The holiday spirit
Last evening we attended our first Christmas party of the season, this one hosted by the Port of Spain Hash House Harriers. Of course, given that it was being put on by hashers, before celebrating we had to first get thoroughly sweaty, wet and muddy on a trail. In typical hasher fashion, the party was held high up on a hilltop, accessible only by a road so steep that all of the party guests had to be shuttled up and back in 4-wheel drive jeeps. After cleaning up at the house belonging to friends of our friends, we joined the other party animals on the mountain top for an awesome dinner, excellent entertainment and an open bar. Yes, that’s right folks, an open bar at a hash party!
Rebecca and I with our friends Pip and Harry, pre-hash.
You see, we do sometimes wear something other than bathing suits and workout clothes.
Good thing there was a fire at the party. It was chilly on the mountain top.
Our friend Kirk would have really enjoyed this mandolin player.
The lights of Port of Spain, a perfect backdrop for a perfect party.
If the Christmas carols playing in the shopping malls wasn’t evidence enough that the holidays are just around the corner, this is at least the third reference to Christmas that I’ve made on our blog this season. In the past I used to get super excited about the holidays, especially the gift giving and receiving. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re down here in the tropics, absent of any snow, or just that I’m getting older, but I find that my attitude towards the holiday has changed considerably. Contrary to the materialistic side of Christmas that the advertisers want us all to buy into, these days I find myself focused more on family. Last year Rebecca and I opted to forsake giving gifts to each other so that she could visit our daughter Cassandra in California. This year, we’ve decided to do the same only, even better, we’ll both be making the trip to the States to see her, her husband, and our new granddaughter! Although we won’t be traveling until mid-January when the airfares have returned to a reasonable amount, knowing that we’ll soon be able to spend some time with some members of our family, including the newest addition, will be all the presents that we need come Christmas morning.
that christmas party sounded really fun! We can’t wait to see you both! 🙂
Ditto.
you may already have purchased your airplane tickets but for future reference….try Yapta.com to track the cost of taking different routes. It will email you when the price goes up or down and then you can decide to buy or wait. I have used it to track multiple airlines on multiple routes e.g. YYZ-PHL-STT versus YYZ-CLT-STT versus YYZ-JFK-SJU-EIS, etc.
Also in pricing a Dec-Jan trip to SXM (but not 🙁 happening now) I found that pricing one-way trips resulted in the best price. Return tickets often have a great deal going one way but not the other way.
Yes, we have purchased them already but I’ll keep that in mind for the next time. Thanks.
Demi is already in TRX training
I think she would be more into this:
http://gn-test.com.br/training/site/about-what-is.seam
Looks like a great party! Sounds like awesome music.
Merry Christmas To both ofmyou!
BTW, where’d you get the puffy shirt?
St. Martin. It was my new “New Years” shirt last year. 🙂
Good thing you are off your no drinking hiatus. This is our first Christmas back ing three years and I’m caving in to all the expectations. Groan. It will be nice to be amongst family, now if we could get the focus away from gifts and so much tastey food. The grand baby is adorable.
She sure is. Can’t wait to hold her.
We’re lucky to now have 3 within 4.5 & 6 hours drives (Ottawa and Montreal). The baby stage for me is “meh” but let me tell you having a 3 yr old around, is non-stop fun. A tad exhausting but remember you get to give them back.
Enjoy the holidays with them because when they are <4 feet tall time really does fly by at warp speed.
I’m sure we will enjoy them!
Hey guys. First of all, let me introduce myself. My name’s Robert and I was Christian Graugart’s “travel guide” while he was in Romania and Moldova. I got a link to your blog from Christian after I asked him a while back if you would be anywhere the US Virgin Islands in January and he said he had no idea and to check your blog.
It looks like you’re in Trinidad right now and you’ll be going to the States in mid-January, what about early December/late January? I’ll be in St. John from the 28th of December to the 3rd of January for some “family time”. It would be cool to meet up and escape my family even for a few hours if you’re around :)…
Anyway, let me know what’s up and I’ll talk to you soon.
-b
Hi Bobby
I suspect that around that time we’ll be on route towards St. Martin from some point south of there. I doubt we’ll make it as far as the Virgins this year at all. That’s too bad as it would have been cool to meet. Enjoy your holiday!
Mike
No worries. Enjoy your time in St. Martin. If you’re ever in Eastern Europe (because that’s such a huge vacation destination and all) and want to do some rolling or some hashing, hit me up!
On On!
-Bobby, AKA “Snatch ‘n Jerk”
Thanks, Bobby! We will.
Christmas in the tropics look great! We agree with you … family is much more important than gifts. Seeing family and your grand-daughter for the first time .. can’t think of a better gift!
Nor can we!
What a cutie! Bet Rebecca can’t wait to get her hands on that one.
Deb
S/V Kintala
http://www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com
You’re right there!