On Friday evening, we went bar hopping on a strip that is referred to as The Avenue. It was almost overwhelming seeing all the people everywhere compared to Tobago. It was a fun night and a fun experience.
On Saturday, we started the day bright and early, first starting out visiting two Hindu temples on the island. Trinidad actually holds a very large Indian community because at the time, life in India was not prosperous enough so over 140,000 Indians came over from India, stopping in South Africa and ultimately settling in Trinidad. They've done very well in Trinidad, earning much of their wealth in agriculture, the medical field, as lawyers, and in construction. In fact, the two largest construction companies in Trinidad & Tobago were started by Indians. 30% of them continue to practice Hindu, which is actually the oldest and numerically largest practiced religious tradition in the world. In Trinidad, the Hindu culture has not evolved because there has been no influence from the ever changing religious culture of India. A lot of religions experience some sort of evolution of their practices, beliefs, and traditions so it was interesting to experience some of the Hindu culture that had not changed. The temples were absolutely beautiful and we even were able to sit in on a practicing Hindu reciting the mantras sutras. We were instructed to put a dot of orange powder on our foreheads and follow along with him-it was such an interesting experience! Simply sharing a love for religion and holding a high religious tolerance, no matter what religion, is a signature aspect of the culture. It was a refreshing perspective on religion because I feel in the US, religion is a topic that is frequently tip toed around. After the Hindu temples, We then stopped for Chinese food, did some shopping and ended the day with a swamp tour, filled with bird watching and enjoying the sunset. The scarlet ibis is native to Trinidad and we were able to watch hundreds of them flock to an island and roost. The bright red birds was an incredible cite to see, all close together high up in the trees. The sunset was yet another beautiful one and on the boat ride back to the dock, we joked about seeing the giant anaconda that had recently made an appearance on the island. We did see a snake coiled up in one of the trees and needless to say, that was enough snake exposure for me for the day!
On our very last day, we spent the afternoon at Maracas Bay Beach. I felt it was fitting to end the trip with a beach day and despite the occasional intense rain shower, the sun was out and the ocean was refreshing. I had a very traditional lunch called "bake and shark". Bake is basically a fried pastry and although the name of the food says shark, it was actually a very tasty white fish. I went back for more because it was so good!
During our time in Tobago, we stayed at Pax Guesthouse on Mt. St. Benedict near Waterloo village, which is right outside of Port of Spain. Pax is located right next to a monastery so we were able to experience a very traditional catholic service one evening and taste some of the yogurt made by the monks, a particularly acclaimed food in the area. Pax served us breakfast, tea, and dinner and it was nice to have our food prepared for us after cooking all throughout our time in Tobago! They made us very traditional food and the meals were complete 3 courses. Everything was absolutely delicious; I don't think there was ever a night that I wasn't completely stuffed after a dinner! We all got use to "Tobago eating time" and took our time to enjoy the food and the company. After every dinner, we were served either coffee or tea and would usually sit on the back porch and just relax. We were so spoiled! And after only having one water temperature for showers in Tobago (cold!!), it was nice to finally have a hot shower!
So here I am now, sitting on the plane on my back to the states. It was bitter sweet packing last night. This has been an incredible trip and this past month has absolutely flown by. I've already noticed how much I have grown as an individual and as a global citizen. I've come to realize that when you are removed from your comfort zone, you learn the most about who you are, what you stand for, and what aspects of yourself you like and want to develop further as well as the aspects that you want to change. There were so many experiences that pushed me to grow and draw deeper conclusions about things that I initially didn't understand about the culture. For one, being a young woman who was clearly a tourist attracted a lot of attention from the local men and every girl in the group experienced pick up lines, stares, whistles, and flirtation from the local men whenever we went into town. This whole thing became extremely draining for me and it even reached to the point where I avoided eye contact with any of the local men when we were walking around town. The special education system was frustrating for me because as an individual with a physical disability, I understand how important it is to receive appropriate resources and accommodations. Seeing so many special needs children not given enough resources was very difficult. At first, it was easy for me to jump to conclusions of aspects of the culture, like the gender dynamics and the situation at Happy Haven of the culture lacking various aspects that we have in ours. With a lot of reformation with my initial thought processes when things like that came up, I decided to simply take it all in without critiquing it. After making this change, I realized that to us their gender dynamics may be disrespectful and from our perspective, their education systems should stop neglecting special education students, but to them, where they're at may be progress. While its difficult to sit back, observe and take it all in, Ive found that at the same time, I feel good about just simply observing because I feel there is a level of respect that comes with not criticizing things that are hard to understand in a different culture. Taking it all in also gave me a chance to reflect on what we have in the US and how blessed I feel to live in the states. Once I came to this perspective, seeing things from their perspective became much easier and more natural, ultimately leading me to another conclusion. Despite different systems, and structures, every culture has very similar roots that binds them for putting the systems and structures into practice and I feel that is an extremely valuable connection between every individual. We are all connected in one way or another, so who am I to judge? There were also so many aspects of their culture that I want to take how with me. I met the most hospitable, kind, accepting, and loving people while abroad and experienced their fun loving, happy culture that put a lot of things into perspective. I wish everyone could have experienced this amazing trip with me! Thank you to everyone who kept up with this blog while I was gone, it means a lot to me know how well supported I was for going on this trip. While I don't want to leave the paradise that was my home away from home for the past month, my new group of close 12 friends that I spent the past 25 days with, and the kids I grew close to with at Happy Haven, I'm looking forward to seeing my family and friends again, and gaining some independence back. I went for a walk yesterday and I realized it was the first time I was actually out by myself. I feel beyond blessed to have been given this opportunity to study abroad, and I want to acknowledge how grateful I am for my Mom and everything she did to help me make this trip happen; thanks mom! I'm already making plane for studying abroad again next year in a totally different part of the world. Here's to new experiences, new friends, and priceless memories that I will never forget. Until next time....
Love,
Hannah
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