THIS WAS A QUICK LIL TRIP.
I absolutely loved the Island of Trinidad in the short 2 days we had there. Our inter-port student Samuel showed a few of us around his home town, Port-of-Spain. He took us to the high school he attended, a highly regarded prep school for boys in a gorgeous historic building. After that we ate Roti, which is like a burrito made out of Indian food. Because amazingly there’s a large Indian population here!
We visited the Zoo and I got to feed a giraffe named Mandala! And I saw a lion only 5 feet away from me which was pretty amazing to behold.
The next day I had my field lab for Global Music and it. was. incredible.
We were incredibly lucky to spend a day with The Melodians, a prolific steel pan band. They have a sister band in London and their leader Terry flew all the way to Trinidad to come speak to us and receive an award. It was so exciting to meet him. There were lectures on how the pans are made and then we got to play music! I loved that it was so hands-on… My high school in Austin had a terrific steel pan program in the Fine Arts Academy so the sound of the pans reminds me of high school. It’s an amazing instrument and I loved learning about it from the people that truly live with the pan. It’s a life-style… These bands are run by families and whole communities. The competitions are enormous! Trinidadians are very proud of their music.
I loved this place! I want to come back soon and see more areas of it.
—Aline
