Out of Touch

Sorry it's been so long! Just after my last post (in February), dear friends Brenda Zenk & Scott Stover arrived for a visit. Yes, I cried when they left. Scott made a name for himself by eating raw congo peppers at a "cook" hosted by some friends in honor of the Caribbean 20-20 Cricket Finals (Trinidad won!) while Brenda and I had a nice long chat about matters of the heart (I really miss those). Our time together flew by and before we knew it they were headed back home to Nicole (their daughter) in FL.

Just after they left, my Dad and his wife Janice came for a visit. I cried when they left too. They got to experience Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Pentecostal-style and we all thoroughly enjoyed touring Trinidad & Tobago together.

Just after they left, someone "thiefed" (that's Trini for stole) the telephone cable in our area (for the copper in it) and we were without a home phone and internet service for the next 6 weeks. We got by on our cell phones, but missed a few important phone calls and emails. It certainly reminded us how dependent we've become! In the midst of that, I had my first residency interview, which went just fine (thanks for all the prayers). I am good to stay in Trinidad until my next interview (sometime in spring 2009). Apparently permanent residency usually takes 3 years, but we're praying to get through in 1 year. Always dream big:).

Next we took the old roof off our house and put a new one on. We had one night without a roof at all and praise God it didn't rain. Then we had a week with a 1 ft section missing down the east side of the house; it only rained hard for about 10 minutes one night that week. The kitchen cupboard got a little wet, but everything survived pretty well in the end. We are SO thankful for the incredible crew of volunteers who worked on the house and on the food to feed the people who worked on the house. It was really a fun project.

We took a short break to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and my birthday in Tobago for a couple glorious days. Then our new windows (for the upstairs) arrived and we jumped back into house-project mode, knocking out the old louvre windows (half of which were broken or rusted shut) and installing burglar-proof windows with tinted glass that can be shut tight enough to make air-conditioning some of the rooms feasible in the future. And the biggest bonus of all, since the new roof and windows we are now bat and wasp-free!

In the midst of the windows, Andrew's brother Clint's wife Lydia and daughters Kimberly and Kaylee arrived for a visit. It was wonderful to finally meet them all and we did manage to sneak away one day to Manzanilla beach with them. They are a joy.

So when I left Aug 4 for NY to help my sister Sherry with her wedding, the house was full of dust and people and laughter and I'm looking forward to returning the end of the month to more new adventures.

MN folks, I'll be in town briefly and am hosting a grill out & games at my Dad's house in Mtka from 3-9pm on Sunday, Aug 24. All are welcome - please pass the word around and RSVP to me at lisa_sinanan@yahoo.com.