Time Flies when you're having fun

I apologize for the massive delay in my posts. I feel like I've been going non-stop for almost 2 weeks, with no down time. A lot has happened....

Last Monday (the 9th), I had my first really trini roti. It was fantastic!!! I'm addicted and I love it. I get the "Buss up Shot", which you eat with your hands. The roti bread would remind you of the texture of the inside of a biscuit, and it has a sweet taste to it....i'm in love!!!! I get the veggie buss up shot...it comes with a type of curried potatoes, the best tasting pumpkin, and a mango sauce....AMAZING!!!! I have also fallen in love with the pepper sauce here...it's really hot but sweet at the same time...I have a whole new appreciation for spicy foods.

I had my first religion class up at the monestary on Wednesday. It seems like it'll be an interesting taste of world religion and the underlying principles in religions. I love the fact that I get to go up to the monestary every Wednesday. It's so pretty up there and the classroom is really open so you get a great breeze and view.

I'm starting to get semi-decent at the steep drum...I'm really considering buying ine and shipping it home. We learned how to play the chromatic scale. It's weird starting from scratch on a new instrument. I've been playing the same one for so long I've forgotten how it can be difficult to start from the beginning.

My research project is starting to really get under way. I attended a planning meeting on Wednesday (18th), where stakeholders in Trinidad cocoa were trying to create a plan of were they stand on sustainable cocoa to present to the international community. This Thursday I'll be going up to the Ministry of Agriculture library to do some research on Trinidad and cocoa. The plan is I will be writing 4 articles before the convention and then some follow up pieces. I have started my research, and honestly I find it fascinating. There are so many facets to a cocoa industry. If Trinidad can find a way to have a sustainable cocoa economy, mixed with the revenue they get from the oil and tourism here, their GDP could sky rocket!!! But there are so many problems they have to overcome first, both here and world wide.

Friday was campus carnival...it was a crazy night of dancing and parading in the streets following large flat bed trucks with DJ equipment on it. It was insane!!! but it was a lot of fun.

Saturday morning I went into Port of Spain with a girl from canada, steph. We went to the national museum. That was an experience. Nothing was dated, and the informational blurbs were photocopied from other books. It was still neat to see some of the native artifacts. Saturday night Whitney and I had a movie night...we watched Twilight (a copy I bought on a street corner) and Cat Ballou!!!!!

This week has been really busy and stressful with getting plans together for Carnival. We went into Pot of Spain to buy tickets for Dimanche Gras. It is Sunday night, and we'll see teh huge extravagante carnival costumes, and watch the king and queen of carnival get crowned. That was an adventure trying to find where we were supposed to go. We went to 3 different locations until we finally found the correct ticket stand. I was coordinating us to join a band for Jouvert. It is Monday morning (pre party starting a midnight sunday leading until 6 am ish, and we'll be going to this directly from Dimanche Gras). It's another huge parade of dancing similiar to campus carnival, except we'll get mud and paint thrown on us. It's one of the best activites of carnival...or so we are told.

Last night was UWI Splash. It was a huge fete (party) in Chaguaramas. It our kick off to the next 4 days of carnival craziness. It was in a large pavement area called the hanger. We got there around 10 pm (we lef around 9), and Danced until 5:30-ish am!!!! We got back on hall around 7:30. We got to see a lot of live performances..and it was really awesome. Soca music (the carnival type music) is so intensely energetic. Check out http://www.socafreak.com/2009-soca-music-trinidad-and-tobago.html to listen to the top songs here now. My favorite is "I'm not drunk" by KMC, and "Rum and Roti"...but I like them all.

Tomorrow we are going to the panaroma finals, Sunday is Dimnche Gras, Minday is Jouvert, and Tuesday is the large carnival parade.

Pictures and stories of carnival will be coming soooooooon!!!!