Traveling To Trinidad!

Background: This trip to Trinidad and Barbados consisted of three faculty and two graduate students (me being one of them) from the ag department as well as six faculty and five graduate students from the health department. We were looking at global food security along the lines of the international dimensions of childhood obesity. This blog is purely my personal experience on the trip and does not reflect the views or opinions of others. It also has no relationship with the university or funding agency. 

Now that we have that over with; 

Thursday (April 11) we traveled from Houston to Trinidad with a stop in Miami. Besides the long day of traveling and way too many hours sitting in a car, plane, airport, or bus, (or standing in lines) the trip went rather smoothly. The line to get through immigration took forever! Then we had to find our bags and get in another very long line to go through customs. One member of our group however, could not find is bag… (this is his first international trip). Surprisingly he had a very good attitude about it and hoped for the best. If this had been me, lets just say I would not have handled it very well. He was told his bag was on the plane with us, so that meant someone else had to of taken it while we were standing in the immigration line forever. What are the chances of that person bringing it back to the airport? With everything still inside? Was it even an accident? I’d say the chances are pretty low he would ever see it again. Very low actually.

We got to Norma’s Bed and Breakfast at about midnight (that’s 15 hours of travel people!). Breakfast was at 7:30 the next morning and guess what arrived at Norma’s at about that same time? His bag. Yes, I’m not kidding you. It must have been an accident and whoever took it realized it wasn’t theirs and took it back to the airport, and it was brought to Norma’s within eight hours! I couldn't believe it. There are still good people in this world!

Friday (April 12) we met with some faculty and students at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. We also got a tour of campus which was a lot of walking in hot muggy air, but thanks to my 50spf, I did manage to stay un-burnt. The sun is quite different when you are this much closer to the equator. And being “pigment impaired” as some refer to it, a high spf applied frequently can be a life savor. 

After lunch we toured the nearby little town of Lopinot. We saw a very cool playground structure exercise thing.

And must I say some adorable kids!

We got our first look into some of the reasons Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing childhood obesity issues....

(nice photo bomb kid, haha)

There is a KFC on every corner, no joke.

And we got to see a small farmer that grows a bunch of different types of herbs as well as tilapia. 

Then we headed back to Norma’s and for dinner I had a double. It was an egg-like bread/tortilla fried thing with a chickpea something filling. It was kinda like a soft taco, but better. It was delicious, but it came with a little surprise. I got the milder one called a “slight” and I was warned of it being spicy before I started eating. Even with that warning, I was not prepared for the heat my tongue was about to experience. Apparently the sauce with the kick is only dabbed in the middle of the double. So your first few bites are wonderful and you start to wonder what everyone was talking about... and then it hits you. Like a slap in the face. Or rather like a flame on your tongue. But of course you eat the rest of it because that’s the only spicy bite and the thing is darn right delicious. After I finished eating and was half way through a bottle of water in a matter of seconds, the fire on my tongue started to flicker, but then my lips started to tingle. Next time I think I’ll ask if there is a “none” option instead of “slight”, drinking 16 ounces of water to douse my tongue is not something I enjoy on a regular basis. At all really, if I’m being honest. I also would like to point out the how doubles are purchased. They are all over the place, anyone can just pull over to the side of the road, take the cooler out of there trunk filled with all the fixings, and start serving. Food safety practices? Is this sanitary? Would this happen in the US? Not a chance. 

Returning to Texas

The last two days we spent at a resort that was right on the beach (Pacific side). The view was great and I think it was just what everyone needed after two weeks of intensive hiking and class work.

 I decided to treat myself to a pedicure, lets face it, my feet deserved it. 

The last dinner with the roomies, we all got a little dressy 

The next morning we had to get up at 3am! to get to the airport in time. We got back to Texas safely and even though the rest of the day was a haze due to my lack of sleep, I got to my house in College Station and even manged to get groceries. 

This two week study abroad in Costa Rica was very different compared to my full semester study abroad two years ago, even though we went to some of the same places. There was good and bad to the trip (as there is to every trip), but overall I am grateful for the experience. 

moooooo

January 6th: Dairy Farm

We all visited a dairy farm on January 6th. This farmer had six milking cows, six calves, and one bull. The farmer makes cheese and yogurt to sell at a local market. We got to milk the cows and help him make both cheese and yogurt. 

CoWs

The milking begins...

First the farmer; Crisley, got the cows from the pasture

He put them in the headlocks and tied their legs

He said he's gotten hit in the face too many times by their tails, so now he ties those up as well

Then he washed the utter off with water

Before he started milking

We each got a turn to milk one of the cows. I wanted to try it so I sat on the tinny wooden stool and proceeded to look at Crisley with a very confused expression on my face. 

Crisley got the message across on how to properly milk a cow, even though I couldn't understand a word he was saying

Now this is where I should mention a sort of bad turn of events. The cow being milked behind me decided it was acceptable to poop in the middle of her milking. I think this cow didn't properly understand the consequences of ejecting such large amounts from such a height onto a concrete floor. I apparently didn't either until I heard the gasps from others at a safe view-only distance. My response time for removing myself out of the splatter circumference was below average. As you can imagine, I then felt like an official dairy cow farmer. I mean, I can not only say I know have milked a cow, I can also say I have been poop on by one. I have the stained shirt as to prove it.    

I did not let that incident get in my way, I got right back to it and kinda felt like I got the hang of it, not nearly as fast as Crisley though.

Crisley milks all six cows by hand every morning. It takes him an hour and a half to get 50-60 liters of milk! I was amazed how fast he was, he definitely knew what he was doing.

I know in this picture you can't see the poop that has been splattered on my back, but trust me, it's there.

Milk!

 

This farmer does not inject antibiotics into his cows. He uses the natural antibiotic in the calf's saliva. He told us that this makes for better quality milk and healthier cows. This innovation was what I used for my RLO in class. The cows are also only milked in the morning and during the time they sustain a calf. They are not milked during the nine month gestation period. The cows are then milked once a day until their calves are seven months old. They are then weaned and the mother cows have a two to three month resting period where they are not milked before starting the process over.  

We got to see how his process works each morning on two of his cows. He brings the calf to the mother and allows it to milk for a minute while using his hand to make sure the calf's saliva gets on every teat. He then ties the calf out of the way and milks the cow. When he's done, the mother and calf get put back in the pasture. 

Hungry baby cows!

Too cute!

After we finished milking the cows, Crisley showed us how he makes cheese every morning.

Smoothing the curds

After you stretch it out, you start at one end...

and start rolling

and keep rolling

until you have a ball

that's half a kilogram.

Then you place it in a bag to be sold!

I think everyone had a great time at this farm even with the early hour..

it was especially great playing with his adorable children!

His little boy (I think 4 years old) followed him everywhere, it was very cute to see how he wanted to help is papa and be just like him. Such affection shown from a father to son made this farm my favorite of the trip.

Falling

January 5th we went rappelling!

The day after zip-lining was rappel day. We went down four different waterfalls at 165 feet, 85 feet, 45 feet, and 95 feet. The first step over the edge when you have to lean back in your harness turned my stomach every time. Descending in the waterfall was pretty cold, but amazing. Talk about an adrenaline rush! 

The trucks we took to get to our starting point

 

It was a very bumpy ride and we were a little concerned about falling off the truck

Getting strapped in...

Pretending we're not nervous...

I just thought this picture was funny

Ready to go

Well, maybe not...

On the way down the first waterfall (165 feet)

Can you see the people at the bottom?

Yea, they look like ants

It was pretty slow going at first

Until I figured out what I was doing

Safely at the bottom

This first one ended by me landing in ankle deep water and regretting wearing my tennis shoes. But then at the next waterfall I landed in waist deep water and realized it didn't matter what I was wearing, I was going to get soaked.

Example A

and Example B

Another photo bomb....

and the group, once again

We all made it! 

Even though it was frightening at times and the will to let yourself fall was hard to find at first, I had a blast!!