Number 6 of the Ten Commandments: Honor thy father and mother. Does that include obeying them? And what if they have conflicting views? Who do you go with? I went with Mom for this one. There was some extra paint from what was used on my room. I asked Dad if I could use it on the bare concrete wall in the bathroom. He said that we'd put tiles there. After speaking with Mom last night, she said that I should go ahead and paint it since Dad likes to "tee tee vey," or put things on the back burner in Trini speak. So I did! While Dad was sleeping, I started on the wall at about 5:45. "When the cats are away, the mice will play." It's 6:30 AM and I'm all done. It looks at least a thousand times better than before. Thanks, Mommy! Thanks to Sparky too for being a good companion.

12:30
We went to another of my favorite Trini beaches today: Las Cuevas. The water was warm and crystal clear. The waves were calm. It was perfect. I got to see some Black Vultures up close. There were tons of them around the beach. Because the shoreline stretches pretty far, Sparky had a blast running around. He's currently zonked out under the table. I only saw three stray dogs at Las Cuevas, two of which were closing in on Sparky before I shooed them away. In previous years, there were many more.

On the way back I saw a car with a bird cage on top. I asked dad to stop so that I can find out more about the "Bull Finch." Well get this! They can be worth as much as $18,000TT, or about $3000US after you train them to whistle! The one I saw (see video) was imported (more than likely smuggled) from Venezuela. My plan was to buy a few of these birds and set them free. I would only be able to buy 5 with my Fulbright stipend!


Throwback photo: Grandpa painting with almost the same color!


Black Vultures "liming" at Las Cuevas


View of Maracas Bay from the lookout

The Sparky Paddle


Bull Finch. The Birds of Trinidad and Tobago states that this species has expatriated and that it is the most common caged bird in T&T. No mention of it's value!


My Olympus Stylus Tough 3000 is a great underwater camera!