Your best defense is a good offense

No truer words have ever been said about the driving in Trinidad.  I thought that I was pretty well versed in driving and could handle other aggressive drivers.  After all, I lived in Chicago for a number of years and spent considerable time in Boston for work in the late 90's.  But I don't think anything can really prepare you for this place.

Basically, the only rules of the road are that there are no rules of the road.  Of course I'm kidding...sort of.  The roads are quite narrow and usually pretty curvy.  You drive on the left side of the road (which is actually much easier to get used to than I though it would be), but apparently you can part wherever you want and in whatever direction you want.  There have been a number of instances where I had no idea if I were going down the wrong way on a one-way street because every car is parked going in the same direction.  The only thing that told me otherwise was another car on the same street driving in the opposite direction of the parked cars.

Pretty much every street is a two lane street (one lane for each direction), and that is the extent of the street and pavement.  Not many sidewalks in the neighborhoods, just some driveways and usually a deep gutter to catch the rain.  Oddly, even though on many of the busy streets, people have no issues just pulling over and parking or maybe chatting with someone on the side of the road.  So there are frequently cars pulling into your lane to avoid a parked car.  They don't necessarily wait to make sure that the oncoming traffic is clear; they just dart out and continue on their way.  This is also a frequent occurrence with potholes - even if it's on a blind curve.  I fear the day that my parents come to visit because I'm almost certain this will give one or both of them a heart attack.