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.
