Tuesday, November 14, 1995 - Trinidad

On the net this morning, I asked if anyone else who went on the tour Saturday had broken out with itchy spots. Someone came on and said they were chigger bites, that practically everyone who goes to Asa Wright gets chewed up by chiggers. I thought they looked like chigger bites and itched like chigger bites, but I was confused by their being on my midriff instead of my ankles and lower legs. It's good to know that's all they are. Robin on Malu is organizing another tour for this Sunday, so we signed up for it. It will be to the Eastern side of the island. She also has a one-way American Airlines ticket to Denver for sale for only $100. Since I'm thinking of going to California for a visit, that would be a real deal. I let her know I was interested. She was looking for some plastic slides. Roy had a bunch, so she said she'd be over after the net. Also on the net, there was an announcement of a trip to the Central Market this Saturday at 6:30. It's only 10 TT's round-trip, so we signed up for it. Lisa and Arlie came by to collect the money and give us our tickets. Robin came by and was delighted to get the slides she needed. She showed me the ticket to Denver. Unfortunately, it has someone else's name on it. This could cause a problem with Immigration, so I'm going to check with them before I buy it. Jalanath got hauled this morning, so we went into her spot. Got there just in time. Moments later, a sudden squall came up. There aren't any finger docks here; we're tied bow-to. It's good to be at a dock again, but getting on and off the boat is sort of tricky. Roy has connected the two planks and tied them so the end of one sticks out over the dock. We have to walk the plank to get off the boat. Or back on. It's easy at low tide, when the plank is only a couple of feet above the dock, but at high tide the plank might be five feet above the dock. In the afternoon, I went to the American Airlines office in Port of Spain to see if they'd change the name on the ticket, but they refused. They said it was non-transferable. Went out to Long Circular Mall and was really impressed. It's a lot larger than West Mall. The TruValue Supermarket there is clean and bright and attractive. Looks like a U.S. supermarket. It has just about everything under the sun except what I want. I thought there'd be lots of maxis going to the mall, but I didn't see any when I was ready to leave. I asked a well-dressed young woman who looked as if she were waiting for a bus where the bus stop was. She said the buses didn't come there, that I'd have to go down to the main road to catch one. Then she said her boyfriend would be there in a couple of minutes with his car and he'd give me a ride down to the main road. She was as nice as could be. Sure enough, in a couple of minutes, her boyfriend arrived and dropped me off on the main road where lots of maxis were going by. I soon caught one.