An Olympic Lime

Today, is the last day of the Winter Olympics. What a show....even from this far away.

While I have missed being there, I have lots of connections to it. I have many friends who have done an unbelievable job of getting all the Alpine skiing events completed and I have Mimi, Katie, Devin and Rebecca in Whistler enjoying the experience....and any Olympic outfit that would fit a 10 lb baby, I have paid for.

This afternoon, a number of Canadians got together to kick back, have some beers and watch the Gold medal men's hockey game. Call it an Olympic Lime.

We got together at Trotters, a sports bar here in Port of Spain (it is also across the road from the Canadian High Commission). Most Canadians were wearing red and there were several flags. The Americans were quite understated (a bit of a surprise). There was one girl painting maple leafs on everyone's face. The bar has 16 TV's, 14 of them were tuned into the game. We even got a glimpse of Don Cherry...

I had a couple of people from work who are down here from Calgary that joined us. Barry got his maple leaf. Ryan was quite happy with his toque... but he did add a flag later in the evening.

Having the game going into overtime didnt help but winning the gold was cool.

Tonight, we may have recruited a little one from Trinidad (here with Dana) to either take up hockey... or at least know to cheer for Canada.

I am looking forward to catching the Closing Ceremonies tonight.

As I type this, NBC is showing a lookback of the games and while there is an American spin to it, they have shown and said lots of great things about Canada and about Canadians - we need to do more of that ourselves.

B.

Carnival color

Tuesday of Carnival is the big day - it is a parade of color, music and dancing. Participating in the day is called 'playing mas'. For weeks before Carnival the 'mas camps' advertise what costumes they will be wearing and people then pay to join them. Your fee covers your costume and your refreshments, security & entertainment. The costumes can be quite expensive. There is a smaller de-tuned parade on Monday but Tuesday is quite the day.
There are several judging stations along the route and that's when the groups really show their colors & enthusiasm - trying to win the competition which is based on a number of criteria. Each band will have a sound truck to provide them music to dance to and to entertain them and the crowds along the streets.

Some of the costumes are quite extravagant (i.e. heavy, hot). I cant believe people wear them for 8 hours in 35 degree weather. And then to no one's surprise there are the less confining...... much cooler outfits but that are still colorful. There is a bit of beer consumed by spectators and participants alike.

These would be the same Canadians who were all 'chocolated up' during J'Ouvert - they are big fans of Carnival.

There is also spectator participation.....

I have no idea how to describe this.....so I wont.

I cant imagine hauling this for 8 km around the city.

Or this....

Or this!

But it does make for a great parade.

The following day, Ash Wednesday is more commonly referred to as Cooldown here when many who 'play mas' take the day to relax. Neither Monday or Tuesday are official holidays but most businesses shutdown those days and absenteeism is very high on the Wednesday as well. It makes for a very long weekend for some.

Carnival season is quite an undertaking here.

B.

More Carnival 2K10

J'Ouvert (pronounced Juvay) is the first major event of Carnival (although it is preceeded by numerous pan band competitions, many fetes and the big mas costume contests).

J'Ouvert has its beginnings with the emancipation of the slaves in the early 1800's. As part of the night time celebrations, they would cover themselves with ashes or mud so they wouldnt be recognized. This evolved to paint, and to minimize the clean up - the group I joined, uses chocolate. It starts around 3 am Monday morning. People congregate at starting points and line up to get covered in chocolate....with as little or as much as they want. The sound trucks arrive and the bar trucks arrive. These Canadians are veterans of Carnival.... There is a lot of security in lime green t-shirts to keep the group of about 1500 people together. They keep an eye on both stragglers and strangers. We all have wrist bands (quickly covered in chocolate), red t-shirts and blinky light horns. Our loop took us through Woodbrook and around the Hasely Crawford Stadium (named after the winner of the 100 m at the '76 Olympics in Montreal).

Here is a video clip - it's a bit dark (it is 4:30 in the morning)....

The chocolate tends to run, smear, ooze and by the end of the event, it is pretty much everywhere.

The walk goes on until well past sunrise.

There are several groups out on their own programs but the groups do cross paths occasionally as we walk through the city. Orange paint looks a bit more problematic to remove than chocolate. You will notice he is carrying 'extra' paint for sharing with others.

People arent the only thing that gets covered in paint....this is not my car (thank goodness).

Most people go home and sleep for part (or most) of the day on Monday. I went home, washed off the chocolate and then went out for a day of sailing 'down the islands' and a BBQ in a bay off of the island of Chacachacare - the most westerly island of Trinidad. We were escorted by dolphins for part of the way.

It was nice to get off the island for a bit.

B.

Meet Rebecca Clare

I would like to introduce you to our new granddaughter, Rebecca Clare Findlay.

She came into the world at 6:44 am, Wednesday February 17th.
She weighed in at 8 lbs 8 oz and was 21.5 in long. She was born on the same day as the Women's Downhill at Whistler. A coincidence?

She was also born to travel.
Four hours after she was born, Rebecca and Katie were transferred from the Foothills Hospital to Rockyview to make room for other expectant mothers. So heading to Whistler to catch a few Olympic events next week wont be a problem.


Katie, Devin, Rebecca.....and Mimi are all doing great.

B.

Our stuff has arrived!

I took receipt of our shipment this week.

We didn't have much but we shipped it from Buenos Aires to here. I couldn't accept the shipment until I had my work permit, which I received in early January - then it was just a matter of them getting it onto flight(s) from BA to here. Our stuff spent Superbowl weekend in Miami and then arrived here just after that.

To get the shipment through customs and to the apartment was a full day process. I had someone expiditing it for me and he did a very good job.

Except for the glass in a picture frame being broken - things arrived in good shape. It was good to put some personal things in the apartment....family photos, some more clothes.......and my golf clubs.

This weekend, I decided I would go up to the course and just hit some balls on the range. When I got there, the driving range was covered in tents. They were preparing for a fete....a big fete, scheduled for the next day. The course was still open so I played 9 holes instead. It was 33 degrees, so walking 9 was enough for me. I played with a guy who works here at the French Embassy.

After closer examination, I think they broke my golf clubs too....my game was terrible.

B.

Go Canada Go!

I am sitting here in shorts and a t-shirt watching the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies. I am wearing my Lake Louise Winterstart belt buckle in honor of my ski buddies working hard getting ready for the alpine events at Whistler. This crew is.... part of a group of 1200 volunteers at Whistler. They would be my Alpine peeps.

From here, I bought a keg of beer for the Alpine volunteers that will get served up at the Weasel House - the volunteer hangout in Whistler.

I have also hung up a Canadian flag on the balcony. The flag was one that we flew in Argentina at one of our company's facilities. I expect to fly this same flag over our operations here in Trinidad.

And yes, I am having a beer, eh!

Go Canada Go!

B.

Intersection Art

I was running errands this morning.

At this one intersection when I stopped for the light, there was a barefoot man with a sack over his shoulder and he was carrying what looked like a book.

He tapped on my window and then started drawing on the pad. I mildly protested (the Canadian way) but he continued.

In the time for the light to turn green he had completed this..... Despite the fact he gave me a much better chin than I actually have, it wasnt bad.

He appreciated what I paid him and I appreciated the art.

B.

We are open for business!

While we have been doing work in Trinidad for about a year - we have finally put out our shingle. We opened our office in Marabella this month.
Meet my peeps. Staff meetings are pretty easy in these early days. We do have some locals..... who are trying to get on full time. We had several power outages in the first couple of weeks and when we did, we opened the windows to get a bit of a cross breeze. The breeze brought in a couple of these guys. I didnt hire them.

There was some early confusion about which way we wanted the parkings spots to go... but I do have more reserved parking spots than staff.

We have plans to grow so having a parking lot this size is a good thing. This is a country where parking is at a premium. B.

Choppers and moving snow

Ahhh....this brought back memories.
As I was preparing for a videoconference with Calgary this morning, I was reading the Guardian, the source of all interesting local Trinidadian and international news....and noticed this picture.

As Vancouver prepares for the Olympics, mild weather meant they need to use a helicopter to move snow ONTO the hill at Cypress.


There was a time when as Chief of Race, I requested a helicopter to REMOVE snow from the hill at Lake Louise several years ago. We didnt use a sling like the crew in Vancouver, we just blasted the snow out of the trees with the prop wash. There is more to the story (but then you had to be there).

Those were the days.

Regards,
Chopper

More connections to ARG

Nice to see another Trinidad & Argentina have other connections. Healthy connections. This 9 year old heads to Argentina for life saving surgery.

B.

Fast Noise

We had a noisy Saturday last week. There was a Go Fast boat race. There werent a lot of them but they were loud. Three folks up front and three big engines in the back.
They blasted around a course set just off the point in front of the apartment. They werent the big cigarette boats but they could sure scoot,

B.

The conventional use of the term...

....finger lickin' good.

KFC is the most popular franchise on the island of Trinidad. They are everywhere.

We were talking to someone who said the KFC here was the best in the world because here they use ALL 11 herbs and spices!

We caved one night and in a moment of weakness brought some home.This will be the only evidence that we ever had or will ever have KFC in the apartment.

If you ask Mimi, she will deny we ever had it.

B.