My Journey: Let the journey begin

OK, bags are packed, instructions are my tortoise left, family and friends kissed and hugged then kissed and hugged again and a third time for good measure now LET'S DO THIS!!! Travel itinerary is Trinidad from July 27th to 29th, and overnight stay in Miami on the 29th, Dallas on the 30th and TOKYO on the 31st. I'm looking forward to soaking in everything but being hyperactive I'm dreading being in an confined space for the long haul flight from Dallas to Tokyo, I might need to be sedated. Whatever, BRING IT ON!!! IKIMASHO!!!!

TRINIDAD LEG

Unfortunately my flight was pretty delayed due to bad weather so by the time I arrived in Trinidad it was pretty late so there wasn't much to see and I was pretty exhausted so I didn't go anywhere but to my accommodation for the night. The following day I got settled into the Normandie Hotel and when I say settled I mean throwing your stuff down and hustling to get ready while trying not to freeze to death because clearly the air conditioning had only two settings off and SIBERIA!!! When I got to the hotel I wanted to kiss the floor of my hotel room! I have to tell you that I always found bajan drivers to be a bit on the impatient side but honestly wished I had in a few drinks before I took to the roads of Trinidad. I'm not referring to my ride's driving but the erratic appearance of road system. At the traffic light to me it seemed that green meant "GO!" in every direction. When I arrived at the hotel it took me a moment to finally let go of my seat that I clawed into holding on for dear life as the cars around us just didn't seem to think the road was for anyone but them.

The day was spent going to orientation at the embassy. I don't have any pictures since we were allowed to take in cameras and cellphones. Orientation lasted about 2 hours, we spent that time going through flight preparations from Trinidad to Miami with our KIE representative accompanying us. I could help thinking how adorable she looked. Following that a Q&A segment with the a former ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) I have to say she was very reassuring and interesting to say the least to room full of giggles, gasps and full blown belly laughs.

Next following orientation came the send off ceremony at the official residence of Japanese Ambassador for Trinidad, Tatsuake Iwata. There some brief speeches but the ambassador, a representative of foriegn affairs and a former ALT. I was asked to give a vote of thanks for the JET participants and lemme tell yuh PRESSURE!! I decided to toss my notes and was just as genki as possible and spoke from the heart without making a fool of myself. It was a lovely reception and we all mingled with the ambassador and esteemed guests.