Day 1: Seeing and Being Seen

We arrived in POS late last evening. It's a quiet and balmy Sunday here, and the battles we fought through the chaos at ORD and EWR in the wake of the snow storm are already forgotten.

Today we spent a leisurely morning settling into our cosy apartment. Wandered out at lunch time and instantly became something of a tourist attraction when the policepersons wandering behind us (equally aimlessly, it appeared) stepped out in front of the traffic on Queen's Park East and held it up till we had crossed the road. We soon found ourselves in front of the Hilton and couldn't resist making our way up there knowing it's where the players are put up.

If a couple of India t-shirts and a large cricket underwear hanging out to dry were anything to go by, the first signs were promising. Unni certainly seems to think so! Another promising sign was a large bus with its engine running waiting outside the hotel.

We were not to be disappointed. As soon as we reached the main entrance to the hotel, we spotted Sangakarra leaving and Vaas walking in with yet-to-be-identified man who was nice enough to take a picture of all of us. Note Vaas's photo pose; more on this later.

That was celebrity sighting enough for me but the more intrepid among us (Veena and Smi) went back to the bus and charmed the driver into telling them that he was indeed transporting Team India to net practice. Soon enough they were rewarded by a parade of players passing right under their noses and managed to take a couple of snaps when their hands stopped shaking with excitement :).

Those of us who hung back in the lobby had our fair share, too. We watched, as if in a dream, the completely unexpected sight of Rahul, Saurav, Kumble, and Bhajji walking out in single file with Greg Chappell. There may have been others but I was too stunned to register exactly what was happening. Their stony faces were unforgettable though; they looked like they had been given a sound dressing-down after the loss to Bangladesh. The friendly doorman did a little sleuthing and confirmed that nets were being held at the Queen's Park Oval today. Our vacation had started off with a bang!

We rewarded ourselves with a late lunch at...wait for it...SUBWAY! It seemed to be the only place in town open on a Sunday. Take the same ingredients and put them in the hands of Trinis and lunch becomes a lot more...leisurely. It was our first taste of the pace of Trini life and it suited us just fine.

We stopped by at Queen's Park Oval after lunch to watch the team at nets. The setting is lovely--small and intimate and surrounded by mountains. It was sunny and surprisingly quiet with not too many people around besides the team and the press. Saw Kumble bat and Dhoni bowl which is not much to write home about :). We were standing around quietly and minding our own business so we were a little surprised to see cameras trained on us. Turned out ESPN wanted "the fans" to talk about how disappointed we were about the loss to Bangladesh (never mind that none of us had seen the match). So if you watched a segment on Sportscenter with six fans dishing out platitutes and then suddenly bursting into "Jeetega bhai jeetega, India jeetega," you know now what that was all about. Nikhil, Smi, and Kuttan also appeared on Zee TV talking about empty seats at the match despite ICC claiming it was sold out (again, never mind that none of us had seen it).

I wandered off to hear Greg Chappell talk to the press about India's loss (more platitutes) while the intrepid ones hit jackpot with their cameras. These photos are not to be missed! Click on the pic below to see the album.

Seven Days in T&T

Some observations:

• How do you tell the veterans from the newbies? The veterans know how to strike "the pose"!
• How do you get them to actually register that you exist? If "them" is Sreesanth and "you" are Mallu, address him in the mother tongue. His response? "Aiyyo!"
  
• Being diverted by Greg Chappell is not diverting. You snooze AND you lose. I made it back only in time to get the palm of my hand into the pic with Sachin.
  

Just before the team was getting ready to leave, we heard the sad news of Bob Woolmer's death. It spread through the press like wildfire and most of them, having been on the tour for years, were visibly upset.

Think we had enough excitement for the day? Think again. We go to Apsara for dinner and find ourselves seated a couple of tables away from Greg Chappell, who is having dinner with his wife and another couple. Soon after, the entire Sri Lankan cricket team walks in. Apsara is well-deserving of such a star-studded guest list. The food is delicious, service friendly, and atmosphere upscale yet relaxed.

After dinner we spend time liming (Trini-speak for hanging out) on the benches across the street from Apsara, along the Queen's Park Savannah. We see the Sri Lankan team leaving some time later and are so celebritied-out that we are content with waving to them. Or are we? The intrepid ones change their minds and dash after them as they take the inner roads back to the Hilton. Nikhil manages to get the last snap of the day with Dilhara.

• Who do we like?

• Munaf bhai, coz he was actually happy to have his picture taken
• Rahul, coz he's a nice guy
• Irfan, coz he works hard (and he's soooo cuuuute)
• The Sri Lankan team, coz they all went to dinner together
• Saurav, coz he's chilled out and no one does "the pose" better

• Not so much?

• Bhajji, coz he can't crack a smile
• Kumble coz he can't crack a smile

• New friends?
  

• Aftab, a mathematician from Delhi, who follows where the team leads
• Vidhanshu, the reporter from ESPN
• The server at Apsara

• Favourite activites of the day?
• Liming
• Seeing and being seen!

Stay tuned for Day 2.