What I Learned in Trinidad

In Trinidad I learned:
A cold shower @ 5 am is a shocking wake-up call,
but in the middle of a hot day it is a tiny taste of Heaven.

Frogs like to hide under the toilet seat (when you’re lucky enough to have one) - they have suction-cup feet, are cold and wet and can hang upside down on human flesh.

Lesson two is sweeter when it happens to someone else.

The birds have lovely, exotic songs,

however, the roosters out-number them, and they begin their rooster-to-rooster island wake-up regime ~ 4 am, each and every morning, (except for when they start ~ 3 am).

The Trinidadian people are gracious hosts, even when you break two glasses in two days (the second one wasn't my fault, but I was the ‘lucky’ one to open the cupboard after the {mild} earthquake); the response is always, “No Worries” or “Don’t worry – Be happy”.

When they find out that doing dishes makes the calluses soft on the fingers that play guitar, they tell you to play and sing while others do dishes (maybe they just wanted to keep me away from the glasses!); everyone sings and worships and God is Glorified. (I found a way to do my share of chores [laundry and dishes] in six weeks, I promise).

Laundry by hand is an interesting experience, and nothing is private when it is hanging on the line to dry in a small village.

When the palm trees sway in the Caribbean breeze it is a living picture of the trees of the field ‘clapping’ their hands.

Pizza really is good with hot pepper sauce and ketchup on top. (Don’t knock it till you try it).
Hot pepper sauce is part of every meal.
Too much hot pepper sauce will reek havoc with your intestines (but don’t forget to check for frogs in your haste to make it to the facilities in time) –and if there was fire going in, there will most likely be fire coming out.

If you put a little rum inside a traditional wedding fruit-cake, it will keep for a year without having to refrigerate it; it is the first fruit cake I’ve ever thought was yummy.

Rum is made from sugar cane.

Maniku is possum. It is okay to say “no” when offered such a {dare I say} ‘delicacy’. Same with chicken feet. Means more for those who love it. (Can I just say, “Yuk!”)

My idea of delicacies include fresh: coconut water {and jelly}, sugar cane, paw paws, mangos, fig bananas, tomatoes, cucumbers, home-made coconut and rum raisin ice creams, pomcity chutney and mango chutney with tamarind (spicy, slow burn). (I managed to arrive home with a bottle of home-made hot pepper sauce and a bottle of home-made mango chutney – the wedding cake is illegal to cross the border since it has rum.

A Lime is a fruit you eat. To Lime (plural Limon) is something you do (hang out).

Trinny Terms A very common phrase: “Coming Just Now” means ‘I hear you, and I am coming sometime in the near future’ (by near future I mean it might be five minutes or an hour: this is known as being on ‘Trinny time’)
“Reaching” means arriving.
If you want someone who is always running on Trinny time to meet you somewhere at 6, tell him/her to “reach for 5” and they might just make it when you do. [tic][but really]
“Bounce’ means to hit something.

Driving in Trinidad is crazy! Excluding the little bit of highway, the roads are narrow and winding. I’d say they drive on the left side of the road, but the truth is, they drive all over the road, and just use the left to get past each other. I think I saw a total of two stop signs on the entire island. Intersections are some form of ordered chaos. I would therefore classify driving in Trinidad as a “religious” experience (it evoked lots of prayer in other words). Pedestrians take their lives into their own hands to cross the street – it is common to denote being a pedestrian by saying “You know you are Trinny to d’ bone when you jump in front of a car and say ‘Bounce Me Now!’” (translation: “I hope I survive crossing the road!”)
When you get gas for the car there are signs that say “ No Naked Lights”
'Naked Lights' are ‘open flames’
Another driving term is “Overtaking” which means ‘passing’ on the highway.

Do not get between a pelican and a school of fish during low tide. Pelicans are like kamikaze pilots when they bounce the water for a fish (it is very cool)!
Don’t get so caught up watching the pelicans that you fail to notice the big wave coming and you have to choose between loosing your {prescription} sunglasses or your swimming suit top when it bounces (and rolls) you.

On a non-tourist beach, the washroom is the ocean. On a tourist beach, it costs 1 TT to use the washroom (so you know for some, the washroom is still the ocean). If you seek a bush to be the washroom, you may find you are never alone – this is affectionately referred to by some missionaries as “bush fellowship”.

“Don’t worry - Be happy” isn’t just a song, but a way of life.

Most importantly, I learned the awesome responsibility to speak the truth of God, knowing that God has spoken, and what I say is my opinion, and just because I get to stand up in the pulpit and give my opinion does not mean I have all the answers, or even all the questions. I am a beggar who found the Bread of Life and I am eager to share, but that doesn’t mean that because God called me to be a missionary in this time and place that I have any special connection to Him or that my prayers are any better than anyone else’s. When someone asks for prayer and I see an open door to an enemy stronghold and God tells me to speak the hard truth in love, I had better do it – I expect the same. Being a humble servant who is desperate for God to supply all my needs and direct my path is a privilege. I hope I was as much a blessing as I was blessed.

Lastly, I learned I have family in Trinidad and Tobago, and I can’t wait to return.