Man, oh man, was it hot in Trinidad!
During Spring Break of 2008, I went on a mission trip to
Trinidad with
Campus Crusade for Christ. There were 12 of us from UF, and we were joined by a few students from Florida State University and the University of South Florida.
It was my first time ever leaving the U.S., and I would go back in a heartbeat after what I experienced while there. We stayed at Anapausis, which was owned by the director of Campus Crusade at the University of the West Indies. We stayed on a very high hill, so high in fact, that when we were being driven to the top with all of our luggage, we started sliding backward down the mountain. We all had to get out of the stick-shift Maxi Taxi and walk up the hill while our luggage got driven. We stayed in dorm-like rooms, two people per room, with no hot water and weak air conditioning in some cases. Showering was almost pointless, since taking one step out would cause you to start sweating due to the intense humidity.
But besides the crazy heat, the country itself was beautiful. There were mountains and sunny skies. The beaches were absolutely gorgeous--and you could see mountains while there too!
I had no idea those two features existed together anywhere in the world! The water was a lighter, clearer sky-blue than I'd ever seen in the states, and the waves weren't as rough. And a strange observation worth noting is that we ran across stray dogs everywhere we went but saw hardly any cats (the opposite of Florida, or maybe even the U.S., in my opinion).
On our last day there, we took a 20-minute flight to the island of Tobago (Together, they are called the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago). We got off the plane and walked straight to Pigeon Point Beach, down a path where vendors
were selling items unique to the island. We enjoyed the beach for a while and then went on a glass-bottom boat tour. That was my first time doing anything of the sort. We saw all kinds of corals and fish, and we even got to go snorkeling. The current was rough, though, so every time I swam under to see the pink octopus that everyone was talking about, I floated away and never actually saw it! Most of our group got burnt to a crisp, but I surprised everyone and only got a little sunburned. No one expected that since I'm so pale that I practically glow in the dark!