February 8, 2005
Carnival!
Trinidad & Tobago
Admittedly Trinidad is not known for the turquoise-blue sea and white sands predominantly marketed in travel brochures. It is as far away from the Pina Colada Caribbean as you can get in the Caribbean. Nestled close by the coast of South America, to which they were once joined eons ago, Trinidad and Tobago (pronounced toe-bay-go), also referred to as T & T, geologically remain as exotic as Brazil. A mere 21 miles separates the two islands of which are daily spanned by plane and ferry. T & T also possess a very wide ethnic and religious diversity wherein tolerance comes naturally.
The islands’ first settlers were Arawaks, followed by Caribs. Trinidad, itself, was Columbus’ name for the island with three hills that he sighted in 1498. The Spanish settled in Sangre Grande, San Fernando and Port of Spain. With the evil of slavery abolished in 1833, indentured laborers were brought to Trinidad, predominantly from India. As African and Indian influences permeated, modern Trinidad was born. Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Britain in 1962 and in 1976 declared itself a republic.
Trinidad money is very similar to US money and appears to imitate it in appearance. They refer to it as TT’s and it means Trinidad & Tobago dollars. One US dollar equals roughly 6 to 6.3 TT’s. As with all foreign money it is hard at first to do the exchange rate in your head when you try to pay with US dollars while in Trinidad. Most things you purchase are reasonable and the US dollar goes far. The people readily accept US dollars and are very helpful. Only one place I went to, a restaurant, required you to fill out a form allowing you to pay with US dollars.
Phones are another interesting topic. They don’t have coin-operated public payphones so you have to buy a pre-paid phone card. The cards seem to be in short supply. The used cards appear to be tossed out the windows of cars as I saw them everywhere. It’s fairly simple to dial and enter the code from the back of the card after it prompts you. The prompt even tells you how much time you have left on the card before you start. There is a local card and an international card. It’s cheaper to use them for each purpose.
Parties are a serious pastime here and Carnival is the biggest bash of all. Its energy builds from Christmas onwards as anticipation grips the island. People party, choose costumes and learn that year’s songs. Carnival itself bursts forth a rhythmic ‘theatre of the streets’. Imitated in a hundred cities around the world, T & T is the birthplace of Carnival. Inherent in Carnival celebrations are the musical styles of Calypso and Soca, which are the essence of movement and dance. Of major prominence is Steelpan, the only new musical instrument invented this century.
If there is a central to Carnival it is Queens Park Savannah. Most of the dramatic costumes and dance sequences performed for the judges pretty much happen here on the large outdoor stage with bleachers. After the massive parade makes its way through miles of pre-planned routes throughout the city, at midnight Carnival Tuesday, the festival ends.
(You Tube clip) Pete's pics pt1
(You Tube clip) Pete's pics pt2
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