This past weekend has been one of the craziest of my life...
Thursday Night was an event called UWI Splash which was held in a town west of the Capital City in the Northwest tip of Trinidad. Im not sure what affiliation it has with UWI since it wasn't sponsored by the University, wasn't held in St. Augustine and was open to the public but none of that mattered.
It was like a huge concert and all the big Soca Stars preformed their most popular songs which was really cool. There were probably 8 different artists that preformed a few songs each. Carlos, a fellow Milnerite, was actually called up on stage to wine (a very sexual dance) with one of the performers and she ripped off his shirts he was wearing. We ended up waiting for transportation forever and got so bored that a few of us took off some clothes and went swimming in the ocean. Eventually I got home at around 8 oclock in the morning.
I slept most of the day on Friday. Eventually I woke up and for dinner we went to this great BBQ place that a whole bunch of Milnerites go to every Friday night. We spent the night just taking it easy and watching a Carnival event on TV called Soca Monarch which is where they crown the best Soca artist of the Carnival season, it was kinda boring and I dont even know who won but the people who actually knew all the artists were glued to the TV.
Saturday morning a few of us got up early and planned to go to Maracas Bay (the beach we always go to) for the day. We took the first maxi taxi to Port of Spain but when we got there they informed us that because of Carnival there would be no maxis going to Maracas until after the weekend was over. Instead of letting this ruin our day we just walked around Port of Spain all day and there was the children's carnival which is little kids all dressed up in crazy elaborate costumes.
We went back in the late afternoon to Milner and then at night came back to Port of Spain to see a show called Pan-a-rama which is THE steel pan competition for Carnival season. Even though we didn't buy tickets to this event it was held open to the public to see the bands as they wheeled the pan drums into the judging area so we were able to catch plenty of music. This event was held at the Savanah which is a huge park in Port of Spain.
Sunday we just kind of hung around all day and relaxed. Some people had tickets to go see Demache Gras which was a show from 7 PM Sunday- 1 AM Monday but a bunch of other people including myself slept until J'ouvert which started at 2 AM on Monday.
We ended up walking for about a half an hour to J'ouvert which is a moving party. Luckily we found a guy from Grenada who was headed in the same direction as us and he helped us find it otherwise it would have taken much longer. All the international students I am with ended up playing with a band called the Red Jokers and even though we dont actually play instruments they call it a band. The party consists of a huge truck with speakers on it in the front, 400-500 people with red shirts and joker hats behind that, a drink truck behind them and a paint truck behind the drink truck. We spent from 4 AM- 9 AM marching behind this truck dancing and getting covered in paint and mud and glitter. It was unquestionably one of the best nights of my life. Eventually we got back to our starting point where they had breakfast waiting for us which was bake (fried bread) with different fixings.
Even though we still had almost a 3 mile walk back it ended up not being that bad as we were all quite intoxicated and were able to entertain ourselves quite easily as we were walking. We finally reached Milner at 11 AM. I slept until roughly 6 PM Monday night and then took a nap a little later since I was still so exhausted.
We woke up early Tuesday morning to go check out the Parade of the Bands aka Mass which was similar to J'ouvert but much less drinking/ party oriented and more cultural. There were thousands of people dressed in elaborate costumes walking and dancing in the streets and the spectators on the side of the road never hesitated to jump in and dance for a little and return to their spots. We stayed there for most of the day but by 6 PM we were so exhausted from the weekend as a whole that we decided to call it quits.
Today classes started up again and the Carnival fatigue was noticeable throughout the classroom. This coming weekend, we are going to Tobago which is something everyone has been looking forward to for what seems like a VERY long time but it has only been like 2 weeks since we bought our tickets. Im really not sure about any of the details of the trip other than that we do have housing reserved (dont know if its beach houses, hotel rooms, etc.?) and that I have a ticket to get to Tobago on Friday night... everything else is up in the air so it should be an adventure.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Feb 19, 2009
To my people,
Just been taking it easy since the last post. The initial hype of being in Trinidad is beginning to die out however the excitement of Carnival has had the opposite effect.
Last Friday night was the first Carnival related event which was UWI (you-wee) campus Carnival. It was sweet we were in a group called bubble mania and just walked/ dance behind a huge truck full of speakers while a truck behind us served drinks. It was a lot of fun. After the parade was over there was an after party. The one draw back was that I had my phone and my friends camera pickpocket from me...
Saturday we went to Maracas Bay and thankfully I didnt get sunburned. It was awesome as we filled two maxi taxis (more than 20 people) with both international students and people from the Caribbean all of whom are Milnerites. One of the maxis left with only 3 people cuz they had to be somewhere so we ended up packing 21 people in the other one... needless to say that was fun ride/ bonding experience I wont soon forget. It was this kid Carlos's birthday so we went out to Ruby Tuesday's which is considered an upscale restaurant here, more pricey and there is even a dress code. I got a Boston Lager there which really brought me back to New England for a few minutes.
Since Saturday we have just been going through the motions waiting for Carnival weekend. Tonite is the first event which is UWI Splash. Unfortunately its not on campus but it is going to be a party with DJ's and tons of people and wildness. The other event Im pumped for is Jouvert which is a party that starts at midnight on Monday morning and goes til 10 AM.
There are some other events we plan to go to like a parade and the steel pan finals but were pretty unorganized since there's such a large group of us and we dont really know how anything works. Currently we dont even know how were getting to Port of Spain this weekend or where we are staying, etc. etc. etc...... the phrase Ive found myself using the most often here is "well figure it out" which, if you know me shouldn't really be hard to imagine. I literally say that at least once an hour, its unbelievable.
I hope to bring my camera to Port of Spain at least once this weekend to take some pictures of the costumes and festivities. To all of those who are worried (Dad) I will take care of myself and stay safe and will certainly not be arrested for anything... Unless someone tries to steal my stuff again and then there will be a fight but I dont even know if Id get arrested for that :-)
love and miss you all
-Pat
To my people,
Just been taking it easy since the last post. The initial hype of being in Trinidad is beginning to die out however the excitement of Carnival has had the opposite effect.
Last Friday night was the first Carnival related event which was UWI (you-wee) campus Carnival. It was sweet we were in a group called bubble mania and just walked/ dance behind a huge truck full of speakers while a truck behind us served drinks. It was a lot of fun. After the parade was over there was an after party. The one draw back was that I had my phone and my friends camera pickpocket from me...
Saturday we went to Maracas Bay and thankfully I didnt get sunburned. It was awesome as we filled two maxi taxis (more than 20 people) with both international students and people from the Caribbean all of whom are Milnerites. One of the maxis left with only 3 people cuz they had to be somewhere so we ended up packing 21 people in the other one... needless to say that was fun ride/ bonding experience I wont soon forget. It was this kid Carlos's birthday so we went out to Ruby Tuesday's which is considered an upscale restaurant here, more pricey and there is even a dress code. I got a Boston Lager there which really brought me back to New England for a few minutes.
Since Saturday we have just been going through the motions waiting for Carnival weekend. Tonite is the first event which is UWI Splash. Unfortunately its not on campus but it is going to be a party with DJ's and tons of people and wildness. The other event Im pumped for is Jouvert which is a party that starts at midnight on Monday morning and goes til 10 AM.
There are some other events we plan to go to like a parade and the steel pan finals but were pretty unorganized since there's such a large group of us and we dont really know how anything works. Currently we dont even know how were getting to Port of Spain this weekend or where we are staying, etc. etc. etc...... the phrase Ive found myself using the most often here is "well figure it out" which, if you know me shouldn't really be hard to imagine. I literally say that at least once an hour, its unbelievable.
I hope to bring my camera to Port of Spain at least once this weekend to take some pictures of the costumes and festivities. To all of those who are worried (Dad) I will take care of myself and stay safe and will certainly not be arrested for anything... Unless someone tries to steal my stuff again and then there will be a fight but I dont even know if Id get arrested for that :-)
love and miss you all
-Pat
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Thursday, Feb. 12th
I am amazed to see that my last entry was only a week ago, I was feeling guilty that it has been so long since I wrote but looking back and realizing it has only been 1 week makes me not feel too bad...
Last Friday was the basketball competition and as I expected my team, yellow went 3-0 and won the competition. It was 4 vs. 4, half girl and one girl on each team so the level of competition was sub par but it was still fun, especially since we won. Later in the night Milner hosted a party (fete) in which people from anywhere as opposed to just people from Milner and as can be expected things got wild.
WE all got up early Saturday morning (8 oclock) to go to the beach (Maracas Bay). I was the one with the alarm clock (thanks mom!) and proceeded to wake everyone else up by going into their rooms/ pounding on their doors and screaming YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW as I was still pumped up from the big win the night before. Most of my peers were hungover and very annoyed but I got a kick out of it. We stayed at the beach all day which is like an hour away and I got baddddd sunburn. Currently I have been leaving a path of my skin wherever I go and have been for a few days.
Sunday was just a hang around and do nothing day. This week I have been working hard to try and figure out what I should be reading/ doing for school work because it is not just assigned. The teachers are very helpful and responsive when I ask for help so that is nice and somehow most of them can tell I'm not from the Caribbean...
Yesterday (Wednesday) I went with one of the girls from Wisconsin to Tunapuna which is the next town over from St. Augustine and about a 10 minute walk. Theres lots of little markets there as well as a FedEx which was the purpose of the trip. We also bought a bunch of tickets to go to Tobago on the weekend following Carnival. Right now the plan is for about 15-20 exchange/ international students to take a ferry Friday night to Tobago from Port of SPain and return on Monday morning. were all gonna rent a beach house for the weekend (its gonna be AWFUL!) In tunapuna I was able to get a bunch of things that I have desperate for, computer speakers, coat hangers, hooks for my posters, incense, and rum (just kidding I wasnt desperate... I drank some with my breakfast!)
This week I've been more adventurous with my dietary choices have had doubles, beef/ chicken patties, chicken and rice, and potato pie. I also ran out of my 5 gallon jug of water and have been drinking the fountain water but I feel fine. There are so many hole in the wall type places that sell food which is great cuz im sick of pizza/ subway/ KFC.
Today one of the two boys that is here from Wisconsin left for a month because he is doing an independent study project. Im kinda bummed out but he still has a room here and hell be back for weekends after the initial month. Ive heard his new place of residence is a 2 story, 2 bedroom, lakehouse so im not really feeling too sorry for him.
Tomorrow, Friday is campus carnival. I still have no idea what to expect but Milner is playing/ marching together. I am under the impression that its like a moving party where people wear these elaborate costumes and then an actual party when were all drunk and done marching. There is a drink truck that follows the group around and the theme "Bubble Mania" which despite the lame sounding name should be great. Im hoping my camera charger comes by then so i can take some sweet pictures. It was 100 TT to register ($17 US) and it includes free drinks, t shirt, cup, bandana and the person collecting the dues from Milner is "Man Rape Her" (one of my favorite names).
love and miss you all,
If you wanna hear more or have questions- skype/ facebook/ email me!
-Pat
I am amazed to see that my last entry was only a week ago, I was feeling guilty that it has been so long since I wrote but looking back and realizing it has only been 1 week makes me not feel too bad...
Last Friday was the basketball competition and as I expected my team, yellow went 3-0 and won the competition. It was 4 vs. 4, half girl and one girl on each team so the level of competition was sub par but it was still fun, especially since we won. Later in the night Milner hosted a party (fete) in which people from anywhere as opposed to just people from Milner and as can be expected things got wild.
WE all got up early Saturday morning (8 oclock) to go to the beach (Maracas Bay). I was the one with the alarm clock (thanks mom!) and proceeded to wake everyone else up by going into their rooms/ pounding on their doors and screaming YELLOW YELLOW YELLOW as I was still pumped up from the big win the night before. Most of my peers were hungover and very annoyed but I got a kick out of it. We stayed at the beach all day which is like an hour away and I got baddddd sunburn. Currently I have been leaving a path of my skin wherever I go and have been for a few days.
Sunday was just a hang around and do nothing day. This week I have been working hard to try and figure out what I should be reading/ doing for school work because it is not just assigned. The teachers are very helpful and responsive when I ask for help so that is nice and somehow most of them can tell I'm not from the Caribbean...
Yesterday (Wednesday) I went with one of the girls from Wisconsin to Tunapuna which is the next town over from St. Augustine and about a 10 minute walk. Theres lots of little markets there as well as a FedEx which was the purpose of the trip. We also bought a bunch of tickets to go to Tobago on the weekend following Carnival. Right now the plan is for about 15-20 exchange/ international students to take a ferry Friday night to Tobago from Port of SPain and return on Monday morning. were all gonna rent a beach house for the weekend (its gonna be AWFUL!) In tunapuna I was able to get a bunch of things that I have desperate for, computer speakers, coat hangers, hooks for my posters, incense, and rum (just kidding I wasnt desperate... I drank some with my breakfast!)
This week I've been more adventurous with my dietary choices have had doubles, beef/ chicken patties, chicken and rice, and potato pie. I also ran out of my 5 gallon jug of water and have been drinking the fountain water but I feel fine. There are so many hole in the wall type places that sell food which is great cuz im sick of pizza/ subway/ KFC.
Today one of the two boys that is here from Wisconsin left for a month because he is doing an independent study project. Im kinda bummed out but he still has a room here and hell be back for weekends after the initial month. Ive heard his new place of residence is a 2 story, 2 bedroom, lakehouse so im not really feeling too sorry for him.
Tomorrow, Friday is campus carnival. I still have no idea what to expect but Milner is playing/ marching together. I am under the impression that its like a moving party where people wear these elaborate costumes and then an actual party when were all drunk and done marching. There is a drink truck that follows the group around and the theme "Bubble Mania" which despite the lame sounding name should be great. Im hoping my camera charger comes by then so i can take some sweet pictures. It was 100 TT to register ($17 US) and it includes free drinks, t shirt, cup, bandana and the person collecting the dues from Milner is "Man Rape Her" (one of my favorite names).
love and miss you all,
If you wanna hear more or have questions- skype/ facebook/ email me!
-Pat
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Thursday March 5th
Sorry for so long between posts I’ve been a busy guy.
Since my last post I have officially completed be inducted into the Milner Hall family (my dorm). My hall name is Bikini Bottom after the town in Spongebob Squarepants because my name is Patrick… kinda lame but I could have been a whole slew of other things such as stale cummm, colonel jerk or wet punani, which are all other hall names. I took off some details from a previous blog because the whole process or initiation into the hall is supposed to be kept confidential, so if you know what I did consider yourself lucky and don't be telling anyone from Trinidad about it.
On Saturday night there was a PJ party in North Block which is one of the other buildings in Milner Hall (there are 5 buildings total). It was a wild time and even though it was on campus it was one of the more rambunctious parties I have ever attended. This week is Hall sports so every person who lives in Milner is assigned to a colored team either yellow, red, blue or green, Im on yellow.
Sunday morning at 6 AM was the first event which was a 5K run roughly which was two loops around the campus. Many people who attended the PJ party decided to just stay up and run drunk including myself. I placed 19 out of 77 people and was the second person from the yellow house. After this race I had an epiphany that fatigue is completely and totally 100% mental. My reasoning is that from 10 AM Friday to 10 AM Sunday I got 4 hours of sleep, got drunk twice, ran up a Mountain at 5 oclock Saturday morning and did well in a race Sunday morning.
Sunday night I slept all day for obvious reasons and watched the Superbowl although it really wasn’t the super bowl party I am used to it was still fun, not having THE bean dip was kind of disappointing. The game made me emotional as it was just too similar to last year and was hoping the Cardinals would take it, oh well…
I spent Tuesday and Wednesday going to different places on campus trying to figure out how to pay my damn tuition, you would think these people would actually want my money…. unbelievable. Anyways, the check finally arrived and I am financially cleared and I also got my student ID. I still have lots of financial/ bureaucratic bullshit to deal with but they don’t really seem to be in too much of a rush to do anything here at UWI… so neither am I, which as those who know me well can imagine what a tough adjustment that is for me.
Last night we had a hall meeting that dragged on for 2 hours about stupid stuff and I me and Ramon were on kitchen cleaning duty so between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM we had to clean the counters, stove top, sweep and mop. Since there is so much more of a community atmosphere here we end up taking much more responsibility for ourselves than I was used to at Burr Hall. For instance when someone pukes all over the bathroom or spills something in the hall way it gets mopped up immediately. In Burr hall however we would just leave it and wait for the cleaning lady to come the next day.
As the hall sports continue to move forth yellow team is in 3rd place. In addition to the run on Sunday I have also participated in volleyball and will be playing basketball on Friday. The volleyball wasn’t as completive as I wished it would be but still fun and I'm expecting first place for the yellow basetball team. Other events have been football (soccer) and aerobics. Today is swimming which I may get sucked into doing and this weekend is track and cricket, Ive had a number of people tell me I should play cricket since I play baseball so well see how that works out considering I don’t know the rules… at all.
Love you and miss you all
-Pat
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