Time to go home

Well my time in Trinbago is over although I wouldn't say the work is done. It has been a hectic week but one of the brightest spots has been meeting one of the 2 COL Focal Points in the country - Karen. Karen has given up most of her week to work with me, arranged meetings and transport and driven me back and forth across the island. She even took me to buy a dress even though she hates shopping! I thank her for the time she gave me and the great conversations we have had as I've learned about this compex country and together we have tried to plan the way forward for COL's contribution to distance and felxible learning in TVET.

I've also spent a good deal of time with the curriculum development team working on an in-service TVET instructor training programme. I'm hoping for good things from this group. My morning today was spent with representatives from all the TVET stakeholders and we had a very useful exchange about the use of technology and distance methodologies in their work. I've met Ministers and Permanent Secretaries and TVET Directors and Managers and now it is time to go home.

I don't know when I'll be back ... but I've certainly enjoyed being here. Thanks to one and all.

Trinidad

Do you want to know what is surprising about Trinidad? Did you think it was a Caribbean beach holiday island full of tourists? Well I did ... and it's not! It is very industrialised and there's not a tourist in sight. The hotels are all business hotels and the place is full of oil company types.

They have fantastic shopping malls and the government offices are clean and bright - if a little cramped - toilets are clean and there is generally good infrastructure - apart from the roads which I have already told you about. Even the mutatus (minibus taxis) are clean and shiny and don't have any dents or hanging-off bumpers or chickens/mattresses/bananas on top .... not what I'm used to at all!

Some of the architecture is out of this world - here is a picture of my favourite (new) building - the National Academy for the Performing Arts.

Kingston to Port of Spain

It is really not so far from Jamaica to trinidad but this journey took me about 10 hours - because we stopped in both Antigua and Barbados. After the first stop I was squashed in with 2 very large ladies on their way to Guyana - big hair, big ladies, lots of gold jewellry and about 6 items of cabin baggage each! The situation was not improved when a baby vomitted 2 rows in front of us!

But my arrival in Port of Spain was a real surprise. The airport was clean and quiet and everything went very smoothly. For the first time I used my official passport so I cleared Immigration and Customs very quickly ... my bag was second off the plane and I was in a taxi and speeding towards the hotel within 30 minutes - bliss!

PoS was NOTHING like I envisaged. I had no idea that Trinidad has oil and gas and the city is very modern and developed - although squashed in with incredible old colonial buildings. Many systems are very British and I feel very much at home here. People tell me that there is a problem with corruption and not enough of the oil dollars help to rebuild the country - which is a shame.

Hotel is ok - people are very friendly and I am spreading my time between various Ministries and a training institute - so spending a good deal of time in vehicles. Far more than I need to but the worst thing about PoS is the traffic is the very worst I have ever encountered ... anywhere!!!

Blue Mountains

OK, I'm about 5 days behind myself but let's try to catch up...

The Blue Mountains are a welcome respite from the heat of Kingston - the air is cool and as we got higher and higher the fog came in and it was white and eerie. The roads were pretty good until we got near the top where the rain had washed some of the tarmac away. The only danger was from the local drivers who live in massive houses up there - they drive on the single track road at high speed. We stopped off at Newcastle Barracks - where the British forces were stationed and saw all the crests of the various battalions. Gordon was full of stories about the history of the site.

We visited The Old Tavern coffee plantation and were warmly welcomed by Dorothy Tynman who showed us where Miss Pansy sorts the beans and she roasts them. I was a little alarmed when Dorothy invited me to taste the beans (yes, chew them raw - yuk!) She made us coffee and told us all about the plantation and her life there. Now I'm not a coffee drinker but even I enjoyed Dorothy's coffee. I bought a bag of beans for John.

We also visited Strawberry Hill hotel - the most beautiful spot on the edge of the mountain overlooking the whole of Kingston and the sea. The rim pool looks devine and the rooms are very cool and colonial. There was a lady playing fantastic jazz and it looked like a wonderful place to spend a weekend away from the city. Apparently it is owned by the guy who used to be Bob Marley's manager! I've got loads of photos but still no way to upload to this computer - go here to see more pics http://www.islandoutpost.com/strawberry_hill/

So if you have a spare few thousand and want a two centre holiday - I recommend a week on a Jamaican Beach and then head up into the hills and relax at Strawberry Hills... perfect!

oh dear ...

... loads more to tell about Jamaica and my trip to the Blue Mountains, visiting a coffee plantation and a fantastic guest house .... and then my journey to Trinidad ... and how it isn't what I expected at all.

and my first day working here when the Minister didn't turn up for our meeting (which she asked for!) and working with some interesting people ...

But I am just too tired and I guess it will all have to wait for another day.

sorry ... good night!

new experiences

Last night, my kind hosts, Anita and Gordon - took me to see two sides of Kingston. We went to a small town called Port Royal which is on a promontory just outside Kingston Harbour, past the airport. To get there you drive along a spit of land caleed the Palisadoes with the Atlantic on one side and the Caribbean on the other.

Port Royal is very historic - it is where British troops defended the island years ago and Gordon- who is a consumate local historian - told me it had the reputation of being the 'wickedest' city in the world during the 17th century when it was a centre of shipping trade and a place for pirates. Apparently it was famous for gaudy displays of wealth and loose morals! The seas all around purportedly still hold sunken treasure. It has been hit by several earthquakes which have left the buildings all askew. The town is pretty poor now just a fishing village and a place to go to eat fish on a weekend.

We arrived to very large music emanating from a stack of speakers outside a bar in the car part (reminiscent of Africa!) It was the kind of noise that makes your ears bleed! There were people, children, dogs all around, sitting outside cafes and bars and listening to the music - a regular Friday occurance. We went to the famous Gloria's restaurant which is simply a mass of tables set out in the road outside a small kitchen and they serve the most amazing fish - if you don't mind a wait of a couple of hours. we had king fish and it was devine! I also tried a local food - bammy which is made of cassava.

When we had eaten, we scurried back to the car - so as not to be deafened - and next stop was the very lovely Morgan's Harbour Hotel and Marina - how the other half lives. A very old, colonial hotel, dark, serence, quiet with a row of beautiful yaghts parked on the quay.
There was a party going on for the young and beautiful. Truly a tale of 2 cities.

Must dash - we are off to the Blue Mountains today - more on that later

sunset activity

I went out of my hotel just before sunset (I'm in Kingston, Jamaica, by the way) to look at a park over the road. When I got there, I had the most amazing experience. The park was beautiful with lots of brightly coloured bougainvillia and palm trees ... but it was also laid out with a walking/running path and was full of people, young and old, taking their daily exercise. The atmosphere was fantastic. There was a cool breeze and people were busy in groups and on their own, running, walking, some doing yoga, others doing pushups and stretches. A few people sat on benches and some schoolchildren were gathered in the middle of the park.

Of course I joined in and walked a couple of turns ... the path is marked so you can count the kms if you want to. I can't really explain it but it was peaceful and energising and just a really nice place to be. It's called Emancipation Park.

Let the Games begin

It's the day before the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Vancouver is completely BUZZING! Roads are closed, flags are flying ... visitors and officials and TV crews are everywhere. Today the olympic torch came to Tri-cities - it was fun trying to get across the main through route to get to the station!

On my twice daily Downtown walk between Waterfront station and the COL office I see a sea of turquoise and lime green - yes my favourite colours ... but also the favourite colours of the President of VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) and therefore the colour of the anoraks of all the thousands of volunteers who have come to help assist the visitors and athletes and pick up litter and provide security and welfare services and transport and so it goes on. Vancouver is always multi-lingual but as I pass people in the Downtown streets I hear Spanish and french and half a dozen other languages I can't even recognise. This is the second olympics games that I have lived through and the organisation of such a mamoth event still astounds me.

The sad thing is the weather - we are scheduled for more rain this week and this weekend - which is a real pity because not only will everyone get wet but they won't see Vancouver in all it's glory. And there is a big problem with lack of snow on the north shore mountains - no problem at Whistler but nearer to the lower mainland the snow line is just too high and all they have been getting is a nasty mix of snow and rain. Apparently VANOC have been bringing in snow and shoring up some of the moguls with straw bales.

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics were great because we were part of it, but we think Vancouver will put on a fantastic show and we can't wait for the opening ceremony on tomorrow - even if I do only get to watch it on TV!

I just wish I had a Union Jack to fly on my car or put in the front window like all the Canadians are doing. GO UK GO!