April 20th, 2009

To my people,

April 11th I went to the Asa Wright nature center with the UWI hiking club (pics on facebook). It was a great hike with some beautiful scenery. Later that night my mom and Charlie came to visit. They arrived on Saturday night and we went to this great bed and breakfast with this man named Matthew who was one of the nicest guys Ive met here since arriving. He knew one of the my friends from Canada and told me he runs tours which was nice to find out.

The next morning we went to Tobago and met one of the Brittany’s and her family at the airport. We checked into the hotel and went to a glass bottom boat tour/ snorkeling/ sandbars in the ocean. Later we went around and checked out one of the beaches called Store Bay and I introduced them to some Trini food (Roti). That night we went to Sunday School which is a like a big outdoor party type thing with no religious aspect even though it was Easter.

The next morning we went to Argyle waterfalls which is the nicest waterfall Ive ever been to. Later in the day we went to Pigeon point which is the other main beach in Tobago. We hung out there for a while and went out to dinner again at this nice called Pelican Reef restaurant except practically everything was out of stock and they had lost their liquor license. It was a typical Trini dinning experience for our families.

We returned to Trinidad on Tuesday morning and I introduced my family to many of the people that I know here from Milner. I then took them to drink fresh coconuts and eat doubles (another popular Trini food). I showed them campus and around the area I live and then they went to their hotel which is up on a mountain. I went to class and then met them for dinner which was amazing and we sat with the guesthouse owner who I know and is really really nice.

The next morning we went to Maracas bay with Evan, one of the guys from Wisconsin. It was as amazing as they had hoped it would be and they enjoyed the beautiful landscape and waves. That night my mom took me and Charlie out to dinner along with some of the girls (Alisha, the other Brittany, Stacy and Katie) out to dinner at this Italian restaurant. After that we went to Zen which is night club in Port of Spain that has free admission and drinks for all UWI students on Wednesday.

Friday I got some grades back finally and although they were a 71 and 73 the grading system is different here and those are both considered A’s. The teachers are much harder graders here which is why they do it and my teacher even said she gave a 95 on a paper which is the highest grade she has EVER given and the paper was well, well beyond her expectations.

Because of the Summit of the Americas that occurred in Trinidad this past weekend there has been a ton of military everywhere. Highways and shops have been closed and there are constantly helicopters flying overhead. As we drove around yesterday there were military on the road and on campus there were guys with huge guns just chillin', its kinda crazy as you wouldnt have that on the Eastern Campus or I-84 unless we were at war,

Yesterday we went to Narvia swamp which is a protected area of land about half way down the East coast of Trinidad. We woke up at 5 to get there and Matthew was our tour guide (he told me to say hello and got your email mom). We went into the swamp and parked the boat and went onto this island in the middle for a while. We saw tons of cool wildlife including millions of blue crabs, snakes, monkeys and porcupines and we might go back to see manatees. After the swamp we went to Manzanilla beach for a while which was really nice.

love and miss you all
-Pat