Pictures!

I got some request for some more Pics so here you go!!

This picture is of Pitch Lake in La Brea... This is a lake made out of pitch which makes up our roads

This is a swam. We got to go on a boat tour and look at birds and animals like snakes...

This is our on sight coordinator Candice! We were in La Pinot

At the end of semester we have to do a dramatic performance and I am learning how to walk on stilts!

The group at Phawga which is an Indian Festival.

Indian outfits!

BEACH CLEAN UP 2012- We cleaned the beaches in Matura so the sea turtles could come lay their eggs!

Craziness!

Hello all!

I am sorry for the prolonged update! Things have been crazy busy! The last time I wrote anything was right before Carnival. Let me tell ya, carnival was CRAZY!!! We did so many different things. We went to concerts, kiddie carnival, traditional mas, our mas and what not. Below you will see some pictures of our carnival experience!

This is our group on Carnival Tuesday!

MacFarlane's queen which won

Me participating in Blue Devils

Kiddies Carnival- This is Candice our onsite director and her daughter Kyra

Taylor and I participating in the Canboylay reenactments

Those are just several pictures of our carnival experience! I would sit here and write about it all but that would take too much time and I think you would all get bored reading page after page.

Since Carnival midterms have blessed us with its presence. I have been busy studying for those. On top of studying for mid terms we have been learning about the Indian culture here in Trinidad. Doing this we got to visit the Temple of the sea, participate in Phagwaa/Holi, and eaten yummy Indian food! My favorite part of the Indian experience was Phagwaa. It was a lot of fun to throw powder and colored water all over everyone. It reminded me of a big water fight but this time all ages where involved, from 1 years old all the way up to 80. It was a great experience! I wish that PLU would do something like this, it would allow for students to learn something new about a culture that isn't too common back at home.

I have about 2 months left on the trip. I can't believe how fast things are going! I feel like I just got here the other day. Before I know it, it will be time to come home. As much as I love it here I am ready for the journey home. I have many stories and things to tell all my family and friends! Well I know this is short but I have class in the morning! I promise to update more often now that Carnival is over! If anyone has questions about Carnival or the indian experience and would like me to go more in depth about it let me know! Miss you all :)

One month in and 3 to go!

Its about time for another update!

This last week has been really busy! Its going to take a few minutes to actually remember what we did. Classes at both UWI and with the program continue to go on and are going well. My Econ class is going to be a lot of work. I am extremely nervous for that one. I am afraid I won't be prepared for the tests that determine our entire grade. I know if I put the work in I will be fine but the thought of my final grade is resting on how I do on these two test is kind of scary. My mas class is fun! It is a smaller class with just over 25 students in it. The professor is really laid back and chill. The stuff we are learning is stuff that I have sorta already learned in my program courses but it is still fun. Our one project consist of interviewing a Mas camp artist and figuring out where there inspiration comes from. This is going to be a great project because the creativity that comes out of these camps is amazing! The picture to the right below is of Mac farlane mas camp. He has won for best costumes 5 years in a row and going for his 6th this year. We got the opportunity to get a tour of his mas camp on Thursday. This was a real treat! I can now see why he has won for the past 5 years!

Not only did we get to visit his camp but we got to several

others that are located throughout Port of Spain. During this trip we got to see many different costumes that will be worn during Carnival Tuesday. I found that I prefer the more traditional costumes that people like Mac farlane

has rather then the others. The others tend to be very little clothing like a bikini and then a head piece. It would be flattering if someone like Brittany wore one but not me lol. I also think with the smaller costumes it loose its sense of creativity. You can only do so much with a top and bottom before it becomes something that already occurred. The picture to the left is of a costume that will be worn during Carnival. As you can see very little clothing and an elaborate top/hat.

Wednesday-Friday was pretty laid back. We didn't have anything planed program wise besides one meeting about the Canboulay Riot re-enactments on Wednesday. That meeting consisted of us expressing our concerns about partaking in the event. After a presentation we heard, some of us felt uncomfortable participating as it is an extremely important part of Carnival history. Every year our group acts as the police. Students would have to paint their skin black and try to stop the ex-slave carnival. Some students weren't comfortable painting there skin black, some people identified with the ex-slaves and not the police. I on the other hand felt it would be more meaningful if a Trini did it. I want/am going to participate in the Ball. The ball is in the very beginning where the "Elites" (white people) are waltzing around. In an essence they are the outsider looking in because they don't know how important the ex slave carnival was.

Besides that meeting, I did a lot of resting as I started to get sick but fortunately I think I have fought it off! On Thursday nights ladies get in free at the Gensou lounge right around the corner from the lodge. My friend Carlus is a DJ there and is the one that got me and some of the group going. It is a lot of fun. We do a lot of dancing! It is my second work out! It has become our routine to go out on Thursdays. Lucky for me I don't have a class on Friday so I can stay out as late as I want!

Friday night we went to a Jovert Band launching in San Grande. The reason we got to go was because several girls from our group did a photo shoot for there posters. I was going to participate in the shoot when I hear all you had to ware was the shirt they provided and shorts. I can handle that. However, when I went downstairs and saw what some of the girls where waring I changed my mind... Below is a picture of one of there shots. Now you tell me, could you see me in something like? I think NOT!! So I went for moral support as the girls in the shoot had to pass out flyers and what not. We were liming, dancing and having a blast until the police came. I am pretty sure the police were bored and needed something to do because they

ended up shutting us down for the lack of dance permit. The guys in charge of the band did everything they were suppose to do. They spent a lot of money getting the required permits to promote there band. It was a real bummer, but we ended up moving the party to the bar and continued where we left off for a couple more hours until we came home.

On Saturday we went to the Kaiso revue tent. Here we got to listen to a lot of calypso music

which is a form of song here in Trinidad where they tell a story, make fun of things, and make jokes. It was extremely interesting! I thought the first 2 hours were interesting and fun but the second two hours were a real killer. The group was under the impression this wasn't going to last that long so we could go out that night but when we got there, Candice our leader told the bus driver we wouldn't be ready until about 11 or 12... It was 7:45. Not the best news we heard all night. when all was said and done we didn't get home until almost 1:30 am. 5 hours listening to calypso and sitting it was time to go dancing! Martina, Monisa and I met up with Carlus and went to the Jamaica party that was held at the Gensou lounge. There were a ton of people there! It was so packed that we had to stand outside. After about an hour we were done so we got some snacks and limed on the basketball court until about 6am! It was so much fun! We just talked the whole time not doing a whole lot.

Sunday was a long day! Only getting 4 hours of sleep if that, we spent the entire day at the National Panorama semi-finals. This is the biggest steal band competition in Trinidad. We got there at about 2pm and didn't leave until 11pm. There was a lot of panning, drinking, and

dancing! We had 3 coolers filled with juice, beer, and rum. If that wasn't enough alcohol, over in the greens there were a lot of tents set up that had alcohol for sell and free goodies like ice cream, coffee, chips etc. I spent time doing everything. I listened to the music, walked around, got some free goodies, and danced! I was sad to see the night end but at the same time I was happy because I had class at 8am the next day. After we got home and finally calmed down from the excitment I didn't get to sleep until after 2am. Lets just say after class I took a long nap! I woke up just in time to get a good little workout in as the sun was setting. Yesterday was extremely hot!! I can tell the dry season is starting to come as the days are getting warmer.

Today we had dance in the morning and since I don't have class on Tuesdays I went to campus to print out papers I needed for Econ... That was so stressful! I have never had to do so much work to print out some papers at the library! First of all the Library doesn't allow you to bring backpacks in... Monisa and I had to find our friends locker to put our bags in and then carry our books around. This whole process would have been a lot easier if I could have had my backpack, just saying lol. Anywho, I tried putting money on my card so I could print in the first place, but since this was my first time printing I wasn't in the system yet. The cashier sent me back to the computer lab to print a paper so that my information would download into the system. I went and found a computer and tried doing this, went back to the cashier and nothing was there. so I had to go back and try printing again, then go back to the cashier to put the money on. Luckily 3rd time was the charm and I was finally able to print. There was just a lot of things to do for a simple task like printing. Luckily I have my UWI ID memorized because you needed it to log in to the computer, to send it to the printer, and then to get it to print! They don't mess around here!!

We have officially been here for over a month! I can't believe how quick that month has gone. It doesn't help that we are extremely busy! I have to say I do love it here but I can't wait to come home! I miss my friends, family, school, and the food! I am assuming the time will continue to fly on by and before I know it, it will be may. Can't wait to see you all! If anyone has questions about what I have said or done please don't hesitate to ask! :D

-Ash

First week completed!

Well I survived my first week of spring semester! Let me tell you right off the bat that just because I am in the Caribbean doesn't mean its beach time 24/7. We have our times where we get to do fun stuff like that but this last week was proof that we do work.

On top of our two classes we are taking at UWI we are taking two classes that our program has designed. These classes have field trips, outside lectures, papers, and journals. Last week we had 3 lectures (this includes having readings, coming up with questions, then doing a lecture response afterwards) on top of visiting a mas camp, having dance class, finishing up my J-term class, performing, and what not. We have hit spring semester running!

Now don't get me wrong I am having a blast! The group has many different personalities which make it a lot fun. There is never a dull moment around the lodge. This last week we decided that we need to start getting in carnival shape. This means building our stamina so we can go 3 to 4 days with little sleep and a lot of walking and dancing. A group of us started going to aerobics that is offered through the University. Its a

fun way to work out with people you know. I found it to be a good workout but I miss running. So today I went for what I believe was a 3 mile run. It felt so good to get back out there. I plan on continuing through out my time here so I can prepare for Sound to Narrows in June and potentially a half marathon in August.

This weekend we got to go to Maracas beach! Which is the nicest beach

in Trinidad. We picked a beautiful day to go. The sun was out and there was a breeze so it made it feel cooler then what it really was. There were a ton of palm trees and a lot of people. I spent most of the afternoon working on homework I had for Econ. Even though I was doing homework I still had a blast. The waves were huge (well huge to me) they were probably only 5 or 6 feet but that is the biggest I have ever seen. After I finished my reading I finally got to go swimming. This was my reward for finishing the reading. I don't think I have ever had that much swimming. Candice had brought 3 boogie boards so I took one and gave it a shot. After about 4 tries I finally got the hang of it. There was one wave that I was able to ride all the way in. I can't describe how much fun it was! I wish you were all there to enjoy this with me! Maracas is known for its Bake and Shark, like they have been on tv all over and people come here just to have the bake and shark. So for lunch I had myself a Bake and Shark. I think I had built it up in my head too much because all it was was fried shark on fried bread. Now don't get me wrong it was really good just not mind blowing like I thought it was going to be.

I have to brag a little bit about how productive I have been today. I got up at 6:30 and have been going ever since then. I went to class, came home did laundry, went into Tunapuna got some bug spray, moose, disinfected wipes, vitamins, a new purse, and the bestie a vest. I came home and cleaned my room, emailed my final paper for J-term to Earl, went to the little store around the corner and got some lunch meat and more wraps. Once I got back a couple of the girls wanted to go get roti and how could I say no to roti? Had lunch, did some homework then went for a 3 mile run.... and it is only 3:30 right now! Pretty good huh? The highlight of my day was being able to do my shopping and going running by myself. It has taken me almost a month to go somewhere by myself. Quite the accomplishment!

I hope everyone is surviving the end of J-term, winter quarter, work and life! Know that I am missing everyone and you guys are constantly in my thoughts and prayers :D

First day of Classes

Today we had our first day of classes! I was extremely excited, nervous, scared and every other emotion you can imagine. I found out last night that I did in fact have class today. Now my first thought was oh great I have an 8am and I don't even know where the class room is. So I spent a good portion of my night studying a map of the campus doing everything possible to prepare me for the day. My goal was to leave the Lodge by 7:15 which would give me plenty of time to find the class room... I know I am with a great group of people when two of my friends offered to get up with me and walk me to class so I wouldn't have to go alone. This just made my day. It was really nice to have support. I kind of felt like I was in kindergarten again having my mom walk me to class but I didn't care! One thing I should say about UWI is that they have over 18,000 students enrolled at this campus. PLU has roughly 3,000 I believe so UWI is quite a bit bigger. It took us close to 45 min to find my classroom today. It took us asking 2 students and a security guard but I finally found.

As I got into class I stratigically tried sitting in the 4th row. I wanted to be close to the front so I could hear and understand the professor but I didn't want to be in the front row where I could become a potential target for questions ( I don't like to talk in my classes especially in foreign countries!!) Well this plan kind of back fired because the professor thought it would be best to stand at rows 5 and 6 and talk to the back of the classroom making it extremely difficult to understand what he was saying. Luckily for me all we did today was get our syllabus and then we were excused. No harm done. However, I am extremely thankful that my best friend was an Econ major because I have a feeling I will need a couple skype dates to exploit her expertise.

This semester is going to be extremely different. My final grade for econ will be 25% mid-term and 75% final. This is a completely new concept for me. PLU doesn't work like this. This system really puts a lot of responsibility on me to learn the material, a concept that will be new but a good one to learn. I am also taking a mas making class that is on Thursdays. So once I complete that class I can give you all an update as to what that one will be like.

Tomorrow we have our Dance class for carnival and then the rest of the day is free. I will be going to the book store to buy my book and try to get a head start on my readings. This is going to be a hard, busy, and fun semester! Let the festivities begin!

Tobago and more!

Hello all!!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Things have been crazy busy! Once we got back from our homestays we were at the Lodge for that night and then the next morning we were off to Tobago.

The flight to Tobago was extremely short! Probably the shortest flight I have ever been. From take off to landing it was only 25 minutes. It was a fun flight as we got to see some of the mountains and the Caribbean Sea. The long part happened once we landed. We had an hour in a half drive to Charlotteville, which is on the c

omplete opposite side of the island. Now, this car ride would have been ok if it was straight highways but these were the windiest roads I have ever been on. To add fuel to the fire the bus wasn't air-conditioned. This just called for everyone to be a hot mess.

This is the cabin that me and 3 other girls lived in for the week. It had two rooms, bathroom, living room and kitchen. It was pretty cool. The only downside was that in my room we didn't have lights, the fridge didn't work for the first day and there was a trick to flushing the toilet. I became very thankful f

or everything we have at home.

This week in Tobago was kind of like a vacation. We had class 3 times this week with Earl Lovelace and other then that the time was for ourselves. During the day I spent a lot of time at the beach.

This picture is of Pirates Bay. This place was beautiful! I have never seen such a nice beach before. It was a great place to swim and relax. There was a little bit of hike to get down to this beach. You had to hike up a hill for a little bit then walk down 150 steep steps.

Here is a picture of those stairs. Once you got to the bottom of the stairs there was this guy name Raji who sold bananas and coconuts. He was a very friendly guy and a little bit crazy. This is where I tried my first coconut water and the meat. It was really good and enjoyed very much! The fruit down here is amazing. I wish we had this type of stuff back at home. Time was also spent walking around the little town of Charlotteville and hanging out with the locals. At night we would go liming. The first night we started a dance party on the street, then every night after that we went dancing and hung out with the locals at different bars. It was a lot of fun! I have done so much dancing since being here that it is unbelievable. While being in Tobago I got to learn how to wine, which is a form of dancing for people here in Trinidad and Tobago. For those of you who want to know what that looks like just look online. You will be surprised.

3 days before we left Tobago we got to go snorkeling at Bucco Reef and swim at Nylon pool. The reef was really cool. It brought back memories from when I went snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The best part of this trip was going to Nylon pool. We were literally in the middle of the Ocean standing in waste deep water. The water was crystal blue and had the whitest sand I had ever seen. It really was breathe taking. If any of you get a chance to go to Nylon pool please do, you will never regret it and you will get the best exfoliation from the sand.

The day before we left we got to hike through the rainforest. On this hike we saw different birds, spiders and a ton of plants. It was really cool from an Environmental standpoint to see how the rainforest looked and functioned. The trip would have been better if we didn't have to leave at 6am to get there but well worth the wake up.

That was the end of our week in Tobago. That is a week I will never forget. Once we got back to the Lodge we have been on the go with our j-term class, going to lectures, touring different parts of Trinidad, learning 2 dances and trying to enjoy life here in Trinidad.

I start my spring semester on Wednesday! I am extremely nervous but excited at the same time. I am ready to get into a routine. This will help me with being homesick. Monday we go to the campus to get a tour and our ID cards. This will allow us access to things like the gym, library and what not. That is pretty much everything that has been going on here up to date. I am missing everyone back at home and hope that you all have survived the snow. Everyone has been in my thoughts and prayers this week. Love you all :D

Love always,

Ash

Homestay- Chagunas Trinidad

This weekend I went to my home stay in Chagunas Trinidad, which is about 30 min from Tunapuna. The way it was split up 7 of us were in this area and split up into different households. In my house hold I had a younger couple with 3 children. The mom's name was Simone, the dad's name was Rich, the oldest was 9 years old named Christiana, the middle child was Salena age 7 and the youngest was Cody who was 9 months old (he is in the picture to the right). They were a very nice family, I got extremely lucky! The mom is an ex cop who is now a stay at home mom. I didn't get a whole lot of time to talk with the Dad but all I know is that he loves to cook and listening to music/ DJing. I had some amazing food while I was there. The first day I had rootie filled with cury for breakfast which is a west Indian dish and for dinner I had a fried shark sandwich on homemade bread. It was absolutely to die for. It was nice to get some real food for breakfast. I have been having a hard time eating breakfast because they don't have a lot of the typical breakfast foods that we do. I am hoping over time things
will get easier and I won't have a problem eating.

The first day

we got into Chagunas we dropped our stuff out and went exploring. We got to see the malls, markets, street vendors, and the culture of Trinidadians. It was a lot of walking and I got to see many things. One thing I noticed during the day out in Chagunas was that it was extremely noisy. Cars are constantly honking, people talking, guys smooching at girls and what not. I am slowly getting use to all the noise but it still startles me when cars honk. Another thing that I am trying to get use to is driving on the wrong side of the road. I have almost gotten into the drivers seat so many times its not even funny. Its just all backwards! After the day in Chaguna's the group went to a pan practice. Pan is a steel drum that is played with a rubber mallets. The people practicing were getting read for Panorama which is a big Panning competition that occurs at the end of this month. The video below is a portion of them playing there song for the competition.

After the Panning, I went home to my home stay family and the next door neighbors were liming (a get together) So I went over and had a yummy drink and at this point I was so exhausted I went to sle

ep.

The next day we went to the capital of Trinidad, Port of Spain. This was my first experience on public transportation. We took a bus into the Port of Spain and spent the day walking around and looking at how life is down there. It reminded me a lot of seattle with the tall buildings and then water for the boats. The culture of driving and pedestrians is completely different. Drivers don't seem to care too much about who and what is in the streets. Its kind of like taking a chance walking out into the street.

In Trinidad people like to honk there horns for everything!!! They will honk to say hi, bye, get out of my way, I'm coming so watch out... Literally everything! That is a noise that I am having to get use to but after awhile you start to tune it out. After about several hours of walking we went to the beach by the coast guard base. This was absolutely amazing! The sun was out and it was just perfect! I can't put words to it. The beach was a rock beach but all of the rocks were flat, they were the perfect skipping rocks. At this point we relaxed, some of us had a beer some of us had a non alcoholic ginger beer, then we went home. My only problem with this day was that I forgot the sunscreen and got pretty burnt! Lesson learned on day 3! Once we got home the group of 7 came to my home stay family's house and we had a BBQ. It was great food and conversation.

On Sunday I got the opportunity to go to church with the family and this was really cool! It was called St. Thomas Anglican church. The best way to describe this church was a cross between a catholic church and a Lutheran church. The service seemed to go quick especially since it was over 2 hours long. After church we went home and had lunch then it was time to go back to the Lodge.

This next week we are heading to Tobago for a week. Here we will partake in our J-term class, enjoy the beach, learn more about Tobago and hopefully just have fun! I won't have internet access for a week so this will be my last post until then! Hope everything is going well back at home! I am missing everyone!! Love you all :D

This is a video of the Panning