niiiiiiice day

Congrats to my sister, Liz!!

I am going to be an aunt thereabouts in October! Whee!

In other news, had a really nice, fulfilling, fun day!

Elspeth and I decided to take the maxi to our writing workshop class since it's actually faster because the maxis get to use a priority bus route which is way less trafficky than the usual car routes. Anyway, it was a cooooool maxi. Sharks and sea scapes decorated the inside. Loud soca music blasted and a nice breeze swept through the window. Heh. Ambiance! Anyway, we got there a little early and after some drama about getting to our classroom (because of Easter weekend, nobody but the guard was there and they had forgotten that we were coming).

Elizabeth Nunez knows so much about the business and what sells a commercial novel. So she tells us the tricks and rules, but then always gives us a disclaimer that says that we need to listen to ourselves and break whatever rules we need to. I read the three pages that I had brought, and it was an invigorating experience. First of all, I was more nervous than I expected.

I got a lot of good feedback and criticisms but what was great about it is that not one criticism had anything to do with the culture (and believe me, nobody would be shy about saying that in this class, lol). The criticisms were purely writing-based! So I was all gleeful about that. And the best compliment I got was that my character was very vivid as a person. And the criticisms? I can totally see 99% of them and so I have food for thought!

When I got home, I got the news from my sister and was floating on an "auntie" high. Hayley came by with her daughter. We went to Port of Spain to the Long Circular Mall. There we went to the curry stand and I got to try salt fish acarra (sp.?), sort of like breaded salt fish. Yummy! I got a huge chicken roti (chickpeas, potato, chicken pieces, curry, pepper sauce inside paratha (sp.?) bread) which I could only finish about 1/4 of. I took it home and M finished it off. Hee. Anyway, we went so that Hayley's daughter could get a Build-a-Bear and then off to a bookstore! There I got a few books that I wanted, including a much needed thesaurus! AND some real maps of Trinidad, Tobago, and Port of Spain! And I got the Rough Guide to Trinidad and Tobago. Why I didn't attempt to find these things when I first arrived, I don't know...Anyways, we wandered around some more, and then we got some VERY EVIL FUDGE. Yep, there is this homemade fudge that comes in a variety of flavors - coconut, guava, chocolate, chocolate-mint, chocolate-coffee, etc. SOOO evil. We got like one of each and about ate it all before leaving the mall.

We drove up Lady Young Road, this road that winds up behind Port of Spain. We stopped at Lady Young Look-Out Point. There you have a breath-taking view of Port of Spain, the mountains behind it, the sea, etc. There is a dorky pic of me pretending to fall off the cliff which I may post when I get it from Hayley (naturally I didn't have my camera) unless I look truly heinous. We then got some preserves from a stand there -- pineapple, cherry, mango -- and some souse (pickled pork omg...I'm not a pork fan, but this was not bad at all). We went back to my place and started to plan for the next two weeks. Hayley's off work and so we're thinking of going to the beach, Tobago, Asa Wright Center (rainforest). Naturally Stardust tried to steal food from everyone...