I just don't tolerate controlling men at all, especially when they aren't paying any of my bills. haha Eric, I swear, don't listen to him when you get down here; by his account, he will say that all i do is shop. I am telling you now, DON'T LISTEN. ;) Like you care. LOL

BIG LOVE
If you haven't seen the new show on HBO, big love, try to catch it. It is really good. All you guys who wish you had 2 or 3 wives should especially watch. You would go broke buying Viagra. ;)

I am blowing a big kiss up to the USA, somebody catch it!

Bye!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Since I evidently have too much time on my hands to think about stuff, I am going to take some kinda class. I can't figure out what I want to do, though. I might take a salsa class...i keep seeing a "massage" class in the paper...wondering if I should investigate that and see if it is for real. lol Anyhow, too much free time, so something's gotta give. An idle mind is the devil's workshop, or so they say.

Tuesday night, woohoo...Spader and Shatner, Lock and Load. I hate I can't watch Amazing Race because it comes on at the same time, but they guys come first because Spader is so much easier to look at than some 60-year-old chick bungee jumping off the Eiffel tower or something.

To Debbie: You left me hangin' the other night...call me back and fill me in.

To Mary Ellen: I love you, girl! Have fun in NYC this weekend! Wish I could make it! Tell Les I said, "Erin go bragh!" haha Did you guys get my St. P's message? :)

To Eric: Please make sure the cabinets are finished before I come home if you rip the other ones down. haha You know I will be obssessing if dishes are stacked everywhere. And thank you, the new door out of the DR looks absolutely LOVELY. :)) Tell my girls I love 'em AGAIN. haha U2. Tell Paw I love him and good luck on the 6th. I will be on standby.

To Ginger: Please have the baby soon so instead of complaining about feeling like a weeble, you can complain 'cause she is crying all the time. hahaha YOUR TURN, BABEEE. ;) LOVE YOU, SIS! Sorry I can't be there.

To Barbie: Girl, hang in there....and thanks for the emails..you always brighten my day. I miss you so much! Tell everyone hello for me, please.

To Tammy and Jim: Miss you guys, hope to see you when I come home this time.

To my HS friends: Thanks for putting up with me, and thanks for being there. I know I have been a pain in the ass lately to a couple of you, but it is only because I am battling my addiction and getting used to being in a foreign country, still. Yeah, cut way down on the smokes. Let's not talk about it, though, cause talking about it makes me want to go smoke one. haha

To DJ: Hope you did up Vonda's bday right. Tell David I said hey.

To Billy D.: Duck! Just kidding. Miss you and love you and hope you get out of hell soon and go home.

I've been thinkin'....

Why can't we have football (I mean real American football) year-round?

85 murders in Trini in 79 days. hmm.

Why is a RT ticket to BWI or Dulles 250 cheaper than a RT ticket to Miami or St. Pete? That makes no sense to me.

I hope Lenny wins the Apprentice, cause he ROCKS.

I miss American Idol. I miss Fox. I REALLY miss HOUSE. I would gladly trade Fox Soccer for regular Fox TV. I am sick of watching futbol..well, unless Real Madrid is playing. I can tolerate that, but only because of Becks.

The tomatoes here SUCK. They are little and dry. I don't understand it. No decent tomatoes.

I am SICK OF CHICKEN, but not sick enough of it to switch to LAMB.

People bitch about poverty in the US, but they don't have a CLUE what REAL POVERTY is.

Okay, Hugo Chavez is WHACK, but maybe he has a point about a few things. lol

DID I SAY THAT? OH JESUS, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? haha Am I becoming a liberal?

On that note, I am putting on my favorite tshirt, slipping into bed, and watching Brokeback Mountain again until I fall asleep. :)

Miss you.

See ya!

Gecko

I just happened to have snapped a pic of one of the many geckos (oh no, is that -os or -oes?? I have a dilemma..have to look that one up!) He wasn't even an inch long. The picture is kinda fuzzy, but maybe you can kinda see him..















(Eric, I am swapping cameras with you when I come home..and this time, I won't forget the driver..haha)

I didn't do much today except work on upcoming class stuff, went ahead and knocked out the unit tests for female and male reproductive systems...probably the most exciting thing I did all day. I didn't want to do anything this weekend really because I wanted to get ahead on school stuff, so I will have it all done way ahead of time when I get ready to come home in less than a month. Quincy had Zaria this weekend, too, so it all worked out. I did do some shopping on Saturday over at the mall by my house, though.


Do you like my new t-shirt? LMAO No, I ain't in it in this pic..but I might model it for you if you are nice. haha















I laid out in my back yard to work on my tan for all of 20 minutes, and the rain headed in from the mountains. It is neat when the rain is coming, because the mountains get realllly foggy and you can barely see them.















TV Tonight..woohoo!
I didn't watch the previews for Grey's Anatomy...I wonder what will happen. You know, I think Burke and George make a better couple than Burke and Christina. Also, McDreamy and Meredith need to just go ahead and do it again and get that out of the way. The way they keep walkin' that dog in the woods makes me wonder....hmm.....

Oops, gotta run..I missed the Flavor of Love Reunion Special the first time around, I want to see New York go psycho and kick somebody's ass. Everybody loves Flav. hahaha

Classified Ads..Would You See This in America?

Okay, here are some real ads in one of the local newspapers. I kid you not. This is the real newspaper, not some tabloid crap, and these are real ads! Wouldn't it be funny to open up your newspaper every day and see some of these? Yeah, I even included the phone numbers, in case any of you are interested in pursuing these! :)

INTOXICATIVE PROVOCATIVES - Set Your Love on Fire - 726-6261
(okay, that is all the ad says. one can only wonder. i don't know if we want to go there. Seems to me if your "love" is on fire either way, you got a SERIOUS problem on your hands.)

Erectile Dysfunction? Need a Womb Cleanser or Diabetes Pills? We can give you anything! We have it all! 638-4386
(I have nothing to add, that says enough.)

Senior Citizens Matchmaking and Escort Service - We Accommodate. 672-3340
(Okay, folks, accommodate is the magic word down here for, um, entertainment)

for you Dish Network people...turn a hobby into cash!
Will Modify Dish Network Receivers, and yellow card also, 311 and 811, will even deliver to your door. Let Us Help You In Many More Ways To Enjoy Your TV! Same-day service - 665-1969
(Is this REALLY an ad about DTV at all? not sure about all the numbers..but maybe I should switch to Dish while I am down here. NOT. LOL)

We Make Hotel and House Calls - Just Tell Us Where and We Are THERE! We are clean, we accommodate, and we can even give you a full body massage. 731-3362
(Okay, I take it that the full body massage is the added bonus? lol)

Horseback Riding with Saddle or Bareback - Enjoy the Ride - Valencia 744-4001
(Am I the only one who sees the humor in this? Have I been alone too long?)

Come Into Our Giant Showroom! Be Educated By A Friendly Staff! Become the Stud You Are Desiring! Get a Free Full Body Massage With Toy Purchase of Over 200.00! 662-1759
(Ahh, this is really IFFY. I don't know about being educated by "a friendly staff," and I am a little concerned about any man wanting to be the stud he is desiring. Okay, I love gay people just as much as the next person, but come on!)

I have noticed that a lot of the classified ads have a lot of exclamations, like they are really excited about this stuff. I am glad for 'em, 'cause I ain't sharin' in the excitement, that's for d*mn sure. :)) The amusement factor of just reading the paper is awesome, though.

Quincy Meets the Washer and Dryer
Quincy had to hang out at my house all day today, just in case the air conditioner people came to work on the living room air conditioner (which they have said they were going to do for the past 2 weeks), and he hadn't done his laundry, so I told him, hey dude, just bring your laundry along and do it while you are here, no problem! At that time, he admitted to me that he had never used a washing machine and dryer, that they use a wash basin and hang their clothes outside to dry. I showed him how to use it yesterday, so he brought his clothes over today while I was at work. To make a long story short, he pulled the clothes out when the washer paused right before the final spin (he thought it was finished), and he put soaking-wet clothes in the dryer, and it took like 4 hours to dry them (even had them on the plain air setting with no heat the first hour..lol). He decided that he was never doing this again because he doesn't have time for "such modern conveniences". While he was waiting for forever for his clothes, he got hungry, so he went over to the store and bought some groceries (since I don't really keep anything) and cooked up some food, ate, cleaned house, watched some Premiere League Football, and took a nap. My house was spotless when I got home, so I guess it was worth it to listen to him complain for hours about how "slow" the washing and drying process was. The air conditioning guy still didn't show up. Good thing I have air conditioners in every room of the house, so I don't even notice that the one in the living room isn't working right. It gets cool, freezes up, and then when you turn it off, huge chunks of ice start falling out (it is up near the ceiling, operated with remote control). Heck, don't even really need air conditioning here anyway, since there is always a breeze blowing and virtually no humidity. Oh, and his cousin's house got raided last night (his cousin is a ganja dealer) and the police beat the cousin really badly and keep moving him from jail to jail so his mother can't find him to bail him out because they are pissed at him because he beat the last charges they had him for a few months ago. The police are very corrupt here. Here, you don't need a search warrant for anything at all (okay, wayy worse than the US), and they keep like 16 people in a cell that is approximately 10 x 10 ft...with a bucket in the corner and no chair or bed or anything. If you have to go to jail, be glad you are in the states. I am glad I didn't have to go to a real jail a few weeks ago after the immigrations thing. Whew. I am staying on the good side of the law, for sure. :)

Hellooo...

Hello there...

Just to prove I am still alive, for those of you who say, "Well, I haven't heard a PEEP outta you, girl!" By now, everyone should have the blog address.




Nothing much going on in Trinidad right now, except everyone is talking about the boldest display of Carnival, where artist Peter Minshall designed a huge, um, phallus, and there was a huge, rainbow-colored..um...prophylactic device rolled over it. The "phallus" was 20 ft tall. No really good pics have hit the net yet, but here is one that I did find.



The "prophylactic device" is to the left in the pic, and the "phallus" is the thing they are carrying up to it, so they can roll it over. The song playing during the ceremony was by a major Soca songstress here, Alison Hinds, "Roll It, Girl". How appropriate is that?

Yeah, there were all kinds of pictures in the paper, too. I mean pictures where you could see the whole thing, not just the..um..base. :) These people have no concept of modesty or shame. haha


Trini is going to the World Cup (soccer, for those of you who have no clue). Check out this website, it sort of captures the spirit these folks have for their soccer team. Don't skip the intro or you will miss probably the biggest soca song in Trinidad for the year. :) Also note that they do have a token white guy on the team. Everybody, now, root for T&T in the World Cup! (if any of you keep up with it...I only know a few of you who give a crap about soccer at all...) But if they win by some miracle, Trinidad and Tobago will shut down for like a week, and maybe I can get a quick trip home out of the deal. haha

But anyway, check it out.

http://www.socawarriorstt.com

Bye, y'all!

RAIN

It has rained for over 24 hours now, and the toads are out everywhere. I didn't go out and take a picture, but I will if I go back outside. I counted about 20 of them hopping around the yard, on the patio, in the street in front of the house. These are big ol' cane toads.

I just went outside in the dark to try to get a picture of one, but it is too dark and is raining too hard. If another one shows up on my patio, I will post a picture. These things get huge, probably weigh like maybe 4 or 5 pounds.

I cooked Mexican food tonight, which Quincy had never had, and he seemed to like it okay. When he left, I had to go out and scan the carport and patio for frogs, because he is absolutely mortified by them. A 6'4", 260-lb man afraid of frogs. That is the second most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of, after the "I can't swim" and living on an island. Funny, half of my class today told me they couldn't swim.

Well, rain is only good for a few things, and obviously getting to work here isn't one of them. If this rain keeps up, guess we will be out of school tomorrow, 'cause we ain't pulling the stunt we did before and float down the road again. I'll be darned if we get flooded out and I have to rescue Quincy from flood water. I don't have a wish to drown.

Hey Debbie, I miss you, girl! When I was talking about my friends, I didn't mention my best friend in the whole world, Debbie in MS, the one who knows all my deep, dark secrets..haha. Tell Lee you are coming down here for a while, just so you can come hang out with me. For that matter, Mary Ellen, Mary Ann, Tammy, and Debbie, y'all could all come for a girls' weekend. Okay, I know, plane tickets ain't cheap. It was a nice thought anyway! :)) Nice thoughts are what keep me going lately. ;)

Speaking of nice thoughts, one of my future ex-husbands is on tv tonight, woohoo. My husband doesn't even care that I think James Spader is smmmokin'. haha Boston Legal rocks. Lock and load!

Valete, pax vobiscum
Adios
Ciao
Later,
J

Batman Returns...with his Family (Oh, and I have some of my family and friends pics to share, too)

Remember Batman, the student of mine who told us that a bat likes to hang out (literally under his kitchen table?) This guy, the bald one..
















He wanted to be in every Manzanilla pic we took....









Well, here are the bat pictures. :) One under the table, flying away because it didn't like the flash, and then one of it trying to escape through the opening in the roof. :)





















Here is Gordon's family.....His wife is on the right, the other chick is his daughter. Then there is his other daughter and son.













His pet goat...















Seeing all those lovely family photos made me miss my family and friends...so I have to post these pictures because some of them I promised I would get them up so everybody could see them. Some of you might not have seen my family (and friends) anyway. (Jim and Tammy, you aren't here because I don't have any pics of you!)















Eric doing his favorite thing in DE







Booboo (Shelby) and Patches

Sydney

and our extended family, the Bresnans and the Bertucios...

Rob, Mary Ann, Mary Ellen, Eric, Me, Les (who is now a proud American citizen..Ireland's loss is our gain..haha)

****************

Our Brats:

**********

Okay, it is almost time for Desperate Housewives (which has become pretty lame) and Grey's Anatomy. I think McDreamy should just let the boyfriend have the wife and move on, 'cause he and Meredith won't get over each other until they have a chance to be together. Then it will go into the toilet. haha Gotta love George, though. Man, he just can't get a BREAK. He is so goofy that you just can't help but like him.

...until something interesting happens...which might not be for a long time...BYE!

TOCO...(oh, and just for JF, carnival pictures..haha)

We drove up to Toco today, up on the north coast. The waves were huge. Of course we stopped at an area that said, "No bathing, dangerous riptide!" ...and yours truly just had to check it out. Man, I went out about calf deep, and WHAM! Knocked me down. Awesome! It was a little scary, just the sucking power of the waves rushing in and out. Quincy and Shaun wouldn't go anywhere near the water. Oh, Shaun is Quincy's cousin from Tobago. Neither one of them can swim. Isn't that funny? Living on damn islands and can't swim. Why, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. :)

















See Shaun and Quincy below, way up high on a rock, staying completely away from the water

















Here are two pics of what I missed when I flew home over Carnival weekend.. (sorry, no wet t-shirts or topless photos of any kind for you thrillseekers! hehehe)














(Sorry, this is a PG-13 site. ;)) Yeah, they get a lot more naked than above.

In a better mood today, think the beach did it. I think I wrote everyone I know's name, just so you can say your name was written on the beach at Toco..woo hoo. How lame is that.

Darn, I forgot about the bat pictures. Okay, tomorrow at the latest, you will see wild bats in someone's house, so stay tuned!

Downtown Port-of-Spain

Made the trip downtown today...got my work permit a couple of days ago, now just have to get the multiple entry visa stamp so I can come and go as I please. Gee, I am bored out of my skull telling you about this crap, so it has to be boring reading. lol

Okay, just so you can see what downtown looks like (which, by the way, last October some US businesses were bombed...so Americans are told to avoid going downtown unless necessary, and never to go after dark, unless they have a death wish.

Here is the immigrations office:















And here is what it looks like up and down the street where the immigrations office is:




























My, my, isn't that exciting. I know, I am the Queen of Sarcasm these days. Oh, but at least we celebrated settling the visa situation. Quincy and I went to TGI Friday's (he had only been one other time in his 31 years of existence). Best meal I have had since I have been here. A steak and two glasses of wine later (and, what, 5 or 10 scotches for the person WHO DRIVES ME AROUND...lol) we were laughing at the Friday's employees, particularly the really quirky one with the jester hat on, and two that had little cowboy hats on...yeah, Brokeback jokes, you know it.














I asked Quincy if I should drive, and he said no, not even if I hadn't had ANY wine. He said everyone drives better after a few drinks. Having said that...to all of the people in this world that I love, just know that I love you. haha okay, just kidding. I always wear my seatbelt, so maybe I will live through a fiery crash to see you all again.

Disclaimer: Syd and BooBoo, Mommy is just kidding, there won't be any crashes. Mommy was drinking grape juice and Mr. Quincy was really just drinking coke. :) Don't get upset. Oh yeah, and while we are at it, CLEAN THOSE ROOMS UP! I love you! (Love you too, honey.)

I get to meet some of my "extended Trinidadian family" this weekend. Quincy's cousin is coming from Tobago and all I can say is I hope he likes going to the beach, cause I fully intend to be sitting on some beach somewhere this weekend, if he is planning on tagging along with us.

My baby niece will come into this world very soon, and I can't wait to see her. I only have a few regrets with coming down here, and that is one..that I won't be there when she is born. The others regrets, well, I am too tired to think about those. I am glad to be here for the experience. Class is going GREAT.

I miss everyone and love ya. Bye.

BLAH

That describes my mood right now. I am so used to being around people, when I come home in the evenings, it is just too quiet. I am bored at night, unless we are on a late night road trip to Arima to buy doubles (yuck). Oh, I have bat pictures from Batman. Maybe I will load them tomorrow, since I am so blah today. I did get a legitimate, for-real, genuine work permit today. Thursday morning, I get to get up and leave my house at 5 a.m. so I can get back into immigrations to get my multiple entry visa so I can legally leave the country April 14 and get back in on April 23. haha. What a crock all this drama has been.

I need some entertainment before I go out of my head. The cable is down, so no James Spader/ William Shatner entertainment tonight (Boston Legal ROCKS). No Fox, so can't be spellbound by Hugh Laurie on House. Guess my options are really limited tonight. The only excitement I had earlier this evening was watching Barcelona beat Chelsea and listening to Quincy rattle off Trini versions of cuss words that I could barely understand. I think Real Madrid plays tomorrow, so every Trini woman will be tuned in to see their GOD, Mr. Beckham. I ain't kidding, the guy is like some immortal being here. He winks at me every day when I come home, too...from the Pepsi billboard near the turnoff to come to my house. haha Eric, do you care? Ahh, I didn't think so. I know what you will call him, and I can't even put it here. Maybe the equivalent of a wimp? :)

Some kind of lizard got into my house today. I have to research to see what it was. It looked like a gecko. I have no idea. I was trying to catch it in a jar and I accidentally killed it. It was only a baby. Now I feel like crap. I wish I had taken a picture before I murdered the thing. I have no idea how it got in.

Can you feel the boredom tonight? I won't post again until I have something interesting.

I love y'all...anyone who cares enough to read this. Be glad you have people around. haha

J

p.s. It was a gecko. Now all I will think about is that darn insurance commercial. haha I saw my first gecko. Woohoo. In my house. Awesome. ;)

Freedom is Good

Ali, the night shift guard










After a rough night of spending the night with a guard in my house (she was sick all night from a migraine, and maybe she ate a little too much of the candy I brought back for my class, too), the next guard came on at 7 a.m. Her name was Joycie. Joycie was a lot younger than Ali, and she could probably have caught me had I decided to run. Then right after Joycie got here, the 2 male guards showed up to help her guard me. I think they just all wanted to hang out..I really don't think I required 3 guards. Am I that DANGEROUS? haha So all these guards are busy guarding me, then the school administrator shows up at my house to go to immigrations, and Quincy shows up, which completed my entourage. We were all ready to go to the airport to immigrations, so they called into the head security person and the head security person said not to move me until he called them back. Three more hours went by. We finally got the call after one of the guards and the driver drank the 2 remaining Heinekens that were in my refrigerator. The guards happily posed to commemorate our day (that is Quincy back there in the Orange shirt seeing if there is any way we can bribe his friend at the immigrations office downtown to figure out a way to help me).















So the security people finally got the call to get me directly to immigrations. I went ahead and packed my laptop, my two favorite t-shirts, my pictures, my coat, and my winter shoes, anything that was sentimentally important to me, just in case I ended up in Baltimore today, because I didn't know what was going to happen. Immigrations had already scheduled me on today's flight that leaves for Miami at 3:30. I took them the photocopy from the Ministry of National Security of the extension of work permit, but they said it wasn't good enough. They had a meeting in Immigrations, then they decided to give the company 2 weeks to come up with the actual permit. No one knows where it is. The Ministry said they mailed it to the company here, but mail doesn't run in places that don't have a minimum of like 5 residents getting mail on any particular day, so who knows when they will get it. Ten days. hmm. So I am a free woman for at least 10 days anyway. My boss said if the co. here doesn't get their crap straight, they will fly me home for another week, then they will send me to Jamaica for a little while because they are getting a school going there. Right now, I am kinda wishing I was at home...but then my students would all quit class if another teacher took over. They have called me at least 20 times today, including twice as a group on speaker phone. God love 'em. At least someone in Trinidad loves me. haha