Perfect Day in Tobago

All of our excursions have been absolutely fantastic, our snorkeling and boating tour was quite possibly my favorite excursion so far on this trip. Frankie's Tour guides picked us up at 10am and we made our way to the Buccoo area which is one of many prime boating, snorkeling, swimming areas of the island. While our last boating and snorkeling tour was fun, we had about 5 minutes to snorkel, battling a strong current so we were excited to have a bit more quality time. The snorkeling was great and we saw all kinds of beautiful fish in the clear, blue water. The tour supplied us with unlimited food and drinks and we took full advantage of that. We boated around the island a bit and then stopped off again for some more snorkeling. In the morning, we boated past the "fountain of youth" which was a skinny little waterfall with three different streams of water cascading down. After enjoying a fast boat ride, the sun, and the good company of my classmates and two other people on the tour from Latvia, we arrived once again to "no mans land", a beach we went to on the last tour that is only accessible by boat. A BBQ of fresh mahi mahi, chicken, a traditional coleslaw and rice salad, and more drinks were waiting for us. We were starving so this was a fantastic setting to arrive to! We ate, played in the water, sun bathed, and had fun just hanging out and relaxing, admiring the amazing view of Tobago and sun that was just beginning its sink. After packing up on the island, we got back on the top deck of the boat. The tour guides had a fantastic sound system set up on the top deck and after getting some music going, we all danced, limboed, cha-cha'd all the way to the Nylon Bay, the shallow sand bar in the middle of the ocean. Just as the sun was setting, we all swam around, tackled each other and goofed off. There were so many times that I just looked around, trying to take it all in: I was in the middle of the Caribbean, watching a beautiful sunset with some pretty amazing friends. I'm one lucky lady and I don't think I'll ever forget that day; words cannot describe how perfect it all was. Most of the group resembled lobsters that night, sporting some pretty apparent sunburns and after nursing them with some much needed aloe, everyone called it a night. 

We're flying out if Tobago on Thursday to spend the weekend going on excursions and site seeing in Trinidad. Because Monday was Election Day and all the schools were closed, we have only 3 days this week at our service cites. Tomorrow, I'll be spending the morning at Happy Haven and then in the afternoon, I'll be shadowing a counselor at the Health Promotion Clinic. I'm excited to have that opportunity, especially since I feel pretty set on going into the field of counseling psychology. Today at Happy Haven, I had a chance to interview the teacher who has been mentoring me and after learning more about the place in society people with disabilities hold, the limited available resources, and negative "taboo" stigmas that they are frequently associated with, I felt an even stronger connection to Gods plan for my life and my intended career. Working with the kids has been an incredible, priceless experience and I sad that my time here is coming to an end. Upon arriving here, it felt like we had a long time to explore the island and experience the culture and after squeezing excursions, local events, time at the service cites, and time together as a group, our time here has absolutely flown by. I as having a conversation about what a special trip this has been with one of my friends on the balcony today (the sun was setting at that time, it was a perfect scene!) about how much we've grown more than expected as individuals. There's something about traveling to foreign country, experiencing a different culture, and being removed from your comfort zone that makes you take a step back and refocus on who you are, and what you stand for.