Port of Spain

We stopped in Trinidad for two days after 9 days on the ship.  Although they were fun and a lot happened, from Sea Olympics to cultural fashion show to midterms to other stuff, a break on the land was highly needed. I missed the air and walking aimlessly J

Unfortunately, it was very humid and rained for both days we were there, but we still managed to explore the city of Port of Spain. We had doubles, street food, wandered around the Independence square and enjoyed the markets. We then went to Apsara restaurant and had yummy and very spicy Indian food. It was simply WONDERFUL. The Indian ice cream, kulfi, is for sure one of my favorite desserts now.

At night, I went with Semester at Sea on a field program to Carnival Fete.  It was an exclusive festival organized and sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism for Semester at Sea. It felt like a real carnival. There were street food, doubles, shark burgers, dumplings, coconut water and coconut ice cream. Of course, I tried all of them :D God bless Antacid :P Anyway, there were many types of dancing. There were kids on long sticks, fancy dressed women in peacock costumes, and belly dancers representing the Indian legacy in Trinidad.

                                      

The main performers for the entire night were the pannists, artists who play steel pans, and they were SO GOOD. Trinidad is famous for steel pans, a musical instrument that I have never heard of before. They originated in Trinidad and were made of oil barrels, but their manufacturing nowadays has immensely improved. Trinidadians are so friendly, and it was very clear how welcoming they were. They were so happy that SASers were in Port of Spain and wanted to make sure that our stay was memorable. After the fete, we got gift bags with some sweets, a pen and other stuff.

The following day, I did not do much because first of all, it rained when I got out and I was completely wet and secondly, the internet in the port terminal was GREAT that I did some research, skyped and even watched some of my favorite shows. Oh, I had KFC as well because I did not know how to spend the money left on me plus I was craving it. :P 

Since we were in Trinidad, where 35.4% of the population is East Indian, then of course I was thought to be Indian :D A shopkeeper thought I was Indian because I was buying spices, and when I told her that I am from Egypt, here is how the conversation went, "Are your parents from Egypt?" "Yes." "They did not move from India?" "No." "Are they purely Egyptian?" ''Well, I believe my dad is, my mum has mixed blood but nothing to do with India." "You know how Indians like to move a lot, I am sure there is some Indian blood within you." At that point I felt like she was going to say that I am adopted, and I would have probably believed her :D :P

P.S. Port of Spain is a really interesting small city. Again, it was a needed land break.  The city seemed industrialized but Trinidad has high rates of corruption.  It is hard to tell in two days how the economic situation is.