Real Time Trip Report - Trinidad and Tobago

[Duke]

I'm going to reply to this thread periodically with random things that I notice or experience. Maybe it'll be neat, and maybe not. I never went anywhere before that needed a passport (I now have a single stamp in the "visas" section), so keep that in mind when I note bizarrely common things in the world of which I was unaware. Some things will obviously apply to only this country, though.
<ul type="square">[*]People are skinnier and better looking than in America.[*]The cab driver had an H preceding his license plate number. The cabs look like regular (albeit old) cars, while most other vehicles I saw around the airport had a P. I assumed that this had something to do with him being a cab. H==Hire? He charged me $25 to go about 15 miles or so to my hotel, and I gave him $30. These are US values.[*]The hot sauce at my hotel made my face numb, and they apologized for it not really being hot because they partially cater to foreigners. I'm sure they were laughing at me behind my back, as I can't imagine them thinking me to be a local.[*]I can see the ocean from my hotel, but no beach. Apparently there's a beach in some place called Maracas that I shall do my best to visit before I leave.[*]People are very nice here, and extremely polite.[*]The DNS server that I'm going through has to be the worst in the history of the internet, and I can actually get lookups serviced about once per 10 minutes. After something is resolved, it loads perfectly fine. I've been adding entries to my host file manually to overcome this deficit (as whatever automatic caching mechanism there is doesn't seem to be working properly).[*]Lucky me, my hotel doesn't have 1-800 service. My calling card is useless, and my CDMA phone is completely useless. Note to self: get a GSM phone before your next trip abroad.[*]There's a "swim-up" bar in the pool, but no people in the pool or working that bar.[*]They use the same dollar sign here as in the US. Imagine my dismay when my dinner last night cost $197. Oh, but that's TT, and the exchange rate is about 6-1 or so. I think I'll pay with credit card for everything so I can take advantage of the best daily exchange rates.[*]Wow, these people love cricket. I am reminded that this region is also referred to as the "West Indies."[*]I can relate to the early explorers who thought they made it to India when they got here, as about half of the people here are Indian. Perhaps there is money to be made in developing countries. I saw a lot of pretty nice cars being driven by them.[*]I passed 3 or 4 KFC restaurants on the way to the hotel. Perhaps there is something to that black/chicken stereotype.[*]The wings I got at my hotel seemed to come from a miniature chicken. I'm thinking that they can't wait until the chickens grow up to kill them for cooking and eating. The food has been pretty tasty.[*]Swordfish here is a lot tastier than it is in the US.[*]Apparently they're trying to make T&amp;T a first world country by the year 2020, so there could very well be a lot of money to be made regarding that development. Indians are smart.[*]If you're from the US and think that black and Indian chicks are generally unattractive, come here. They're all very friendly, and generally good looking. Perhaps that "not being fat" thing away from the US is to their advantage.[*]I wish their national language were something other than English, since this is an English of which I'm unfamiliar. They speak very softly, quickly, and with a lot of bizarre slang. A guy told me that it was "half five," so I assumed that he meant 4:30. He actually meant 5:30, so the "understood" word is "past," and not "of."[*]Stay left except to overtake. Overtake == Passing, methinks.[*]It's balls-ass hot out here. I think it's only 75, but with a million percent humidity. I'm guessing that any island will be the same.[*]The hotel doesn't provide conditioner. I'm guessing that you'd have to be an actual kernel of popped corn to need conditioner in this humidity.[/list]
That's it for now. If I notice anything else I'll add. I might be unable to respond, since I'm now noticing a general issue with my connection that isn't related to the DNS thing.