As I am writing, I am eating a roti and drinking a Smalta (a miniature Malta). It is sunny outside, but the breeze is blowing. Everything and everyone is laid back. My neighbor called me a short while ago and handed me some spinach pastelles and some mangoes over the fence. In the background, soca music is blasting on the radio. Full disclosure, it’s carnival season in Trinidad and Tobago. The lyrics of the soca song, “No place like home,” pounding in my head. As I look through my window, in the distance I see some school children playing cricket in the school yard. It brings back happy childhood memories. Memories associated with the feeling of being home.
My mind drifts to a place where I now live in North America, where the temperature was below freezing when I left. I acknowledge that I exist in a bubble in the Caribbean, where I enjoy a privileged life. However, I am not writing this article through my privilege lens, but based on my human experience living abroad. Since arriving in my homeland of Trinidad and Tobago, I have come to appreciate some key things about Caribbean living that I have always taken for granted.
These are as follows:
- Caribbean people are not caught up in the “rat race.” Even if you are poor, life is chilled.
- The tropical weather is such a blessing.
- Our beautiful beaches are open to the public.
- People are friendly and relationships are real. In most cases, our neighbors are like family.
- In the Caribbean, communities are based on kinship and strong cultural values. We are all the same despite our various ethic background. It is our strong sense of community that fuels our gossip. Not all gossip is malicious in the Caribbean. How you know you are gossiping in Trinidad and Tobago is when your sentence starts with, “Yuh hear? ” (translation – Did you hear). This sentence usually ends with, “Eh-he”. I can’t translate that one.
- Our delicious Caribbean cuisine comes from our diverse cultural heritage. especially in Trinidad and Tobago, with a demographic comprising of largely Africans, Asians, Syrians, Venezuelans, and others. We even have a race here called “mixed” or “dougla.” Yes, we make up our own races in the Caribbean.
- Most importantly, Trinidad and Tobago has the best carnival in the world. Nobody can party/fete like us.
- Of course, we love to go to church. Particularly on Ash Wednesday, to receive ashes after behaving badly for carnival.
This has been one of my most enjoyable trips home. Maybe it is due to the fact that I am able to recognize how blessed we truly are to be born in a part of the world where our warm weather is taken for granted. This is where organic lives. I can eat homegrown chicken, freshly caught fish, and organic food without having to read the label to check for antibiotics or coloring. Our honey and coconut oils are all pure.
Life in Trinidad and Tobago is not perfect. Like everywhere else in the world, there is always the threat of crime. However, unlike Trinidad and Tobago, other countries (particularly those dependent on tourism) don’t plaster their issues on the front page of the newspaper. However, our positives in the Caribbean can’t be found in other parts of the world. That’s what makes us special. Our exceptional attributes can’t be replicated. Despite the bad press coverage on gang related crime in this country, I was pleasantly surprise to see some guys playing dominoes nightly around the Queens Park Savannah and people playing football/soccer and just hanging out. This made me smile.
I have come to realize that our natural talent and beauty are buried at the core of the universal issues we face. It does not make us ugly as a country but merely makes us unattractive. We owe it to our beautiful region and country to fight back and say no to the evils that are attempting to scar our natural beauty. Despite what you read in the headlines, Trinidad and Tobago is doing just fine. This twin island Republic is still a paradise. We can still go to a party and wine on a friend and have breakfast or a drink with our people by a bar. We can still “walk down the road” and buy doubles, roti, crab and dumpling, coconut water, sugar cake, and lots more. Trinidad and Tobago is still a paradise. Tobago, our sister isle, is a gem of a location.
At the end of the day, our people, culture, and community are still intact. The spirit of the country is unbroken, and our cultural identity is a ten. More than anything, we are free in the Caribbean. We possess freedom like no other. We are very fortunate to call this our home, because there is no place like home. Subscribe for more content and follow me on Instagram
Cheers
Basia