Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there. I'll tell you how we became the lost girls of Port of Spain! (I know, corny, but I love it!)
We finally had our adventure in Port of Spain! So we start off and I was the only one that knew where we were
going because of my adventure with Heather. So I was telling her where to go
and we arrived at the National Museum and Art Gallery. It was interesting. It
wasn’t arranged in chronological order so we would get to WWI and then 1960s
and then the time period when the Amerindians were in existence, etc. It was all over the
place. But it was cool because there was a section for Africa and one for India
that talked about the traditions that came over with the immigration of their
citizens! From Africa they brought the game All Fours and from India they
brought religious practices, and other traditions that haven’t been fully
integrated and are still seen as a Hindu practice. I also found a comic strip that talks about disability. Very fitting since that's what our research is on!
After the museum, Chloe
wanted to go to the Trinity Cathedral… except we didn’t know where it was, and
where we thought it was, wasn’t where it was. So we end up asking this guy. He
draws us a three page map that outlines a TGI Friday’s, the US embassy, and
many streets. We get to the church he takes us to… and it’s NOT the Trinity
Cathedral, it’s the Holy Angels Anglican Church… So we ask this guy, Richard, at the US
embassy where we are supposed to be going and he tells us where to go. But he told us he was heading to the Botanical Gardens, so we hitched a ride
with Richard!
We get to the Botanical Gardens and it is a giant
park with random labels of trees. It was very simple and yet still very beautiful. Plus, there were kids around us that were running around and having picnics. THERE’S A ZOO NEXT
DOOR. Except Chloe wore converse shoes and she couldn't walk anymore because they were hurting her! So we decided to head home. I went over to ask a lady that was selling
balloons where we can get a taxi back to Frederick Street. She told us to stand
in the corner where a guy was standing. So that guy heard her say that and he started trying to get us a taxi. Then his friend came over and started to talk to me:
“Yeah, yeah. We can get you a ride, what’s your name? Where you from? You
are beautiful, I love you.”
“That’s a
little extreme, you just met me.” (In a playful voice, not trying to be rude but trying to get him to understand that I wasn't interested).
“Yes, but it’s love at first sight. I’ll call
you.”
“I don’t have a Trini number and calling to the States is expensive.”
“I’ll pay all the money in the world, here’s my number *says number* don’t
forget it.”
We get in the car. And we ask the taxi driver to drop us off at
Trinity Cathedral. He drops us off. IT WAS LITERALLY A BLOCK AWAY FROM WHERE WE
WERE BEFORE SHOPPING FOR OUR FLAG AND OTHER OBJECTS. We enter the Trinity Cathedral at 4 pm. Now make a guess; how long do you think we stayed? We come out at 4:02
pm. ALL THAT WALKING, 10 MILES, FOR A 2 MINUTE SHINDIG. SIGH. We had to take
selfies and videos to make it worth our time! Finally, we went to a store and
saw some Trinidad and Tobago soccer jerseys, so I bought one for my dad! Then
we went home, ate, slept, and rested!
Now this is wonderful lost story! We learned a lot that day and it was experience for the books. Above all we learned that people in Trinidad are very friendly and that it is okay to be lost! Sometimes the moments when we are lost or we put ourselves in situations where we don't know the outcomes, are the moments we find out how much we can shine in new situations!
Tune in next time for another episode ;).
