We’re back in the U.S. after three weeks in Tobago, our first trip there since covid.
It was tough going to the same places over four years later, and seeing how big the kids had gotten. They were no longer aging an hour or a day at a time, but four years all at once. Our oldest wasn’t able to join us for the first time. Our youngest doesn’t remember our other trips. Two kids are now young adults. Two more are about to be. More than that, *I* felt older.
We’d completed a colossal temporal leap forward in between this trip and our last, and all the things that had happened in between were on my mind, which meant I cried kind of a lot.
The second and last day of Carnival is Carnival Tuesday. Originally we weren’t planning on doing anything that day, but I found out that mud mas is Carnival Tuesday and man, I really wanted to do it.
This is part II – Jouvert, the first event of Carnival, was last week.
By the time five o’clock rolled around, it was time to start getting ready for the Carnival Monday road march, which went through downtown Scarborough. I had a black and neon green mesh and spandex two-piece suit which I wore with Carnival-strength stockings my sister-in-law picked up for me.
Sometimes I’m reminded that while I talk about Tobago fairly often here, I haven’t shared much about our time there. Now seems like a good time to escape there for a little bit.
With current events, it’s hard to imagine traveling again right now, but someday, we will all be dreaming and planning trips again…. Well, I’m dreaming right now. But the planning will have to wait.
One of my favorite things about Tobago is the food. Tobago can do fresh like nobody’s business, but also fried, and carbs, and comfort food. Corn soup, macaroni pie (similar to mac and cheese but more dense and different because local brands of pasta and cheese are used), and savory vegetable dishes like pumpkin cooked down with garlic, pepper, onion, and other flavorings are some of my favorites.
