u/Infamous_Copy_3659

A woman appears in your bathroom mirror above your sink and shows you some pearls. She is is dressed in a traditional Javanese batik kebaya and sarong. She gesticulates that she wants the shower curtain behind you. You agree. The mirror becomes liquid and out flows a pearl, You throw the shower curtain at the water mirror and it goes through but it creates some splashing but mostly in the sink.

She indicates she would like to trade some other pearls.

What do you try to trade?

The rules of exchange are as follows

Assume this woman is from Indonesia in 1598, the Dutch have only just arrived.

Any item sent through the mirror has to be able to withstand the equivalent of five hours soaking in water. This is the magic water portal through which it must pass. There is no loophole of wrapping the item in a modern waterproof container solely for transport. The item would still be submerged in liquid.

There is no audible communication, only visual through the portal.

I found a live rat in a trap, it was caught but still jumping around. I decided to leave it but it got away. Is there something I could spray to incapacitate it?

So prior to Covid, I would still pass by some people if I was in the area. Mostly elderly persons who I knew were most likely home, maybe drop some fruit.

But during covid that all stopped. Now I always call ahead as even when the official rules were relaxed, most persons were still extremely cautious.

Fast forward to 2026 and a Trini friend who lives abroad and had not visited since before pandemic, continues to pass by without calling. Which I am now perceiving as rude.

So is it just me, or did the norm change for anyone else?

I am 46, periods have become irregular. I am definitely having some memory issues, but I am unsure what time period is affected.

I can cook recipes I mastered in my twenties, but having to check recipes for dishes I learnt three years ago, even though I make it about once a month.

But most worryingly I have trouble recollecting things from six months ago, just spent two hours looking for an item I put away around Christmas. Worried if this is really dementia.

In the coverage of the sinking of the MV Barima, it appears the lifevests were stored in an overhead compartment. There wasn't time to distribute them or remove them from the compartment.

I also watched the coverage of the sinking of the MV Apple Syder in St Kitts. It seems lifevests also had to be distributed.

To my knowledge, in the San Fernando to Port of Spain water taxi, life vests are accessible by passengers at your seat, so you can help yourself.

For those who have taken other water taxis / ferries in the region do you remember where lifevests were located?

I have been following the sinking of the MV Barima in Guyana on Saturday night. I am surprised that fishermen arrived at the scene first.

Rescued 20% of survivors.

Found the wreck.

The Guyanese coast guard did respond, but due to the distance from Georgetown they arrived Sunday morning.

I know most of our islands are small, but we also have a very centralised culture. For Trinidad if the interisland ferry sank closer to Toco, it is likely local fishermen could reach faster that the coast guard.

How is this handled in your country?

I have been following the search and rescue in Guyana and was wondering what is the likelihood of similar problems should the water taxi or inter island ferry sink.

Incomplete manifest of passengers

I know adults now need ID to purchase a ticket, but are childrens names recorded? Is it possible for passengers to board without a ticket?

Rescue by fishermen

Fishermen where responsible for rescuing 20% of survivors on MV Barima, they got there faster.

Is there any formal training given to fishermen to provide this assistance? Or is it simply a maritime rule, leave no vessel in distress ?

A billionaire has discovered a time travelling machine and has decided to use it to kidnap people from the past.

He is looking to hire people to become apprentices to these people.

His aim is to revive lost arts like Roman concrete and Dhaka Muslim, to get richer. Until he has trained his modern workforce, everything is being done in secret.

Some of the craftspersons have accepted their new circumstances. Some not so much. They have personal translators, so no language issues. Also medical personnel.

You aren't responsible for their mental health, just to learn the process of making the items.

The job is located at a facility which houses your master craftsperson. The facility is located where the materials needed can be locally sourced. So different sites around the world.

Your accommodation at this facility is part of the package. You can order any food you want and it will be flown in and cooked by chefs. Or you can cook it yourself if you want. You want a fancy bathtub, you got it.

You are paid whatever you ask up to $1 Million per annum, and have four weeks of paid vacation with your family a year. Plus free medical coverage for your family.

Your family cannot be told what your job entails and the vacations are at resorts owned by your employer. You do get to leave the resort with them for day trips.

Are you willing to take the job?

I am a native English speaker from the Caribbean. I am interested in exploring cuisine. We can discuss anything but primarily I would like to talk about food.

So send me an intro with one of your favourite recipes or a YouTube video of a recipe, hopefully I can get or substitute most of the ingredients.

If anyone is a Dutch learner perhaps we can practice Dutch together, I can speak Spanish if that helps.

In Trinidad, many children take extra classes in the months before the SEA, which is their version of the Common Entrance examination.

Does this happen in other countries? It is a considerable expense, but parents do it because the results of this exam determine which secondary school a child attends.

This is related to the previous thread. But since multiple countries seem to attribute a student's success to the school that they registered to take the exam. However, it is common practice that students actually are taking lessons at a different institution, or with a private teacher.

So in that sense the official results are not representative of the school.

For those with primary aged children, are they taking lessons and which subjects?

Most of the English speaking countries have an exam for secondary school placement. This used to be called Common Entrance examination, which is sat at a National level at age 12, at the endbof standard five. The results of the exam determine which secondary school a child can attend.

Here in Trinidad, the results are still published in the local newspapers. Is this done in other countries? Is there any benefit to this ? Thoughts ?

So unfortunately I can't attend the Hosay Ashura procession as planned. So I decided to see if anyone was livestreaming it on YouTube. I think it is perhaps too early.

However, I did come across this video from India. And it definitely looks like the same drumming style as tassa. Anyone know which part of India the tradition originates?

I do know this may be different to where the people now live as there has been a lot of migration within India over time.

So genie offers you this deal

You gain fluency in any language currently spoken by more than 100,000 speakers globally. This includes an accent that sounds like this is your native language, mother tongue. However you only gain a vocabulary consistent with a secondary education, any specialized vocabulary from further education has to be relearnt.

In exchange you gain an accent in your current native language so that people assume that your chosen language is your mother tongue. People would be skeptical about where you spent your childhood, nothing physical changes about your appearance, just your accent. You retain any specialized vocabulary from tertiary education.

Do you take this deal to gain another language without effort?

For those who say no, would you do it if it included the gift of a singing voice and knowledge of music in your chosen language?

Do Surinamese ever add rum to dawet?

If not, is there an alcoholic coconut milk based drink? Looking for inspiration, as I have over two litres of fresh coconut milk.

I am wondering why they have not specified the Infectious disease and issued an alert for farmers to know which symptoms to be on the look out.

Obviously they do not catch all the imported animals, and foot and mouth disease is endemic in Venezuela.

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That looks awful.

So a billionaire gives you a chance to pick one item to give everyone in your country.

The rules are that it must be a personal item that can be carried.

For example shoes, but it comes with a orthopedic fitting if necessary, arch supports etc.

It could be a water filter jug that has a self cleaning filter that lasts for years.

Nothing that weighs more than 110 pounds or 50kg.

What do you pick?

A recent question on the Trinidad and Tobago subreddit, asked if abortion was officially available in Trinidad. Technically it is illegal, in reality, it is offered once pills will work, relatively cheaply.

Later term abortions are possible but only in private with some gynecologists. It is sort of treated as an open secret. Money solves problems.

That said many women who can't afford a private procedure end up on the maternity ward with complications of botched attempts. Sometimes with permanent damage both to themselves and the child.

So is abortion legal in your country? Is it available? And do you know of cases where women travel in order to have the procedure done, example to Barbados?