End of a week, End of a month

This picture at the right was taken from one of the three places that we stopped to look at the view of the Caribbean Sea.



Eight of us took a trip to the north end of the island for Bake & Shark. It is a shark sandwich, and the bun is like a scone. This particular shack, Richard's, is the widely recommended one for lunch. Once you get your sandwich that has been freshly cooked, you put on your own toppings, lots of sauces, mustard, ketchup, etc. from which to choose. It was definitely worth the trip!





It is quite a experience to drive on any of the roads in Trinidad, and we hear, on any of the islands. Cars, in any amount, came after the roads were constructed and houses and buildings were already in place along the roads. Cars became more plentiful when petroleum and natural gas became export products. Most of the population uses the buses, taxis, etc.

We had a minor miracle on our trip through the switchbacks in the mountains. We had been following a truck for quite awhile and Elder Greene decided to pass. The truck driver motioned for us to go around and so we started around, only to see a car coming very fast. We quickly passed the truck as the car slowed to let us in, a very close call. Our friends behind us saw it all happen and saw a policeman go around the truck, thinking he was after us. But, no, he pulled the truck over. He, too, must have seen the driver wave us by him! We we unaware of the senerio until we stopped to chat. The Lord looks out for missionaries!

We are still in the dry season, yet, the flowers and trees are beautiful. You can tell it is the dry season. I am looking forward to seeing it all become greener when the rainy season comes. We were in a downpour when we stopped at a small shopping area to have lunch at a great place for sandwiches. The clientèle was different, more affluent, than any place we have been thus far. We will probably go back to the area for tourist items before we leave. We have asked when the rainy season starts and the answer is "who knows, it is leap year."

We live in Valsayn, which is a very nice community by Trini standards. We have walked in the mornings through the neighborhood and see lovely, big, well kept homes. There are 46 apartments in our complex, so when we say we are at 9 Valsayn Villas, everyone knows where we are. One of the other couples live down the street in Camelot, which is another set of apartments. One person doesn't own all the apartments, so it is more like condos, I guess. We have seen some really nice looking apartments close by, but the rent will be out of our price range. We are within a mile or two of the office, which we love.

We always feel rich with lots of 100's in our wallet. They are worth about $17 US. When we shop, everything looks really expensive! We are still getting used to unusual items in the stores and lack of things we are familiar with to eat. We have yet to go to Price Smart (like Costco) and get some of the items we like. I have to prepare dessert for 30 for Wed night, so hopefully our checks arrive soon, then we can find something good there for the missionaries. We have 14 coming and and 12 going home.

We received a letter from one of the men we practiced with for giving the lessons at the MTC. It was sweet of him to write. He served a mission on Angitua several years ago.

We love you all and enjoy your emails.
Mom & Dad

We have a queen bed and it is very comfortable. We sleep with just a sheet. We turn the AC on a couple of hours before bed and then turn it off when we retire because it is very noisy and so far we have slept comfortably. It rained last night and woke us up and it sounds very loud when it hits the AC unit. We will get used to it and not even notice when it rains.

Our couch and love seat in the living room are very nice looking, but a smoker lived here 2 tenants ago and it smells of stale smoke. Dad stuffs up when he sits on it. I don't enjoy the smell either. We aren't sure what we will do. It was a great place for our scripture study and to just relax. We may try covering it with our extra sheets, but that will look rather tacky!
We are delighted to have as nice of an apartment as we do by Trinidad standards.

We are struggling with the language! They use tons of slang, speak fast, and softly. All of the office couples say they can't understand the Trinis either. We don't communicate often enough with them to get better. We try to talk to the people in the shops at lunch for more practice. Some are easier than others.

This is our pool taken through our bedroom window. Notice the tired roof on the changing rooms. There is a field behind the building where corn and a banana tree. The hill in the background it quite a way from our apartment. We haven't been in the pool yet, but do plan to give it a try. One of our neighbors uses it regularly.

Our bathroom is very small, but it is indoor plumbing. The sink is directly across from the toilet. The water pressure has been good. We understand the water turns brown when the tank gets low, so we run the water in the washer before we add the clothes to be sure the white ones won't come out brown. So far, no brown showers.
We have a water filter for our drinking water. We have to wash all vegetables and fruit before we eat them in the water from that tap. We are glad we don't have to boil water. We have been drinking more pop than we should just because we know it is safe. We have bottled water at the office.

View into the living room

Our 2nd floor apartment #9 Valsayn Villas, Valsayn, Trinidad

The "office training" class. Sister Dudley, Karrens, Rosses, Ellsworths, Pypers, Harris's
We had a lot of fun in the class and shared many experiences that helped us feel close to each other.
We headed to the airport at 6:00 am on May 23. We had tons of leg room on both planes. We know that was a blessing!