In a few days, I'll be heading to St. Vincent to spend 7 days and 6 nights. It'll be my first time on the island and I'm excited to have some time to relax on a beach and be at peace with the natural surroundings. I'm also excited to meet my maternal grandmother and other relatives on my mother's side of the family. I'll be staying at Richmond Vale Hiking and Nature Center.
June 16.
I got to Piarco Airport at 10:25 pm and my connecting flight wasn't until 6:55 am. What was I going to do? After walking in a circle, I learned where I would have to stay before I could check-in. A rainy night calls for a blanket or at least a sheet but thinking that I'd be in the Caribbean and not packing any sort of sweater was a mistake. Cold and tired (and I could only spend so much time on Facebook) I settled on sitting with my legs elevated watching old episodes of "The Game of Thrones" from my laptop.
Morning came soon enough and after some confusion about where my departure gate was, I headed towards the area where I'd have to board my flight. Let me say this, being told I'd have to wait to board my flight because of rain left me a bit confused. I thought, "what do you mean" to which a young man said, "it's raining." I looked out the door and sure enough, it was raining. Another lady and I stood waiting for the rain to let up. She turned and said to me, "this is what it's like traveling in the Caribbean." I couldn't believe it. When the rain let up a bit, I sprinted to the aircraft and took a seat.
A short forty-five-minute trip to St. Vincent, I was more confused when I got to the airport. "Where is the airport?" I remember asking. A young man pointed to a lime green building and once inside, I took in the room (airport) and felt a bit disoriented. "This is the airport?", I thought. Not sure who to go to first, I made eye contact with a woman sitting at a station who gave me the hand signal to "come here". I went over to her and she took a look at my passport and sent me over to another man. In my disoriented state, I wasn't sure if I should get my luggage first or go to the young man first. I went to him, he then told me to "wait for your suitcase then come to me". I did. He asked me a series of questions and then directed me to the exit.
I had arrived a little bit early and unsure what to do, I went into the terminal and looked around, I even went as far as to go to the entrance to see if there was anyone waiting for me. No one. I went back into the building and sat down for about 15 minutes contemplating what to do if they didn't show up. Saddened and feeling abandoned, I decided I needed to be resourceful.
I needed to connect to the internet. A breakthrough? There was an internet cafe in the building. My heart sank when I learned it was closed that day. I walked toward the entrance and begged the security guard to use her phone (public phones are impossible to find), unfortunately, the phone number I needed was logged in my Skype account, so I'd still need to connect to the internet.
This was becoming an adventure.
I asked the security where I could find an internet cafe and she basically pointed me in a direction and said, "somewhere over so by KFC". Growing more despondent, I headed in that direction.
I learned that Subway Restaurant had an internet connection and it wasn't very far. I headed up the street only to learn that passwords to the internet connection were only given out by the supervisor... who wasn't there.
Growing frustrated, while thinking of other options, I brightened a bit when I learned that I could connect from the guesthouse upstairs. However, attempting to call from my Skype account proved to be pointless, so I took the number down and headed back to the security guard. She kindly allowed me to use her phone and within 10 minutes, my cousins arrived.
Never mind that they had been there since 9:30 am waiting for me.
Of all the Caribbean islands, why did I choose St. Vincent? St. Vincent is where my mother was born; a lot of families (and well my family) are still living there. I thought that I'd take the opportunity to meet with them since I've never met my maternal grandmother or aunts and uncles on my mother's side. This will be most interesting to me. Will I be treated as an outsider? I would hope not, but time will tell.
Update. June 19.
Update June 19:10 pm
I just learned that relatives on my mother's father's side live in Chateaubelair. I'd like to see them before I head back to Kingstown to visit relatives on my mother's mother side. Although I'm a bit afraid that they won't be nice to me, I'm hopeful that by meeting them, I would get answers to questions that have long plagued me...who am I really?
Day of: June 22
So after speaking to my aunt Yvonne, I made arrangements to go to Kingstown to meet my mother's side of the family. Early Saturday morning I took the ferry to St. Vincent where my cousins were supposed to be waiting for me.
I should call.
I should call.
We took a long walk through Kingstown to where the maxi taxis would be. Once full, we headed in the direction of Clara Valley, where my relatives live.
My two days with my family turned out to be a good experience. I felt incredibly
comfortable with them and was very much included in the daily activities.
I made Trini-style mango chow (half-ripe mango, garlic, hot pepper, and bandana) and they loved it. I ate, I drank, we
went to the beach and we even partied a bit for the Vincy carnival... And just like that, it was over. The most memorable
thing for me was meeting my maternal grandmother. Although feeble,
Farvalia King had a very good spirit about her and the prayer she prayed for me
when it was time for me to leave will be a cherished memory in my heart.
Grandmothers, that's what they do.
25
minutes to Tobago, I was excited!
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