Homestay in Paramin, Trinidad

One of the first things I did in Trinidad was a 4 day homestay. I got lucky with my placement and got to go up to a rural village in the mountains of northern Trinidad. I bathed by pouring a bucket of cold water on myself, and I got to live in a house full with 4 generations. Here is a picture of some of the many people living in that house. My homestay mom, Ivy, is on the bottom right. I loved interacting with them. One night I stayed up late playing cards with the guys of the house. I was hesitant to play since I didn't know the game, but I had a strong case of beginners luck and ended up beating them all. It was great. They cooked some great food for us, took us to their catholic church (which is run by a group of missionaries from the Phillipines), and even performed some of their musical traditions for us. Their village was one of the most beautiful and exotic places I've ever been. I had never felt so far away from home as I did then, but in an odd way that was comforting. I also spent a lot of time with the 2 year old girl, Serena, who is Ivy's granddaughter. She clung to me, and was quite the wild child! One morning I woke up to her straddling my back saying "Go horsey"... yeah that was wonderful :)


Here's some funny quotes from my journal... (accomponied by the Paramin village beauty)

"The only way to get up the road to these houses is to take a Jeep, unless you are a very skilled driver. The Jeep ride was crazy! I sat in the front, and had to close my eyes half the time cuz I thought I was going to fall off a cliff or smash into another car." 1-6-05





"Ivy's dad is so funny. He's a bit delirious and kept repeating 'all about' to signify that when he was younger he went all over, to every church in Trinidad - traveled and danced all over. It was very cute." 1-6-05




"Ivy's friend at one point said 'no rum for me! just touch water and I'm drunk!' " 1-7-05

"Trinidadians sure know what life is really about. They know what makes them happy - simple things. Ivy's brother said that the most important thing in life is fun. If you are old and weak like grandpa, but have had fun, your life was worth it!" 1-7-05