Grocery Shopping and Fort King George

Yesterday, we were given our weekly allowance of $300 TT's (which is roughly $50 US dollars) for grocery money and taxi fare. As a group, we were dropped off at a local grocery store to pick up groceries for that week. I don't thinks I've ever missed a well-stocked grocery store in my entire life! It was fun working together to come up with meal plans for the week and all contributing. It was difficult at first to find the basics (like milk, for example, which was a really small section with either whole milk that had an English label, or French milk that we assumed was skim milk because the label was all in French). In terms of fresh produce and meat, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from, so we later stopped at a fruit stand to pick up some fruits and vegetables. That was a fun experience since the stand was right off the busy street so there was traffic noises, people everywhere, and overall chaos with a fruit stand in the middle of it all. I bought some bananas, grapes, and the biggest papaya I've ever laid eyes on. Their apples were actually from Washington, which was a reminder of how large of a role that the US plays in other countries around the world. The whole experience of being in town was chaotic, overwhelming, memorable, and fun. It was definitely a reminder of how city hustle and bustle is culture bound; navigating the streets of Tobago was much different from the US where cross walks were limited, horns were being used on a frequent basis and the length of the side walks could only accommodate single file lines of people. While this was a little stressful after experiencing orderly streets, traffic rules, and overall structure, the cool thing about being in Scarborough was that a majority of the people were so happy, despite the chaos around them. Smiles were being shared, loud, up beat music was being played from shops, people were stopping to chat-it was an overall friendly atmosphere and a refreshing change. After grocery shopping, we visited Fort King George which is a military fort from 1777. Tobago has a long political history of originally being claimed by the English who attempted to colonize the island, and then the Dutch who found a township called "Lampsinberg", which is near The British occupied Scarborough. The Dutch and the English/French were constantly in battle throughout the hillsides of Tobago, which are still denoted by various battlements and cannons across the island. The island was then given to the Duke of Courland, and their part in the settlement still holds true today. The history of Tobago continues to be a complicated one as the island changed hands multiple times but ultimately, Tobago was granted sovereignty in 1763 but was then occupied by the French twice, but then ultimately joined Trinidad as a British crown colony in 1889. We did a little research before we left for this trip but being able to be at the fort was pretty amazing because it was packed with so much history. The view from the fort was incredible and the fort and buildings surrounding the fort were beautiful. I was talking with my professor about the fort and learned that because all the various occupations of Tobago fell during the time of the slave trade, the French and English brought in slaves to build the fort. This was a so bearing thought but also illustrated how deserving the Tobagans are of respect for the suppression they experienced.