The alarm went off at 4:10 AM. We'd driven across the Everglades the night before in order to catch our 7:00 AM flight to Port of Spain in Trinidad. We'd spent the night at a hotel near the airport and managed to be there bright (well, OK, maybe not so bright) and early.
The "we" includes fellow Sanibel-Captiva Rotarian John Grey, Cape Coral Rotarian Don Thomas, and my grandson Zak. And we are all here to help distribute many of the 110 wheelchairs shipped here as a result of the Wheels for Wheels Fort Lauderdale to Key West bike ride Zak and I took in August 2013.
Trinidad has long been the home of Arawak and Carib Indians--and indeed, though few in number, still is. It was first "discovered" by Christopher Columbus in 1498 who gave it the name La Isla de la Trinidad. The island of the Trinity. The history of this island nation is rather long and complicated, and includes enslavement of the native population, imported slaves from Africa and eventually the importation of Asian Indians as indentured servants. The Spanish, the French and the English all played a part in the colonization of the island.
Today it is a multi-ethnic republic--with people of Indian and African descent most predominantly represented. As an independent country, Trinidad, coupled with the nearby island of Tobago, has been in existence for a very brief half century.
We were greeted at the airport by a fellow Rotarian, and treated to a local favorite, doubles--a very spicy combination of chickpeas, served with fried bara bread. Goopy, hard to eat, and really delicious. It also makes for a clever decoration down the front of your shirt as I quickly discovered!
Our host, Lisa Francis, president of the Charleyville-Felicity Rotary Club, helped us get settled in to her family hotel, and then, after some lunch, took us to the local shopping mall for a few supplies.
If nothing else, this is a place of real contrasts. The mall didn't look very different from shopping centers in Florida. Complete with TGI Fridays, Subway and other franchises. On the way to the mall, however, we passed many, many homes that looked like so many other houses on other islands in the Caribbean. Some quite lovely, but many having seen much, much better days.
As we left the airport I spotted a large pair of signs--decorations for the celebration of the nation's anniversary. One featured the national seal of Trinidad and Tobago. The other said, quite simply, "God Bless Our Nation." A reminder that even as we utter similar sentiments about America, folks around the world, who love their nation as dearly as we love ours, have the same hopes and dreams. Our prayer is that our visit might be a bit of a blessing for folks here--for certainly already, in a mere six hours or so, they have blessed us with their warmth and hospitality!
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