Air conditioning units are a must in the Islands, in my opinion. There are no breezes, and the rain every day makes the humidity curl my hair. There is so much garbage in the water that sometimes the intake gets clogged with stuff minutes after cleaning it out. We have had condoms, plastic bags, sticks, fish, and lots more sucked in, which causes the air to continually drop off. Poor Al is more often fixing the unit than enjoying it. The screwdriver is all that is needed to clean it out. We hired a local who dives with just a snorkel to scrap what he could and he was swimming in the dirty diapers, and dead fish. That's his job, and he doesn't seem to mind it. I am guessing he has a phenomenal immune system.
As I mentioned a few times in previous posts, this is the rainy season in Trinidad. And it rains everyday. More recently the rains have developed into down pours along with lightening, and the most amazing thunder I have ever heard in my life. Yesterday there was a clap of thunder that literally shook the boat. The lightening must have hit somewhere close, because a few minutes later the emergency sirens were blazing not far from the marina.
We met a lot of local cruisers this weekend at a BBQ here at Coral Cove. What a variety of people. There were Africans, British, Canadian, American, Sweden, Norway, and Brazil. One gentleman older than me recently married a young lady from Brazil, and they are expecting their first child in two months.
Everyone brought something to eat of course. I made a Penne Alfredo which was a poor choice. Nobody wants to eat hot foods here, so the selection of salads and dips were some that I had never heard of before. One of the desserts, with fruit, was more of a drink than a fruit dish.
Unfortunately, we didn't stay long enough to enjoy the desserts. Allan was feeling funky with an upset stomach, and after three hours of fraternizing, I am done. We came home at 2030 hours I am embarrassed to say.
Our schedule this week is to go the the West Mall, which is supposed to be a nice place to shop, and I would also like to go to the local market. From what I have heard, it's worth taking the camera to show what delicacies Trini's enjoy.
As we try to be thrifty with our spending in an effort to pay off the cost of the engine, we were truly surprised to find out that last month we only spent $500.00 US for groceries and eating out a few times and incidentals like toilet paper. That's pretty good I think! At this rate, we should have the engine paid off and be able to leave Trinidad in 5 - 10 years. (Kidding) The cost of living in Trinidad is really quite inexpensive. Someone else has told us that Venezuela is even cheaper. It costs $1.05 a gallon for diesel here in Trinidad. Another couple said they bought two barrels of diesel in Venezuela for forty dollars, and two barrels is more than they would use in a year.
Oh, and today I have to tell you about the flying ants. Now I know we have flying ants in Canada, but these ones like to attach themselves to people. I didn't leave the boat all day. Not for anything. And I frantically called for Allan to come and save me from a huge bug in the bathroom. We are not sure, but Al thought it might be a cockroach. We have so much cockroach killer tablets around I don't know why he was in the bathroom sink. I hate bugs. Allan hates bugs too. We aren't good bug people. We have to get out of Trinidad.
Not much to write home about, but this life in Trinidad. It's not safe to go out after dark, you are told not to trust anyone, and people find it easier to steal than to work. And they don't steal small stuff, they go for the big expensive stuff. Take care everyone.....hopefully will have something more interesting to write about next time.
Don't forget to kiss Ryen for me, Nana loves you baby girl.
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