Árdís - 01.01.1956, Page 13

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
11
Our Trip to Trinidad
By GWEN LINDAL
We arrived in Trinidad December 23rd and were met at Piarco
Air Port, which is 16 miles from Port of Spain, by my husband’s
daughter Ruth and her husband, Doug Hilland and young Douglas.
The duplex the family occupies is situated in one of the better
residential districts. Being at a good elevation ,one gets the benefit
of any existing breeze that is about.
A Mr. and Mrs. Burns from Winnipeg reside upstairs.
The grounds, to us, were beautiful, though not spacious. On our
arrival we were served coffee on the patio, and feasted our eyes
on plants we had never seen growing before. Ruth had written that
she was encouraging the yard boy, who moved at a snail’s pace, to
work a little harder and get the grounds into good shape before we
arrived. I’d say by the mass of blossoms that greeted us that she
had been successful. The Poinsetta hedge had so many blooms that
it drooped with their weight. A Cassia tree with yellow flowers
had been blooming for two months and showed no signs of stopping.
Beautiful orchids were growing out of an old stump of a tree.
Orchids being partly parasitic with all their beauty, are not at all
choosy about their host.
Some of the other trees and shrubs were: Red Bouganvilla, a
gardenia bush which when in flower has wonderful fragrance,
banana tree, avacado pear tree and an orange tree. Humming birds
are always about, busy as bees.
Most families have two or more servants, usually a cook,
laundress, maid and a nanny if there are children. In addition there
is a yard boy who does the floors and tends the garden.
Servants are paid anywhere from $20 to $30 a month in B.W.I.
currency which would be $12 to $17 in Canadian money.
Trinidad is the most southerly and with the exception of
Jamaica, the largest of the British West Indies. Its average length
is 50 miles, its width 30 miles. It is bounded by the Carribean Sea
and the Atlantic Ocean and separated from the mainland of South
America by the Gulf of Paria. Venezuela can be seen across the