10 Things about Trinidad

Just some random thoughts from last week’s visit.

• I hadn’t been back since 2005, and so I was shocked at all the construction going on in Port of Spain. There seemed to be a new project every few feet! Where is all this money coming from? I don’t have a problem with the development, but I hope that some of this is also going to get poured into our schools and hospitals.
• One cool thing I noticed was the new bus system. I suppose there were always PTSC buses coming into Maraval, but the new ones look quite comfortable and seemed to be pretty frequent, too. More of this, please!
• While spending over an hour a day slogging through the traffic on Saddle Road and elsewhere, I thought about how great it would be to have some bike lanes so that you could hop on and whiz past all the cars. Those of us in suburbs like Maraval should really be able to make better use of the roads than just driving.
• I discovered the Valsayn doubles guy & girl. Why have I been going to Curepe and risking bodily harm/auto theft all this time, when deliciousness was available with no wait just 5 minutes away? I love you, Valpark doubles.
• Apparently Kay Donna won’t let you in if you show up 3 hours late for the movie. Weak!
• I hope the person responsible for this has been fired, and also flogged.
• I spent a lot of time listening to budget-related chat on the talk radio stations, including interviews with Panday and Kamla. The people’s opposition is really quite feeble. Get ready for 5 more years of Manning, unless something very big changes.
• Speaking of whom, check out who’s joined the WordPress crew! Quite the coup, if you ask me.
• I stopped by the reincarnation of Woodford Cafe in Movietowne. The food was quite good, but they insisted on playing music at clubbing volumes. If I wanted to be at Zen, I’d go there, Woodford Cafe.
• No matter how frustrated I get dealing with the ridiculousness of the islands, a drive to Maracas always makes everything better. How can you stay mad at a country that looks like this? I’m already thinking about how to make it back in 2008…