The best part about a vacation get-away is the getting away from it all – away from work, away from household chores and getting out of the rat race. The next best thing is coming back home to familiarity – sleeping in your own bed, eating food you recognize, clean restrooms, etc. The “coming back home” experience can be really special when returning from another country where things like food, customs, and various creature comforts are just not the same as in the good old USA. We don’t often appreciate the little things. I think it is healthy to be reminded of what we do have here, by seeing other places.
I recently returned from a week-long trip to Trinidad and Tobago and boy is it nice to be home! Don’t get me wrong – Trinidad is a great place to visit with wonderful people, beautiful tropical forests, and awesome beaches. My visit to Trinidad was not your typical Caribbean island vacation get-away. But, that was by choice. I spent a week in Trinidad with a team of 18 people from my church conducting a Vacation Bible School for children. Before we left the states I was explaining to my 14 year old son how Trinidad is not a third-world country, yet the day we arrived the electricity went out in the town of Gasparillo where we were staying. Consequently, when the electricity went out the household water pump stopped working leaving us with no running water. My son quickly pointed out to me, “Dad, now we are in a third-world country”. Amazing how we all view the world through our own reference point. I must point out, that the locals didn’t freak out a bit.
The driving in Trinidad is either frightening or exhilarating, depending on your point of view. First off, they drive on the left side, or should I say (as an American driver) the “wrong” side of the road. Rarely do they stop at stop signs and when they come to an intersection they all cram their cars in together and aggressively negotiate who goes next by moving their vehicle within inches of each other. Eventually someone gives in, toots their horn and waves the other car in, or yells something like “go on boy”. It just seems to all work. Not really sure how, but it does.
The most beautiful place we visited in Trinidad was Maracas Bay. Even short-term missionaries deserve their day in the sun. We spent a day eating Bake-N-Shark sandwiches, body surfing, and just limin’ on the beach. The waves at Maracas Bay are very powerful and can hurt you if you’re not careful. A teenage girl in our group was pummeled by a large wave and broke her collar bone. As in all new endeavors or experiences -- “be prepared”.
Some of the experiences from my trip that made me really appreciate the things we too often take for granted were the daily cold showers (or no showers), very hot and humid weather (even though Austin does have its share, Trinidad has it beat in that department), no air conditioning, large downpours of rain every day, and tons of mosquitoes. However, none of that dampened our great experience.
In spite of the temporary discomforts in Trinidad, I’ll definitely be going back again. The people were fantastic and we achieved our objectives. Using vacation time to serve others is rewarding and the kindness and friendship returned was well worth the investment.
In Untagged
Comment (0)
Read More...
year there were a lot more technical sessions to choose from and overall the presentations seemed more professional than in the previous years. I also liked that the Monday tutorials were included in the overall conference registration fee, rather than an extra charge. 