VENEZUELA and T&T 2009

This weekend we have been very busy with various trips around Trinidad. Yesterday we went down the islands to Monos Island where a friend of Mary and Peter's from the rugby club had rented a house and was having a BBQ to celebrate Emancipation Day. After arriving at the dock in Chaguaramas we got on a small water taxi to go across, travelling round the northern coast of Trinidad through a string of islands known as the 'Dragon's Mouth'. Although we have seen plenty of mountains covered in forest, seeing them from the sea gave us a whole new view of them. When we arrived about 20 minutes later in a little cove, we could immediately tell which house we would be spending the day from the number of people, loud music and smoke billowing from the BBQ. The food, as ever, was amazing - loads of salads, macaroni pie, crackers and dips, meat, banana bread and fudge. After we had eaten to our hearts' content, we danced to the soca and calypso music before swimming in the sea. Once we came home, we ate pizza and collapsed in front of CSI:Miami.

Today we drove to Chaguanas as we wanted to see some of the Indo-Trinidadian culture present on the island. We visited the Temple in the Sea, first begun in 1947 by a devout hindu who had moved to Trinidad from India. This current temple was completed in 1995, as the original was washed away. The temple itself is placed on a strip in the sea. The walkway that leads up to it is fairly narrow, with bushes bearing red hibiscus and white flowers on either side. Along the edge of the walkway in the sea there are several small statues left as offerings and a large number of colourful prayer flags. The temple itself is quite small and white, with blue painted details on the dais. Inside it is simply decorated - a carpeted floor and five statues of the gods.

After we had visited the temple we drove a short distance to the Indian Caribbean Museum, a small but interesting museum (that also happens to be much better organised than the National Museum...) detailing the imigration of the Indian population and the contribution to Trinidadian society that they provided. Here they had a small display of clothes, showing visitors what would be typically worn to a Hindu wedding, something that proved to be correct about half an hour later. We had visited another, very pink, temple in the same area, overshadowed by a 85 foot statue of Hanuman, the monkey god. While we were here, a wedding was taking place and we saw the arrival of the groom, accompanied by music and prayers. After spending a while watching the wedding before it entered the temple, we drove into the city to see the Lion House, built in 1927, where V.S. Naipul once lived.

This week we are continuing to work at the halfway house and for Mary. Love Alice and Hannah.