My Crockpot

My old crockpot was the smartest thing I brought with me, when first moving to Trinidad and having no idea what my living arrangements would be. (A friend was setting things up for me and money was low.) No matter what, something can be made in it with very cheap ingredients.

Now, while I still have my old one (over 30 years old!) that works fine, I also have a new, bigger one for cooking much larger batches. Beans and soups are especially good...cook all day or all night and enjoy the smells while having your meal ready without much fuss.

I'm still surprised that some people never heard of the crockpot - or "slow cooker" - as it's known in some circles. Many of my friends were surprised about it, when I told them how cool it is. Hmmm...maybe it's about different eras. The crockpot was a big deal in the '70s, but I guess it lost favor with more and more fast-food, frozen food options for busy people.

I never really tried some of the more elaborate things, like making a cake in the crockpot. No need. But it does bake and "hold" potatoes well. And I made apple butter that is scrumptious. It made the whole house smell wonderful for hours.

My favorite cooking recipe site, allrecipes.com , has a whole section for slow cookers. (That is, crockpots. Not people who are slow in the kitchen ;-) Check it out if you want a home smelling like Thanksgiving in the middle of the week!

Trini Christmas

Even during this economic slowdown, Trindad and Tobago loves Christmas. Lights were going up in November, and Parang music played on the radio. One station starts with "100 days till Christmas"...which, think about it, is over 3 months ahead!!

Food, family, and music are the cornerstones of a Trini Christmas. True Trini women know how to cook....boooiiiy!! Pastelles (like tamales, wrapped in banana leaves), black cake (dark fruitcake soaked in rum), ponche de creme (like eggnog with a big KICK), sorrel (not like anything else...a wonderful red drink), ham, baked goods made the "old way", ...the smells are amazing.

Shopping at 10 degrees

OK. I get it. Blogging is all about regular posts.  Well, lately I've slacked off since my life has been fairly consumed by a mid-career change.  I'll try to be more regular.

I started this as a blog about living here in Trinidad and Tobago. Maybe it's because I'm just not so "new" to Trinidad. After all, there are things I love about the place...the multicultural, multi-perspective mix of people, the cooking smells (people REALLY cook here!), living next to the rainforest with all the birds and frogs, the sense of humour that abounds here...

Then there are the terrible roads, crazy drivers, lack of law enforcement, increase in crime, system breakdowns, corruption, etc...

To live here is like living in a special "club" - you have to know where to go and how to do things. Outsiders have a hard time of it, unless they stay in the "foreign" places and pay way too much for services. Only "the people" know which shop on which street may have a particular item - much of the info  you need is learned by word-of-mouth so you better know a lot of "mouths" to ask!

It's so different from when I came here 10 years ago. I remember almost crying in the market because almost everything product I was used to wasn't there. Now I'm not so tied to American products, for the most part, and use local as I can. Cheaper, fresher, tastier veggies and fruits. More fresh than canned.

Not that I don't shop online! That has made life much easier, since many of the "American" products we get may be seconds or worse in quality. And we pay 2-3 times as much for them. Trust me, the third world is the dumping place for vendors who can't get it sold in the sales racks or discount stores in the States.

Any Trini "traveling" walks with a list from people of things to "carry back" for them. I mostly shop for clothes, as the sizes and quality here just isn't for me. Then there are simple food items that can't be found, or rarely found, primarily name brand products.  (graham crackers, canned yams...) There IS one store in the mall that stocks many "American" items. You pay for it twice over, but not bad for one or two things you just have to taste once again.

Not to mention Mexican food! In truth, there is an abundance of food choices here, but never Mexican. I miss it, coming from southern Arizona, literally "down the street" from Mexico. My last trip abroad, I was happy just to smell the odors in a Mexican restaurant. Eating it was heavenly.

It's all a matter of balancing what you MUST have, what you WANT to have, and what you NEED.

Breadfruit

Breadfruit. It's a bit unusual and one won't find it much outside of where it grows, in the tropics. Thanks to the whole Mutiny on the Bounty story, I was fascinated to come upon it here in Trinidad.

(photo courtesy Jeannine Remy) 

In fact, I HEARD it first, as many fell on the tin roof covering the panyard where I was playing. BAM! We'd all duck, not sure how dangerous the noise was. But then, realizing it was from the giant breadfruit tree towering above us, we continued playing. That tree was what so many looked for, when they visited the "Mecca of Pan" here in Trinidad.
Sadly, that famous tree has now been cut down and replaced with big commercial signage. Sigh.

(For more history of Invaders and pan:   http://www.meppublishers.com/online/caribbean-beat/past_issues/index.php?pid=2000&id=cb101-1-51 )

Back to breadfruit. I loved eating pieces of it in fish broth, but also wanted to try something new. Coming upon a recipe for breadfruit souffle' it was an interesting challenge for me. It took about an hour of prep, followed by 45+  minutes to bake. I'm happy to say that it turned out great, tasting somewhat like a thicker potato au gratin, with more savory seasoning.
Here's the final product. The recipe came out of the cookbook Caribbean Flavors by Wendy Rahamut.

Post-Carnival Quiet, Japan Trembles

It's strange how, after all the Carnival hype and revelry, things are so much quieter. Last Thursday and Friday the traffic seemed lighter, and the same for the weekend. I guess people are still snoozing and resting up. But in truth, from August the mas bands start launching their new costumes and the cycle repeats. Craziness.

Poor Japan - It's not surprising, as a whole, if you understand tectonic plate theory, which I teach. Still and all, it's puzzling why so many large earthquakes are happening, Hmmm....a nefarious plot of underground testing gone awry? Or just more immediate and thorough medi coverage?

I have always respected the Japanese people. Thank goodness the few people I know from there are OK. The culture is so organized and efficient, at least they have many systems in place  that will help with their recovery. Still, in another way it can be even more devastating to a culture which sets high standards and expectations. Facing such a situation means a huge upheaval, socially and psychologically.

I bet we'll see no looting or storming of relief trucks, however. The Japanese people are so polite, patient, and follow procedures. It should, at least, help to speed up efforts to alleviate their suffering. God bless them all.

Carnival is Coming

It's that time again, when all craziness breaks loose. Scary driving on the roads here have been amplified by a police "sickout" as well as increased drinking and driving. A new law against using phones while driving may have some impact, we can hope. If it's actually enforced, which is questionable.

Here's some more information on it all and where it came from:

Carnival and History

At schools, the Education Ministry sponsors Soca Tours in conjunction with local radio stations. I'm not sure how this is greatly beneficial to the students, but it IS part of the culture.  Here's a glimpse of what it's like (please forgive the audio, the bass messed with my camera):

Another aspect of the Carnival season is the Panorama competition among steelbands. This is truly like the Olympics of steelpan, with bands from all over competing; some with 120 pannists performing. There have already been preliminaries and now we will have an all-day competition to determine who makes it to the Finals. Here's an example:

Desperadoes at Preliminaries 2011

Carnival is full of music (calypso, soca, pan), costumes, parties (fetes), laughter, dancing,...and much more. So much so that many Trinis even leave to go on vacations, in order to escape it all. (All schools and businesses are closed on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Ash Wednesday varies, depending on individual establishments.) Here's more info on what's up during the weeks prior and then the actual Carnival (two days before Ash Wednesday.)

Trinidad Carnival Info

Others are fortunate to live away from most of it all, except for some noisy parties by neighbors. It's good to be where you aren't forced to be in it....take a walk and enjoy the peace...

So whether we are jumping and dancing or escaping, Carnival is an annual celebration that many, if not most Trinis look forward to.

Dry Season

Trinidad has two seasons, the Wet Season and the Dry Season. That's it. A weather person here has an easy job..."High 32 deg. C, low 24. Chance of rain."

Where I live, the proximity to the coast and prevailing wind currents, along with the mountains and rain forest vegetation means it rains most mornings at about 3 a.m. I don't know why the time is so consistent; maybe it's the convection currents and the time it takes for the warm air and moisture to cool off and interact. But it's nice to hear the rain on the "galvanize" (local term for the tin roofs).

It seems hotter during the rainy season, just before it rains. No breeze, and the heat gets oppressive. The daily rain is warm, of course, but ranges from drizzles at the start to pounding torrents. This is accompanied by landslides and flooding, which in turn bring traffic woes and delays upon us.

The dry season, in contrast, has some rain at times, but not usually in the middle of the day. Any rain is short-lived, so there is usually no flooding. Many days there is none. While it is still hot and humid, the humidity seems a bit less and  there are often breezes. If you are near the ocean, you get the cooler "sea breezes" which are wonderful, even if they rust out some things prematurely.

One of the best things, for me, is that I can once again enjoy my gallery, or covered porch, where I sit and read or write, enjoying the birds and masses of green all around me. More fresh air rather than cowering in the air-conditioned sanctions from the stifling heat and humidity. Relaxing sounds of birds, wind chimes, the wind itself, and neighborhood children.

Now is when I appreciate even more that I do live in a paradise...until I drive down the road and hit another one of those million potholes that never get fixed.

Flushed with Success

Who knew that shopping for a toilet seat was so technical?

 For the first time in my life, after once again almost falling off "the throne" due to a broken hinge, I embarked on a quest for a new toilet seat. Mind you, I rent, and my landlord tends to do things "sorta allright." So I've learned not to be a perfectionist. But when safety is an issue, I need to step in.

Since the defective seat was a flimsy plastic thing that one couldn't even sit on when closed, I was determined to go for a bit higher quality without being flamboyant (I really didn't need a polished oak seat, or a padded one. I did almost consider one on which I could train my cat to "go" but decided against it.)

Measuring tape in hand, I measured across, down, and between posts, as those seemed the most likely. Also I did it in inches and centimeters, as we get both here. That completed, I was on my way to the local hardware store (no Target or K-Mart here.)

It was amusing to see that, of all the departments in the place, three people had converged on the toilet seat section. We all had our tiny papers with measurements and our measuring tapes in hand. After sharing stories about our broken seats (you get comfortable fast with strangers who also have "toilet troubles" it seems), we started picking through the bins. There were not too many choices.

That was hard. The display had no rhyme or reason, no sizing, not even color classification. In fact, many of the seats were in plain brown boxes so you couldn't tell anything about them without opening them up. No being a shy consumer, I started pulling boxes down and opening them up, then measuring. We all leaned towards the conservative; no one was interested in the clear seat with sea shells embedded, or the blue clear "fish" toilet seat.

At one point a salesperson came up to ask us if we needed help, but she was obviously not trained in the intricacies of toilet seat replacement. She did, however, inform us that toilet seats were not returnable. Ya think? EEEUW!

I ended up with a "green" toilet seat. I mean, it's white, but made of recycled materials, which proved to be a godsend, since it needed a bit of "tweaking" to fit. OK. Maybe I didn't measure so accurately or note the exact shape of my toilet. Or maybe it's another one of my landlord's "finds" that is not quite standard. But with a bit of drilling and if you don't look too closely, my beautiful white scalloped toilet seat makes my bathroom a bit more lavish. And it also has a special feature....it is easily snapped off for cleaning (who takes off the toilet seat to clean it, anyway??)

Chalk this up to one more unique experience ten degrees north of the equator.

Technology International

OK. I got used to the fact that I can't download music from the iTunes store. (My country is not one of those listed.) But now, with all the excitement about the Mac Apps store, I find that I can't download apps. Instead, I must purchase the boxed version and wait....wait....wait....for it to be shipped overseas.

Mind  you, it's easy enough to purchase my laptop and assorted other tech gadgets online. My Macbook Pro came directly from Apple in record time. It seems that the problem is with the approval for downloads, somehow. I see some very obscure countries listed as being approved. So is this a political thing? Another "who-knows-who" setup? An unannounced embargo against Trinidad and Tobago?

Last year I tried to purchase a dress from a store in NYC. I had done my homework, having my U.S. skybox listed as an additional address for my credit card, so the shipping was done domestically. Yet, no matter what I or the salesperson on the phone did, we could not get the order to go through. Finally, after much discussion and the manager's investigation, we found that the computer checked my computer's location, and it denied them from taking the order!!  No matter that my credit card was fine and I can purchase thousands of dollars worth online, for airline tickets to merchandise. This was not Kleinfeld's, either, but a basic women's clothing store. (I finally had to have a family member purchase it for me from within the U.S. and send it to me...still had to pay the delivery charge and way too much for the local VAT and import taxes.)

Admittedly, compared to a decade ago, things are much easier. We have on-demand movies and a wealth of cable channels (although many are in Spanish and many are changed from English-speaking to Spanish with no notice! ) We have faster internet service that is quite reliable and access from almost anywhere in the country, even with some free hotspots around.

Our cellphones work (well, better than before) and we can get updated models (mostly 6 months and older models, at 3 times the price in the U.S.). We can order and have most things delivered in about 2 weeks, which is half the time it used to take.

So - what's the holdup? Why are we being blanked for download services from some vendors? Anyone know?