The Police Released Us ...

We leave Trinidad in the morning and go to the nearby beach for an hour, then start the drive back to the capital. We know the way, and I'm frequently going the maximum speed that the vehicle will travel, so we make it in pretty good time. After leaving our things at the casa particular, we go for dinner to one of the nicer hotels on the main capital square, the NH hotel. The restaurant is Mediterranean, the decor is very Mediterranean, the food is passably so, and the two guys playing Spanish classical guitar play "Ragtime", then "Hello Dolly", then some Spanish classical guitar music, before settling into vaguely Italian-sounding restaurant music.

We decide to go to La Casa de Musica in Mirimar, since we have heard that it's better than the one in the old town. It's in a less touristy area, so maybe it will have more locals. On the way there, in our confusion trying to figure out where it is, we had an encounter. I was trying to turn left, but decided I needed to turn right and come around the block. As I turn right I notice a man in uniform walking towards me, pointing at me, and pointing for me to pull to the side of the street.

Now, I have several thoughts in those few seconds: He's on foot. If I just keep driving, what will he do? He can't catch me, and I can't see them putting out a call for my license plate number. But I do pull over and roll the window down.

I tell Tiina to pretend like she doesn't speak Spanish. It's to our advantage to be able to play dumb if we choose, and I might want to pretend like I can't understand him.

He asks in Spanish for my identification. It's then I realize: I decided to leave my passport in the hotel room. We are going dancing. I was tired of carrying around a money belt. I didn't want a money belt to interfere with my dancing. In the money belt was my passport and identification. I'm stopped by the police in this island, and I have no identification, no passport, no driver's license.

I apologize to him and explain that I forgot my ID at my hotel, and hand him the rental car agreement. He explains what I did wrong, and says something about 50 pesos (convertible) for making an illegal turn, plus 30 more for not having my identification. I'm pretty sure I only have about 40 or 50 convertible pesos on me, and it's too late to get any more this evening. I pretend like I don't understand, and apologize for forgetting my ID, and ask questions repeatedly. He says to wait a minute and then walks back away from the car so he can call someone on the radio without me hearing.

While we're sitting in car and he's not looking I take out the money we have. I keep 10 pesos and $60 US from the reserve stash, and I give the rest of the money discreetly to Tiina and tell her to hid it.

He's taking a while, and I'm not sure why. So I get out of the car and go back to talk to him. I ask if it's possible for me to pay the fine here and explain that I only have 10 pesos, plus some US currency. He says the fine is 50 pesos, but says I can't pay the fine now, explains my crimes to me again, and then tries to tell me something I can't figure out. I'm a little confused, because a few minutes ago the fine was 50 + 30 = 80, while now he's only saying 50, but I figure it's better not to ask. Then he tells me I need to wait longer. He doesn't seem particularly agressive or mean, but I can't quite figure out what he wants or what I should do.

After he tries to explain things several times that I still can't understand, I move back towards the car with him. I'm not faking it, I really can't understand what he's trying to explain. He asks if Tiina speaks Spanish, and she says "a little". He repeats himself again, Tiina asks one or two simple questions (so as not to seem like she speaks fluent Spanish), then we still play dumb. He tells us to wait a few more minutes then walks back behind the car again. I ask Tiina "What did he say?" He said that I had "illegally" moved from the left lane to the right lane to make a right turn, and that I didn't have my identification, and since I didn't have my identification they were going to have to take me to "the unit". "The unit?" The police station, as best we can guess.

Now, I know he just wants his money, but he keeps saying No to that. It doesn't appear that he's trying to get more money or any other issue, he just keeps saying "No", as in "That's not proper", you have to wait. Can I go back to my hotel to get my passport or to get more US currency? No, I have to wait.

We wait a few more minutes, and then a police car with three guys pulls up behind us. Two guys casually get out. No one is in a hurry here, no one is acting tough. Even this is done on island time, in an island way. One of the newly-arrived police men acts like he might be their boss, and he speaks a little English. He asks my my name and where I'm from. Between his limited English and my limited Spanish, he explains to me that because I don't have my identification they have to take me to "the unit", where they will put handcuffs on me, and I will have to stay the night there, and then in the morning they will make me leave the country on an airplane, and I will never be able to return. He stresses that last part, as if that is the most severe part of the punishment: I will never be able to return to the Island.

He's very calm and even nice about how he's explaining it. I'm pretty sure he's trying to threaten me or scare me, but there is nothing threatening about how he's talking or his manner. He had the same tone and manner as if I had walked up to him on the street and asked for his help.

I say it's OK if they put handcuffs on, and it's OK if they make me leave tomorrow because I have a flight out tomorrow anyway. I would just need to get my passport and things from my hotel before I leave tomorrow. We really want to go salsa dancing tonight, so can we go dancing and then I'll go to "the unit"? He seems confused by my willingness to be arrested and to spend the night in jail, as long as I get to go dancing.

I explain that I only have 10 pesos convertible, because the money changer isn't open this late, but I have some US currency with me also, and I could convert more dollars to pesos tomorrow. They say No, I can't do that, but then ask me again how much I have on me in pesos. I answer again that I have only 10 pesos convertible, plus 40 or 50 US, plus some local national money. He says something about how he's going to try to help me, and writes the number "30" on his hand. I explain again that I only have 10 pesos, but ask if I can give him some US currency too. He says for me to walk over with him to their car, and he'll help me there. I say OK, I just want to tell mi amiga that I'm going to go over to their car. It's OK for her to wait in our car. He's fine with that, so I tell Tiina, then walk with them to their car.

I apologize again, and take out the 10 pesos and $40 US. He originally had asked for 80, then 50 pesos, and the value of what I offer him now is about 40 pesos. I'm pretty sure I could get them to accept just the 10 pesos and let me leave, but that may take a while and I want to get dancing. I offer him a wad of pesos national that I have in my pocket, that are probably worth maybe another $5 or $10 US. He looks at it and just waves his hand No, as if it's not worth his trouble. This confuses me still, about why specifically he didn't want local money. Maybe he can get all he reasonably needs of that by hussling locals, and he was only interested in convertible money? Or he just thinks it's beneath his dignity to accept local currency as part of a bribe?

He hands me back the registration for the car. I shake his hand and say thanks and Adios, then get back in the car and drive away. I thought about asking him to let me take a picture with him, but decide that would be rude.

We're on our way again but still don't know how to get there. We stop and ask a woman for directions. She trying to get to the same place, but she doesn't know the way. She's from a different part of the island. Would she like a ride? OK, she says.

On our way in I pay the cover for Tiina and myself. She asks if we can pay her cover, and she'll pay us back when she gets change later. Huh? I might be willing, but the cops took some of our cash, I don't have enough left. She says she meet us in there, but we don't see her again, other than in this picture.

An hour or more passes with bad music, not dance music. Tiina notices someone at a table near us and says "Is that Gerard Depardieu?" No, of course not. But then I look carefully: It might be. He certainly looks and moves like him.

Ten minutes later some people go up to talk to him. I can't hear the conversation over the bad music, but it's clear they're asking him for his autograph, and then they take a picture with him. Then someone else does. A few minutes later he leaves with his two friends.

That must suck. He's not even in the top list of actors, but he can't even go to watch unpleasant music in a low-tourism Caribbean island without being bothered.

Many girls are standing up in the club instead of sitting down that are dressed, well, like hookers. We trying to figure out the system, so I talk to a few of them. They haven't paid the cover, they're trying to get guys to buy them drinks, to pay their cover, and maybe "something else." They must have some agreement with the club, that they get in provisionally, but they can't take a seat at a table unless some guy pays their cover. Maybe that is what the girl that we gave a ride was trying for? But she is from out of town, so she isn't "known" at the club to get in without paying cover. She didn't look like a hooker, but maybe I'm wrong.