These are new pages to catalogue Nigel's "Updates" on life in Trindad - much appreciated by those of us far from home... They are a wonderful mixture of reportage and personal observation and I am really sorry I lost so many of them in a stupid software glitch last year!

I had saved the whole lot, right from the beginning of the Pointe-a-Pierre web site, so if anyone has any of those old ones and would like to email them to me, I'd be really happy! The ones below begin in 2001.

Nigel's own web site (from where these pages are taken) is @: http://www.papmemories.net/

Monday, July 8, 2002 1:43 am Subject: Update.

Hi All,

Personal Stuff.

Don't know why I keep starting this Newsletter with complaints abut how busy things are except that it is really a measure of how fast time is whizzing by and how little of it we really have left. A call to enjoy every day to its fullest, don't let anything slip by you. Trinidad is a wonderful place to live up to such a philosophy and these are wonderful times to take advantage of what our little island offers.

Allan is back home after graduating with honours from Humber college in Toronto...we are very proud of him in many ways. Toronto is a very exciting city....when I go to Houston I'm in the US, when walked out of Lester Pearson I stepped in to the world. It was great to see Allan as his own man and measure how well he had fitted in at school, mastered Toronto and all that it had to offer. You can keep the CN tower though.....never again...ever!!!

Had a great time in Antigua....it is a super place....will be going back. Sadly we didn't get to see Allison Archer, Kim Devin or Vicky Godier...a measure of how much we enjoyed the all-inclusive action of Jolly Beach. TO SEE THE PICTURES YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO THE PaP SITE. THEY ARE TOO LARGE FOR E-MAILING. GO TO http:www.crosswinds.net/~nwent CLICK ON THE GRAY AND BLACK "PaP NEWS" BUTTON. Gotta stop posting pictures of Andrew.....gotta join Grandparents Anonymous first.

Tech' Stuff.

Although we are very happy with Norton for protection against viruses, we found that our PC was being raided by a hacker who was copying files. Programs like ICQ etc. offer open portals to raiders through the inbuilt file sharing utility. So we downloaded and installed a free firewall named ZoneAlarm..wonderful stuff....just some stats......during the first 21 minutes of having it installed we received 17 hits from the internet from people trying to get in....some may be legit' but no way to know and not essential stuff anyhow. In 20 minutes on MSN we got hit 65 times. Glad that we installed the firewall, only one of those 65 needed to be bad.

Trinidad Stuff.

As we talk, the Victoria Garden cookout is gearing up.........firecrackers (portable burner rings) are being lit, pots are being chunkayed, seasoning being added and much excitement being generated. An annual fund raising event, it attracts about fifty pots, about 700 people, and this year is held under the theme "Government Corruption". We were going to join Stewart's pot the "Curry Corn Biche" team.....currying corn "beef" and taking the mick out of a current corruption scandal at the Biche (pronounced Beach) high school......love it!!! We will be baby sitting instead so that the kids can enjoy themselves. TO SEE THE PICTURES YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO THE PaP SITE. THEY ARE TOO LARGE FOR E-MAILING. GO TO http:www.crosswinds.net/~nwent CLICK ON THE GRAY AND BLACK "PaP NEWS" BUTTON.

As we drive around Trinidad we are constantly confronted with Nature's beauty, so much so in fact that sadly we do not notice much of it. While touring the North Coast with some friends from Norway there was suddenly a shriek from the back seat...."picture picture picture!" as our guest spotted this bamboo array. She was caught by its symmetry, the effect of light, and the different shades of green. What didn't come through is the lovely little river that runs in a ravine behind and below the clump of bamboo.

Newsletter Stuff.

Immediately that I published the last Newsletter/Update I wascorrected by both Gordon Lloyd and Laurence Hawkins who pointed out that it was not a communist who coined the phrase about power corrupting, but in fact it was Lord Acton, a virulent anti-communist campaigner himself. Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. PaP Stuff. Sad to let you know that Mrs.Dolly passed away last week after fighting a long illness. The funeral was held at the Roman Catholic church on Harris Promenade in San Fernando and was officiated by Fr.Reginald Hezekia and three other priest. The church was as full as it could get in obvious tribute to the person Mrs.Dolly was, and the high esteem in which she was held by all. Despite the sadness it was great to see Sister Peters and many PaP old timers there. Our condolences go out to Joan, Stephen and Hillary.

John archer is looking for Angela Kirby, and Graham Taylor. Would appreciate any information on these two people......what great PaP names. Had a wonderful check-in from Olivia Dyar, previously Olivia Gransaull....Hi! Olivia.

As you will have already guessed the service provider who supported the original guestbook went bust and with them went about 450 of the most valuable check-ins on the PaP site. Trying to find a suitable replacement. Presently have 629 PaP related e-mail addresses in my address book, about 300 people per month still check in on the PaP site, and this e-mail update is circulated to 133 people directly and twice that number by forwarding.

If you haven't yet done so you really should check out Diana Plummer's (Beccera) site. Not because she has chronicled and posted a number of past PaP Updates but because it is a very deep and sensitive repository of her thoughts and memories of PaP that will certainly touch a chord in your own heart. Look for it at http://www.bachanal.demon.co.uk/diana's_journey Just as a matter of interest Di, I was talking to a pundit friend of mine (sita ram Kapil Ji, namaskar) and he said that people who have a past to miss and to mourn its passing are fortunate in two ways.......they had a good past worthy of sadness, and have a balanced present that allows reflection without fear of loosing perspective.

Last week we were graced by the company of Jimmy Walden's daughter Janne, her husband Bjorn, and son Gabriel. I have a soft spot for Europeans generally and Noweigans particularly, and these kids were lovely. We were very touched by their openness and acceptance that things are different outside of their land. They fitted in immediately and made firm friends with our son Bruce and wife Renee who are about the same age. In the picture below we are "lickin' dong a good shark and bake" at Maracas on the way for our drive along the north coast that spawned a number of super scenery-shots, paramount among which is Janne's bamboo picture above. Sorry Dons yuh still lookin' good.....baaad pic!! TO SEE THE PICTURES YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO THE PaP SITE. THEY ARE TOO LARGE FOR E-MAILING. GO TO http:www.crosswinds.net/~nwent CLICK ON THE GRAY AND BLACK "PaP NEWS" BUTTON. In the picture Janne shows Gabriel a bunch of bananas (a han' a fig) on the tree.......not too many fig trees in Bergen!

Once again as we went on to the beach and to Marianne River we were amazed by the number of things that they saw and marveled over that we take for granted. When seen through their eyes the beauty comes clear and they were very willing to share their impressions and perception. TO SEE THE PICTURES YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO THE PaP SITE. THEY ARE TOO LARGE FOR E-MAILING. GO TO http:www.crosswinds.net/~nwent CLICK ON THE GRAY AND BLACK "PaP NEWS" BUTTON.

John Archer also spent a lot of time with them and was equally touched by how nice these young people are. He took them to PaP where Janne was very moved at being able to see the place where her father grew up and had so many good years. She was saddened that his home in Bon Accord Ave. was pretty well demolished but got some souvenirs.

They are presently in Tobago staying at Crown Point. Janne reports that Jimmy is doing well and retired now. She showed us a few pics of him in his youth and now....still looking good. We hope that Janne, Bjorn and Gabriel will come back many more times and that they will bring Jimmy with them soon......the PaP family continues to regroup and is obviously passing on the good things we earned while going through that wonderful experience way back when. Tussen Tak kids......enjoyed having you here and glad that you were part of our family for a while. Hei Jimmy...see you soon.

Politics and Economy.

This has been a long update and really not much to report on the political stalemate......what is clear is that we have a third election coming up soon.........will keep you posted. Things still stable thanks to the people of TnT not their so-called leaders.

Weather.

We are having a classical rainy season. Periods of rain as the tropical waves come sweeping across the Atlantic from the North West coast of Africa. They come across in parallel waves, ranked like marching soldiers with periods of dry between. In fact right now as I sit at the keyboard, it is raining outside. The calming sounds and smells of rain in the bush pervade the house and we can reconstruct in our minds the wonderful sense of comfort that we used to feel in the oilfield bungalows when rain fell during the day and the house was darkened by lowered shutters.

Even after the rain stops falling the sound of the water dripping off of the trees and bushes serenades us for a while. I had just finished spraying the shrubs in our garden with a 'green' fungicide for blight and other pest, gone in to the garage to wash off the sprayer when "boom"! down comes the rain to wash off all my good work. I had seen the pesky little rain cloud peeping excitedly at me from over one of the hills but I thought that I would have the last laugh since the wind was blowing in the wrong direction for the little pest to come and wash off all my hard work....lost the bet, and boy is that little cloud letting me have it....some thunder just now!! Now come the rain flies....maaaan! I haven't seen this many for a long time, the birds are having a really protein filled day, the lizards are out in great numbers, and the spider's webs all full to capacity.

Take care y'all. Nigel.