Xmas2000

Merry Christmas to you all once again from Trinidad. As in the past 3 years, we have been finding it hard to get into the spirit of Christmas with the sun shining and the land finally drying out after a long six-month rainy season. Only the local Parang music on the radio (of Latin American origin, known as Paranda), the crowds and decorations in the mall, and the numerous office parties suggest that snow might be falling up north and that Jack Frost is helping my retirement by driving up the price of fuel oil.

Christmas last year was busy for us as usual. In Trinidad it kidks off the Carnival season, and we jumped in head first. We tried to keep up with our younger friends at the "fetes", enjoying the new crop of "soca" and "calypso" music, and followed the steel bands into the national championships. When Carnival approached, we were joined by a 'gaggle' of Carnival celebrants from Canada and the U.S., some of whom stayed with us in our home. We dragged them out to the fetes and made them appreciate the physical conditioning that is necessary to "be Trini" at Carnival. At "jouvet" ("mud masquerade", starts with a fete at midnight from where the dancing moves to the streets of the city until sunrise), we lost our friend Sandy after an hour and became quite worried for her safety as the night wore on. She finally crawled back to the house at noon, covered with mud and beer, and we gave her just enough time for a scrub in the shower before getting dressed for the Carnival parade ("fancy masquerade"), where we once again danced through the streets until the sun set.

We continue to explore the various parts of the Caribbean, this year going to Barbados and Margarita. In Margarita, Wendy and Curran learned how to windsurf, but Bruce and Curran (now a fully certified diver) found the scuba diving to be awful. Wendy went with her cousin Judy for a week to Costa Rica, where the hiking, birding and volcano watching were fantastic. Bruce visited Montserrat on a geological field trip and was able to boondoggle a business trip back to the UK to see family and old friends. We had a great family vacation back to Alberta and BC this summer, visiting family and friends in Calgary, renting a houseboat on Shuswap Lake where we visited Wendy's brother and family. We also rented a motorhome for a week to visit parts of BC that were new to us. What a magnificent place.

Wendy has been busier than ever with her activities in the Canadian Women's Club, serving officially as Welfare Officer, but continually involved in all areas within the club, from fundraising to planning social events to helping with the newsletter Plans are to step down from official duties this New Year although she hopes to play an integral part in public relations of the club before she leaves. She has succeeded in bringing down a large shipment of wheelchairs and used hospital equipment from the US to the many needy recipients here in Trinidad. She still continues to work out at the athletic club, has learned to "spin" and has learned to play a mean game of tennis (for her!). Unfortunately, her involvement in a local investment club has not prevented the losses generally seen in the stock markets!

Bruce has contined to support the local BSA (Boy Scout) Troop, working with the boys on their merit badges. He spent a lot of time in the summer helping to organize a major conference hosted by the Geological Society of Trinidad, and this fall took over duties of Treasurer with the society. He still likes to sail, and although he has dropped out of the racing team that he used to crew for, friends who left Trinidad this year (to take up a posting in Kuwait) left us with a key to their lovely 40' Valiant (cutter-rigged sloop). We tried to sail it every weekend until recently when it had to go into dry dock for refitting, and Bruce was amazed to see how at ease Wendy felt on the boat, picking up a lot of good crewing skills. There might be some hope yet!

Meghan is still attending Appleby College in Oakville (Ontario), where she continues to enjoy school and do well. She played both flute and clarinet in two different school bands last year, and still acheived first class results (>85%). This year she has become involved in the theatre arts, currently producing a student play.

Curran, who has been tremendously under-challenged at school since we arrived here, worked hard enough last year to convince the headmaster and staff to let him "skip" a grade. With some home-schooling to cover Grade 7 Science (including dissection of fresh samples of a pig's heart and lungs), Curran was able to move right into Grade 8 where he is still doing well, but having to work harder than he is used to. He is still involved in the Boy Scouts, currently a Patrol Leader and working on his advancement to "Star". He still loves to play basketball, but we wish he would stop bouncing his ball in the house!

November 29 was Bruce's 50th birthday. Although he admits it feels almost the same as being 49, he is enjoying the thoughtthat he can take early retirement ( with 1/2 pension) any time he wants to. He still enjoys his job to a large degree, but is looking for a challenging post for when his work permit expires next summer and we are obliged to leave Trinidad. He thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous party that Wendy organized for him on a party boat with 30 of his friends, complete with bartenders, roasting, and a school of 30-40 dolphins that swam with us for over 1/2 hour.