To Tobago We Go!

Today is the day that I have waited for since I arrived in Trinidad because This is the day I get to travel to Tobago. We were supposed to travel to Tobago last Friday but Leigh Ann forgot that she had an event to attend for her finals, so we had to reschedule for this weekend. Because our plane tickets were booked for last week, we had to get to the airport early for stand-by seats. Sr. Debbie woke us up at 4:30 this morning, so we could get to the airport at 6:00 to try to catch the 7AM flight. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. When we arrived at this airport, there were already about 30 people there waiting for standby seats. While Leigh Ann waited in line to put our names on the waiting list, me and her nephew, Veshal walked around the airport to find some breakfast. I could not find any food that I liked, so I decided to just get a coffee until we arrived to Tobago. After waiting for 7 hours, we were able to catch a 2PM flight. Once we got flight, my mood erupbtly changed. I was so excited and happy because I had been looking forward to exploring Tobago and I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to make it to Tobago! From Trinidad to Tobago, the flight took about 20 minutes. Once we got our luggage, we walked to Kariwak Resorts, the hotel we would be staying at. As we were walking, my suitcase handle broke, so I had to carry my bag to the resort. Luckily for me it was only a 5 minute walk. When we arrived at the resort, I was blown away by how simple yet beautiful the place for the price that we paid. It was a hut-styled resort with outside dining, an outdoor pool, an outdoor jacuzzi, and an outdoor yoga studio. Once we checked, we settled in to the room and rest until the night time. Around 7PM, we walked to a near by Arabian restaurant and ordered gyros. While waiting for our food, I got to meet Leigh-Ann's cousin and his wife who live here in Tobago. They had been in the area, so they decided to stop by and meet us. After eating, we walked back to the hotel. To end the night, we are currently sitting by the pool as we listen to a live band play from the dinning area. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, so I am going to call it a night! 

Until next time, 

God Bless,

Shantal Solomon

Hi everyone,


I have just discovered that my previous blog posts have not been viewable. I am unable to fix it at this time because I am currently in Tobago without access to a computer until Monday but please enjoy my next post that I completed while traveling here! Thank you!


God bless,

Shantal Solomon

The Best of my Days in Trinidad

This week I was able to finally complete all of my interviews with the children going on the pilgrimage. When I initially started, I thought it was going to be easy but boy was I wrong. Because the children are so busy during the week, it was really hard for me to get some time with them. It took longer than I would have liked it to but the important thing is that it is done. On Friday, after completing my interviews, I was able to write a report on my findings on the children's spirituality and the overall themes that I found after working with them. I was also able to write several recommendations that I thought would be helpful for both the students, staff, and Sisters at St. Dominic's Children's Home. I felt really good writing this report knowing that my opinions are important to Sr. Arlene and the rest of the people on the compound. Doing this work also reassured me about what type of work I would like to do as a doctor, which is working with children with behavioral and developmental problems. After writing my report, I set up a time to meet with Sr. Arlene about the project and spent the rest of my work evening working on mini projects. After work, Sr. Arlene and Leigh Ann took me out for a movie of my choice and pizza. When we got to the movie theatre they had been showing movies that I had seen before besides Ninja Turtles, so I chose that and it was pretty entertaining. After the movies, we dined in at Pizza Hut where we shared a chicken, pineapple, and jalapeño pizza. On Saturday, Leigh Ann took me out for a night in town where we walked around the downtown area of Port of Spain where we enjoyed gyros. On Sunday, I spent most of my day in the convent, resting on the couch and watching tv. Later in the evening, I walked down  to the Shalom Center for Games Night with the children. There were so many games, so I tried to make sure I got around to play different games and interact with the children. We played games like Street Fighter, Mario Kart, and Tekken. I enjoyed playing Mario Kart the most! It brought back memories of when I would play Mario with my older siblings, so I was feeling a little home sick thinking about them but nevertheless I got over it. After playing Mario Kart for about a hour, the kids didn't want me to play because I kept winning, so I moved on from Mario Kart and started to put  puzzles together with the younger children. While putting together the puzzles with the children, Sister Aluna passed out ice cream. After she gave out the ice cream and cake, she put on some music for us to listen to. Once the music started, all of the children got up from playing their games and of course they asked me to dance. Before I started dancing with them, I was able to capture some of their dance moves on my camera. Unfortunately, my camera USB cord broke, so I won't be able to upload the video until I am able to purchase a new once next week. Around 10 PM, we started to wrap up Games Night by putting up all of the game consoles. After cleaning the Shalom Center, I was able to catch the end of Game 7 of the NBA Finals with Sister Roxanne and Kevin, a staff member in the Shalom Center. While Kevin and myself were rooting for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Sr. Roxanne was rooting for the Golden State Warriors. Luckily for Kevin and myself our team won! It was a great way for me to end such a great night with the children. This was one of the best nights I had in Trinidad because I was able to interact more with the children I do not usually interact with on a daily basis. Although some of them didn't know me, they showed me so much love and it really meant a lot to me. When I reflected on my time in Trinidad during my halfway mark here, I made it my goal to interact more with the children and I believe this was a great start. In Trinidad, if a holiday is on a Sunday, it is also observed on a Monday, so I had the day off. For this day, Leigh Ann made plans for us to go to a waterfall and the beach. Around 10 AM, Leigh Ann's friends picked us up from the compound for us to make our way to the waterfall. When we got there, one of Leigh Ann's friends started laughing at my shoes and I could not understand why. When I asked him what he was laughing at, he said the fact that I wore "nice" shoes to the waterfall because we would be walking through the water. This had been my first experience going to a waterfall so I had no idea and neither did Leigh Ann because she too had on nice shoes. Fortunately, I had an extra pair of flip flops in my bag, so I changed my shoes and we began our adventure to get to the waterfall. To get to the waterfall, we had to climb up rocky hills and walk through water. At one point on our way to the waterfall, I felt something glide across my feet and when I looked down, I seen that it was a group of fish swimming next to me.  After about 20 minutes of walking, we finally made it to the waterfall. When we reached, no one was there, so we got to enjoy it for ourselves. Initially, I was scared to swim in the deep water but I thought to myself "In Trinidad, do as the Trinidadians", so I got over my fears and swam with Leigh Ann's friends. The scenery was so beautiful and peaceful. I was so sad when we had to leave. Around 4PM, we traveled to the beach. When we reached, it started to rain heavily, so I didn't get in the water. Instead I laid under a rock and relaxed . Once it stopped raining, I went around the beach collecting rocks to bring back home. Around 7PM, Leigh Ann's friends brought us back home and for the remainder of the night, we got ready for the following work day. This was the best week and weekend that I have had so far during my time in Trinidad. I was able to complete my main project, I was able to experience the outside culture of Trinidad and most importantly, I was able to spend more time with the children. 

Until next time.

God Bless,

Shantal Solomon