I love Trinidad. The entire country was exceptional and surpassed every preconceived expectation I maintained entering the program. I could ramble on for pages about everything. The people, the landscape, the food, the culture. Everything.

We started our trip taking a tour of the capital city: Port of Spain. Our tour, led by our guide Sam who accompanied us throughout the entire trip, gave our group an introductory experience with Trinidad’s culture and history, both fascinating in their own right. After this tour, we began our Paramin expedition. Paramin is a community located in the northern mountains of Trinidad, who have maintained their unique language, distinctive from Trinidadian English. We drove up through Paramin along the steepest roads I’ve ever been on, eating a homemade and homegrown lunch on the side of the mountain, and eventually ending at the top of Paramin, the third highest point in Trinidad, taking in the beautiful surroundings.

After this tour we made our journey to the east side of the island to Matura, home community of our partner organization Nature Seekers. Here we got first-hand exposure to and experience with their people, mission, and operations. Each of which were monumentally impactful on our understanding of the environment surrounding our project. We were then tasked with delivering a two-hour presentation draft of our project to 15 members of the Nature Seekers staff. This experience proved to be crucial as it redefined our understanding of how our project needed to be constructed, what worked and where to make adjustments. Additionally, it allowed us direct exposure to our audience, providing a more personal understanding of who will be receiving the project. Overall, our time with Nature seekers taught each of us about the cultural differences and similarities; giving us insight into how to navigate the differences and leverage them to achieve our common goals. Additionally, we gained valuable experience with intercultural professional communication while working on the project in country, as well as built personal connections with the staff of Nature Seekers. Furthermore, due to our ever-changing itinerary, we had frequent practice with being able to rapidly respond and adapt to unexpected situations.

We ended our time at Nature Seekers participating in their primary mission. Nature Seekers began as a sea turtle conservation non-profit organization and maintains this mission to this day. As a part of this mission, they provide tours of the beach to witness the sea turtle nesting process, and we had the opportunity to participate in these tours. While we didn’t see any leatherback sea turtles during our two nesting beach visits, these two nights were the highlight of my time in Trinidad. Because of the lack of light pollution on the beach, the stars were breathtaking, but my favorite part of this experience was the opportunity to talk to the Nature Seekers beach patrol. We stayed on the beach from 8pm to 2am waiting for the chance that a turtle would come nest and during that time connected with them, talking about everything from music to passions.

In our pre-departure orientations and personal research, we were often told about Trinidad’s vibe and sentiment. That they are vibrant, passionate, and most of all, fun people. Every ounce of this statement is true. Among those we met and interacted with their energy and liveliness displayed itself, amplified by the in-person interactions, and showing the enjoyment they have in every aspect of their day. In each organization we met, there was a unique lack of separation between work and play that didn’t impact their efficiency, it anything it made these groups better. Particularly in Nature Seekers, the staff felt like a family working towards a common goal but enjoying every second of it.

My group and I faced a number of challenges, the most severe presenting itself at the onset of our trip. We took the initial flight from Pittsburgh into Houston, and from Houston we were to fly directly to Trinidad. However, once arriving in Houston our flight got canceled, being rescheduled 2 days later, effectively stranding us in Houston. In a situation like that, it would have been very easy and understandable to turn to the apparent negatives: most blatantly the ‘wasted’ time that was supposed to be spent in Trinidad. However, the harder, and right, thing to do is make the most of the situation we were dealt. My group spent the time the right way and used it as an opportunity to grow closer with one another, making the difficult but crucial transition from groupmates to friends.

Throughout our class, we engage with readings meant to prepare us to best experience this opportunity, introducing and developing skills and frameworks critical for success in this environment. The concepts from one of these readings, “What is Experiential Education”, made themselves apparent during the presentation my team had to deliver. We did not know that we were scheduled to deliver this presentation until only an hour before, causing a slight panic when we learned this, believing we were under prepared. However, one of the key concepts of experiential learning is that we “may experience success, failure……because the outcomes of experience cannot be predicted”. We were understandably scared of the potential of failure during this presentation but ultimately embraced the challenge and came together as a group to rise to the occasion. This response would not have been possible without the potential for failure in an unprepared state that experiential learning causes.

Every area we traveled we witnessed a common thread, commitment towards a mission. We visited several community-based organizations that each have devoted themselves towards environmental protection and community development, finding purpose and fulfillment in their mission. We gained a unique understanding of each of these places due to our personal interactions within them, better understanding the human aspect of service. I’ve realized that this is why the in-country component of this class is so critical. Theoretically, the class could be completed online; however, the in-country time is what makes the class so special and impactful.

Sam, who I mentioned at the start of the post, gave us this parting advice when we were packing up to go to the airport: Value the in between. He talked about how when we were on the beach waiting for a turtle to nest we were experiencing the ‘in between’, those moments while traveling when you’re waiting for what you wanted. He said to make the most out of that in between because that’s what makes traveling so special. It was during that ‘in between’ on the beach that we grew closest with Nature Seekers and were arguably some of the best moments of the trip. This is the primary reflective point I’ve taken away from this trip and that I will continue to apply to the rest of my traveling.