Dear Trinidad,

 I am sipping my last paw paw and mango smoothie before we hop on the plane to head to the land of strawberries and peaches.

And delicious overpriced coffee drinks.

The classroom door is dismantled

and some of us already got a jump start on our New England summer vacation.

As we make a full circle, ending our first year as international teachers and students, we hold on to the experience you gave us.

We hold on to it with our fingertips, like a sweet slippery candy.

Like a luscious chennette that lives in a perfectly ingenious package

or a passion fruit heart whose flavor takes you by surprise.

We will pack you  into the suitcases of our minds

along with the colors,

shapes,

 scents,

 flavors,

 textures,

 sounds,

and the silence

of Port of Spain.

While we are away,

we will dream

about your trees that look like regal Carnival women wearing fancy feathery hats,

 about the sharp quench of fresh coconut water,

and your kiskadees that perch anywhere and everywhere.

Thank you for this experience, you have taken us in and taught us many lessons,

not the least of which is  how to be stronger and better equipped to embrace change.

You didn’t give up on us when we wanted to quit.

You just kept on shining your unrelenting brightness right at us.

We will see you in a few weeks.

Love,

this humble family of jumping hamsters.