The crew lands at the new bar in town!

From left to right: Jonathan, Heidi, Lindsey, Ian

Keeping the British end up

See that picture? That's Hurricane Emily. She visited Trinidad's fair shores on Thursday - causing evacuation of the cities and panic-buying of water and candles. Nonetheless, not to be deterred by a 'spot of weather', a small group of us headed out for - you guessed it - the pub. Not a car on the roads and every single bar in town closed. Except one. Only about 15 people in there, all with a slight devil-may-care glint in their eye, but brought together by the desire not to let mere wind and rain get between them and the bar. For my part, I felt I was fulfilling my role in maintaining England's reputation for producing truly committed drinkers. Let's just say it was an 'interesting' drive home.

Hob-nobbing

Hob-nob vb. ('ho-bb-no-bb'): To rub-shoulders, mingle, socialise or otherwise engage in polite social discourse. See also: Schmooze (coll.). Well, that's about the size of it. I am currently in St Lucia, spending my days in what would - in other circumstances - be a mouthwateringly luxurious hotel. Were it not for: 1) The fact that I am wearing a suit and working, and 2) The sickeningly saccarine, dewy-eyed honeymooners who infest the place, two-by-two, scurrying around like tanned cockroaches who've boarded some kind of bizarre anthropocentric ark. And with three hurricanes currently circling the island, we might not be so far as we think from a biblical flood. Anyway, the hotel is also host to the 2005 Heads of Government Summit for CARICOM (the regional equivalent of the EU). All the top dogs are here, and my brief is to schmooze as many of them as possible. So far, I've met 5 Prime Ministers in 2 days. Sound interesting? You'd be surprised. Lots of waiting around and dull press conferences. Looks like I'll be heading home by the beginning of August, but will keep you posted. Take care of yourselves.