Weekly Photo Challenge: Everyday Life

Jaywalking at its worst


Jay walking n. walking across a street outside of marked cross-walks and not at a corner, and/or against a signal light. If there is vehicle traffic or clear markings of a place to cross, this is a traffic misdemeanor subject to fine, and may be (but not conclusively) contributory negligence in the event of injury to the jay walker by a vehicle.

This happens everyday.

This irks me every single morning on my way to work. Pedestrians ignore the traffic lights and risk life and limb to dodge traffic as they illegally cross the road.

A herd of Jay Walkers

I took these photos with my phone on my way to work this morning. I apologize for the poor quality of photos, but I wanted to show the very real side of everyday life in the “tropics”. This blatant disregard for basic traffic laws, is an everyday occurrence. You can clearly see that the light for pedestrian crossing never turned green, but these people crossed anyway. Then we wonder crime is so high in our country? If we cannot get the little things right don’t be surprised when we can get a whole Section 34 wrong!

Day 18 – Patience

Today’s Affirmation:

Today I give with love

Late nights and early mornings, make for a very interesting day. Lucy and I had to meet the rest of our tour group for 5 a.m. for a sunrise kayak and nature walk in Nariva Swamp. However, a friend of mine was picking us up. The original meeting time was 4:15, which turned into 4:30 but was actually 4:50. It required a lot of willpower not to hurry my friend up when the tour leader called to say, he was already on his way. My mantra for the day was: It’s all happening perfectly.

We had three stops on the way, which of course resulted in further delays. We finally met the tour leader at 5:30 but we still had to wait for the kayak man. More patience. Finally, we were on our way just as the sun was rising. It was simply breath-taking driving along the coast in Manzanilla and watching the first rays of morning over the tops of the coconut trees.

We stopped at a very humble looking house just off the main road to the right. We were here.

Nariva Swamp is declared a Ramsar Site. The Ramsar Convention is an international convention for the protection of wetlands of international importance. Nariva is the largest freshwater wetland in Trinidad and Tobago, which a vast array of habitats and wildlife. The swamp comes alive with the first rays of light, hence the early start.

Our tour Leader Courtenay Rooks is a National Geographic Naturalist. His tour was over-subscribed so he gave us a choice of kayaking or boating in. Lucy wanted to take pix so I opted to stay in the boat with her. It’s a 30-minute kayak into the swamp and then you get to Bush Bush, a land peninsular that juts out into Nariva Swamp and which is home to Red Howler and White-Fronted Capuchin Monkeys. The boat should be less than half that…that is…if the boat returns. So those of us left behind for the second boat trip had a test in patience, which I’m afraid I failed. But the bright side was that we discovered a Doudouce mango tree and well had our fill.

The boat arrived and we were off into a world of mangrove, palm trees and lots and lots of crabs. When we were back on land once again, we were greeted by a wooden structure or house which started and ended the trails. Now, Courtenay said walk with insect repellant. What Courtenay didn’t say was that you should wash your clothes in insect repellant, bathe in it, lotion up with it and then come on this tour. Mosquitos are everywhere and they bite through your clothes.

White-Fronted Capuchin Monkey, Bush Bush, Nariva Swamp

The trail is lush and green. The smell of nature is everywhere, the musky odour of porcupine, the mustiness of monkey urine, the greenness of the place. Tropical Forest dominates the area. It’s sensory overload.

Trail Walking in Bush Bush, Nariva Swamp, Trinidad. Photos: Lucy Masters

And then…MONKEYS!!! Bush Bush is a flat wide trail which makes it easy to spot them. The White-Fronted Capuchins were in the trees all around us. They were curious about us too, they kept coming closer. It was amazing. We saw some Howlers high up in the branches. We heard them too and let me tell you…it is one of the spookiest things ever. We saw a Toucan and we only smelled the porcupine.

The trails were nice and cool so you didn’t feel the morning sun. But after exploring the forest for about 2 hrs, our tummies were rumbling and it was soon time to leave. Going back the way we came, Lucy and I were on the first boat trip out.

Bush Bush, Nariva Swamp

We were absolutely looking forward to lunch in Plum Mitan. Another place I’ve never been to in Trinidad. Unfortunately, the boat had engine problems and this delayed our departure by an hour and half. PATIENCE.

We eventually had to leave Courtenay behind and head to Plum Mitan. Another long drive but thankfully the Sooknanans who are great friends of Courtenay’s were ready and waiting. They prepared a mouth-watering buss-up-shut country-style curry lunch for us. And boy did we eat. I had lunch on a banana leaf. Was YUMMY!!!

The after effects of Curry

Curry Aftermath or as we say in Trinidad “Ethnic Malaise”

It was a great day. I discovered a part of my island I have never been to before. I had curry in Plum Mitan. And I had some lessons in Patience. Today’s gift, you guessed it, patience. I know that everything is happening in its own time at the perfect pace. Sometimes we have to tap into nature’s patient pace to learn that.

Tendering Carnival?

Carnival Tuesday 2011, Spice Band

This is not a fete in here, this is madness…

It seems as though when these ministers get their instruments of appointment it comes with a slap in the face that leaves them stupid and dazed for 5 years.

This PP is a government of ideas and this latest headline grabber joins other Hall of Infamers like the tunnel from Tunapuna to Maracas, Allowing PH Operators the same privilege as H car Owners, Laptops for every secondary school student and the Airport in South. Whatever happened to these ideas?

And why can’t we hear from our PM? A masquerader herself…how does she feel about this latest verbal diarrhea?

Can you privatize the intangible? Can you privatize air? Because trying to privatize this spontaneous combustion of artistic expression, rhythm and music, the heartbeat of a people is what attempting to privatize Trini Carnival will be about.

This newly minted Minister of the Arts and Multiculturalism, Dr Lincoln Douglas seems to have forgotten that Carnival existed before NGC, TUCO, PanTrinbago, before the PP, UNC, and PNM. It existed before The Mighty Sparrow, Shadow and long before Ambassador Machel.

On d road, Carnival Monday 2011, Spice Band

Carnival cannot be privatized.

Carnival may not be profitable for the Government of the day, but the Trinbagonians profit big time. From Bandleaders to Newspapers, hotels to the doubles man by the corner, DJs and even gas stations…the people profit from Carnival.

Maybe you can privatize an event within the festivities…maybe…but not the Carnival. Mr Douglas has to be out of his damn mind if he thinks that this is so. Aunty Verna where are you, when we need you? This one should be sent to St. Ann’s for evaluation.

What Minister Douglas should seek to do is equip the bodies charged with the responsibilities of producing our various Carnival events with trained staff to produce a better product.

But yuh know what I feel, I feel this man was reading papers and saw that Dean A looking to secure the Miss Universe Franchise and he had a “light bulb moment”. But padna before you roll out this idea, think, think some more, stop, think again, speak to stakeholders – bandleaders, heads of the various carnival and Arts related bodies, formulate a game plan aaaaaaand then talk to a PR person BEFORE you make a statement to the public.

I remember, I was helping a cousin with some school projects, proof-reading and editing and she insisted that she pay me. She also thought it was a good way to make some extra money. When I rolled out the idea to a friend, he grilled me worse that the sharks in Shark Tank. I got upset and defensive, but what he did was, show me that having a great idea is one thing, execution and follow-through however, demands a lot of thought and planning. A lesson I will always remember.

Minister Douglas, for your sake, “doh play mas and fraid powder” let this one, like the other stillborns before it, die a natural death.

Day 5 – The gift of friendship

This was taken on my much anticipated trip to Bequia last year. Here, I’m having a mango in the market. The guy behind, is a Trinidadian, living and selling his produce there.

Today’s affirmation:

Today I give with love.

Yesterday, I got 3 Julie mangoes from my friend Lucy. After coconuts, it doesn’t get more Caribbean than mangoes and I just love ‘em.

When we were kids, my brother, sister and I would sit with a bucket full and eat to our heart’s content. In Trinidad we have quite a variety but my absolute favourites are Julie, Doudouce, Starch and Long Mango. And for each one I have a favourite way of eating it.

To eat a Julie Mango requires some preparation. I like it ripe but not over ripe, it must be firm to the touch and from the smell of the skin alone, you know it’s gonna be that custardy-mango-y goodness. Then, I slice both faces off and place on a plate with a spoon. For the seed, I peel the skin around it and that joins the others on the plate. Then I find a nice comfy chair, sit and savour each spoonful of mango. The seed I devour and sometimes suck until you can no longer tell if it was ever yellow.

Doudouce, is a small, sweet mango; so small, the entire fruit can fit in your mouth. The skin on a doudouce could range from a dusky rose, to a reddish orange to a bright yellow. All of them, small and sweet, this is one good thing that comes in a small package. For a doudouce, I employ the squeeze and suck method. You gently squeeze the skin of the mango, until the pulp is soft to the touch. Then you bite a small hole in the skin, and suck out all the sweetness. Ambrosia of the fruit world, I tell you.

Starch mango was my mother’s favourite. She would choose the most unblemished ones, peel and savour. Me, I prefer to bite the skin off, suck off all the pulp on the skin and then devour the rest of the mango. Starch mango is a really sweet treat.

Long mango, unfortunately is like the mongrel of the mango world. But it is abundant and sweet. As children, we would raid my aunt’s tree and spend most of day eating our loot, mango juice running down our arms and covering our faces. Oh the glory days of youth.

I decided yesterday, that today’s gift was going to be one of the Julie mangoes. I just had to find the person to give it to. Even, though I grew up with mangoes as a part of my life, everyone I knew had a mango tree in their backyard, in my research I learnt that mangoes were first grown in India over 5000 years ago. And that it is also considered a symbol of Love there. A basket of mangoes is considered a gesture of friendship in India.

It is so poignant to me that I chose ‘giving with love’ as today’s affirmation. I gave my gift of love and friendship, a mango, to my friend Lena. She has been such a pillar of strength for me at times in my life when I really needed her. Though small, it was given with big intentions and blessings.

Day 3 – The gift of time

As the sun set on our a lovely day, this person stood on the beach and looked as if he was standing on the edge of a pathway…we are all on a journey and people may come and join us for parts of it, maybe change our course a bit, but at the end of the day, we are on our own.

Today’s affirmation:

Today I give with love.

Today is my brother-in-law’s birthday and my sister organized a surprise beach celebration. I LOVE birthdays and I LOVE surprise birthday celebrations. Which means I hate it when people spoil a surprise. I almost ruined everything on Thursday night, forgetting he was in the car and talking about having to walk with sunblock to the beach. Anyways, my sister passed it off as something else and we were able to successfully surprise him.

I chose today’s affirmation because I knew I would be around my family and some of my closest friends and I really wanted to be present in the moment. I wanted to tap into the love I knew would be all around me today and let it flow though me. We were also celebrating my little cousin’s success at the SEA he got his first choice school: Hillview College. So very proud of him.

There were many special moments during the course of the day that were treasures and I was being mindful of giving time and attention, which for me means love. I could count the time I spent with one of my friend’s son who is under-5 and wanted to play in the water while his Dad was playing football on the beach. We spent an hour playing in the shallow and I think I was more excited seeing him experience such a simple probably overlooked pleasure, than he was. His exclamation, “Ugh, SALTY!” when some water got into his mouth and his expression were priceless.

I could count the time and effort spent organising the day itself. I could count the whole day as a gift to myself, it was such lovely day in the sun. While all those moments or gifts are special, it was during a conversation I had with my friend Lucy, punch-drunk from the sun and sea that I realised what the day’s true gift was.

I met Lucy through a friend of a friend, who I saw in person only twice. It was such an accidental meeting but it stood out because he and I had different variations of the same name and his sister and I had the same name. Vernette is a pretty unusual name in Trinidad and I like to think the world over, so when I heard there was another Vernette in Trini as well, this was obviously a meant-to-be friendship.

He told me about 3 months ago that a friend of his was coming to Trinidad for a couple of months and he wanted me to meet her and spend some time with her while she was here. A Facebook friend request, BBM pin exchange and a couple of Skype calls later, Lucy and I were hitting it off. Excitement was brewing on both sides of the world as she prepared to leave London for the Caribbean. When she arrived and we met in person…we were already friends.

Lucy and I being friends, is from a series of events that had any one thing been different it could just as easily not have happened. Our journeys on this earth are really the result of the choices we make. The choices we been making our whole lives, led us to the moment on a beach in Trinidad, brown from the sun, mellow from beer and a good curry (my Aunty really put her foot in that pot, I’m still licking my fingers) sharing about an experience we were going through unbeknown to the other.

And that was it. That was my gift. That honest, open sharing about that experience was my gift. You know that saying, “people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime” I always think it sounds cliché but it’s true. Our paths touched at a time when we both needed to hear about each other’s story. It’s hard sometimes to just be in the moment and trust that you are right where you are supposed to be, that everything is happening just as it is supposed to and that you will be ok. But, that is exactly what it is about. Timing is everything.

    Bad things, good things, sad things, great things: Stop. Breathe. Breathe again. Bless it. Learn from it. Start again.