Island Club takes away the blues 5

American visitor loves T&T 6

Southern sliver fingers 8

Crab collector 10

Guys’ day out at Salybia 12

Life at Milner Hall, UWI 13

Dictionary of TT Creole Language 14

Creole for beginners 15

Superstitions 16

The tourist trap 17

Editor’s note 4

Doubles for breakfast in Arouca 18

Salty, sweet and sour things 20

Breadfruit anyone? 22

Argyle Waterfall 24

Trinis lime in Tobago 26

Lopinot 28

Beauty from San Fernando to POS 31

Creole CornerCreole Corner

Contents

2

3

One with slight!Culture seeker Pertrice McClean

enjoys a hot tasty doubles from

Kenny the doubles man in Arouca.

See Chantelle Wilson’s story and

more photos further inside in the

Food section.

editor’s noteThe expression “culture for so” indicates that the content inside this

magazine focusses beyond Carnival and other major celebrations.

Our “culture seekers” have spent days and nights observing everyday

activities in Trinidad and Tobago that usually make people say, “This

country sweet too bad!”

When we look around, we see many joyful faces of people who

are proud to be Trinbagonians despite all the ills around them. We

have noticed that the youths never miss a concert, the women usu-

ally flood Port of Spain to shop for their perfect club outfits, the fel-

las are always planning a Maracas Beach lime, and the teenagers con-

sistently meet at the malls for the Friday fashion showdown.

We believe that it is important for us to promote all these things

in our magazine in order to shine some light on the positive happen-

ings in T&T since the negative ones have now taken over the spot-

light. Our intention is to show readers that T&T still has a lot of

sweetness in it.

In this issue, we share with you some of our own experiences and

those of other people on the topics of Lifestyle, Creole Language,

Food and Places. The magazine is packed with interesting articles

and photographs that will keep you informed and entertained. So,

whether you are a Trinidad and Tobago resident, a visitor, or a for-

eigner who has never visited, you will enjoy reading this magazine

that takes you around the beautiful islands through the eyes of the

people.

You are also invited to share with our readers your comments,

stories, photographs, poetry, or anything that relates to Trinidad and

Tobago that is more on the positive side. You may contact us on our

website at www.sweettntmagazine.com or email us at

contact@sweettntmagazine.com. Our mailing address is Culturama

Publishing Company, 31 Maitagual Road, San Juan.

Please leave your name and contact information in case we have

any questions about your contributions. Our team looks forward to

becoming interactive with you and hopes that you enjoy reading this

issue and all the others to follow as long as T&T remains as sweet as

it is today.

Joyanne James

editor

photographer Darrel Jamescaptured local beauties attending Tribe Ice forCarnival 2011.

COver page

4

editor

Joyanne James

Marketing representative

Jevan Soyer

layout/comic artist

Andrina James

logo/banner artist

Jason Banfield

Web designer/developer

Andre Harrington

Contributors

Rachael Cedeno

Kielon Hilaire

Darrel James

Chantelle Wilson

Media consultant

Andrew Pitman

Printer

TechXpress, 579 First Street,

Edinburgh 500, Chaguanas, Trinidad

Credits

Publisher

Culturama Publishing Company

31 Maitagual Road, San Juan, Trinidad

Phone: 747-8560, 782-4808, 340-4085

Email: contact@sweettntmagazine.com

SWeet tnt MAgAzine iS An

online And Printed PubliCAtion

5

i heard from a friend that island Club in grand bazaar,

Champs Fleurs, was a hot spot for people who wanted a

really good lime. So i checked it out and got the views of

some of the patrons who truly loved the place for sever-

al reasons.

the most popular comment i heard was about the

music. People enjoyed listening to the soulful melodies

like Hotel California and the smooth sounds of lionel

richie and Stevie Wonder played by a live band. Some

people talked about the sweet jazz that they heard on a

Monday night. What a way to deal with those Monday

blues! one lady stated, “i usually grab one of those many

exotic cocktails available at the bar along with a compli-

mentary snack, i sit back on the couch, kick off those

heels and i enjoy a relaxing musical escape.”

People found that the ambience was incredible as it

had the “las Vegas” finish with the fancy bar from which

waitresses, dressed in sexy but tasteful costumes, car-

ried an array of colourful cocktails and other drinks back

and forth to “regulars” who seemed glued to the slot

machines.

Also, i learned that when you are early enough, you

can catch the karaoke. it begins at 9 p.m. and can prove

to be quite hilarious if the singer has had one too many,

if you know what i mean! there might also be guest

singers and they are always very good. Someone assured

me not to worry if there is no karaoke or live band or

guest performance because there is always the in-house

dJ who is quite capable of keeping the mood alive.

island Club simply has a laid-back vibe that takes

away any type of blues. the hosts are very friendly and

the patrons seem extremely happy. it is nice to know

that this club brings out the qualities that perfectly

describe our “island” people. – R Cedeno

Island Club takes away the blues

This “Yankee” talks about

Trinidad and Tobago as if it

was the love of his life.

American Martin Alleyne,

34, has been visiting these

twin Caribbean islands since

the age of 13 and has had several expe-

riences that he claims “you cannot find

anywhere else in the world”.

He was especially interested in the

Carnival season. He said people here

actually partied 24 hours a day which

was perfect for him because he was

very energetic and was a lover of the

night life. Martin states, “After my first

Carnival experience in Trinidad, man I

was psyched… there is no party like a

Trinidad party.”

He lists three things that made

partying in Trinidad so different from

what he was accustomed to. “First, it

is the length of time. When y’all

party, it’s like the party

would never stop.

Second, where

I’m from, they

stop serving alco-

hol at 2 a.m. but

here, at two in the

morning, you guys are now popping a

new bottle of Hennessy. Y’all crazy. I

like that. Third, you have an endless

supply of gorgeous women in your par-

ties, which definitely cannot compete

with parties in the rest of the world.”

Martin has been to carnivals in

Cancun, Brooklyn, Queens and all types

of Greek fests in America. In his opin-

ion, no other festival can compare with

Carnival in Trinidad. He states, “The

first time I partied here, I thought to

myself that there is nothing these peo-

ple can do that I was not prepared for

because I have been all over and I was

in shape, but I did not realise the type

of stamina you needed to party back to

back for so many days.”

Martin talks about his first Carnival

experience in Trinidad. He flew in on

Wednesday and partied both that night

and Thursday night. Then, he went to

Soca Monarch on Friday. He was awok-

en on Saturday morning to go to Port of

Spain to watch the kiddies play mas

and partied again that night until 5

a.m. On Sunday, he spent all day in

Port of Spain and went to Jouvert until

4 a.m.

On Monday morning, he was awok-

en by the sounds of drums and in the

streets of Arouca he saw people in

“Halloween costumes”. He joined in

the fun all covered in oil, paint and

more alcohol. He

says that he was

given “Puncheon”

to drink which felt

like liquid fire. “You

can keep that stuff, I’ll stick

to Hennessy,” he says.

Martin could not believe that a

party could have lasted that long.

“People were still jumping up at nine

and ten in the morning, and we kept on

drinking because the amount of pepper

you Trinis put in your food allowed you

to do that. I knew I was not prepared

for that,” he says.

“On Monday evening,” he says, “I

remember coming from ‘mud mas’ and

seeing people dressed in Carnival cos-

tumes now leaving to go and play mas.

I heard someone in my crew say that

we were going home to bathe, change

and go back out, and I said, ‘What are

you talking about? We can’t do every-

thing.’ But, I was wrong because every-

body in my crew did exactly that.”

At 9 p.m. Martin called his rela-

tives abroad to boast about his experi-

ence thus far and then fell asleep.

When he awoke, it was Tuesday night.

He states that for his first Carnival in

Trinidad, he missed the entire parade

of bands because he was too tired from

all the partying. He became the laugh-

ing stock among all his friends and fam-

ily in America.

He says, “I was disappointed that I

missed the most important event but I

am not disappointed about my trip. It

was the greatest trip of my life. I slept

so much on Tuesday that on Wednesday

I was ready for that long ride to

Maracas Beach up that mountain.”

Martin says that he was amazed with

the skills of Trinidad drivers to go up,

american visitor can’t get enough

of Trinidad and Tobago

Where I’m from,they stop servingalcohol at 2 a.m.but here, at two in the morning,

you guys are now popping a new bottle of

Hennessy. Y’allcrazy. I like that.

“

”

6

Lifestyle

I love this country!

down and around the road that leads to

Maracas Beach.

Martin told his friends about his visit

to Trinidad. “My friends in America did not

believe my story about this place called

Trinidad where people partied back to

back on the street and on the beach with

an unlimited supply of beautiful women. It

is a young man’s dream.” Every year since

then, he visits T&T around Carnival time

just to experience the craziest week of his

life and by now he has witnessed the

Parade of Bands many times.

On a different note, Martin shares

other rewarding experiences that he has

had in T&T. At age 13, his first visit was a

strange experience for him because in

America he always felt like he was “Trini

to the bone” coming from a home where

both his parents were Trinidadians. In

Trinidad however he felt like an American

because he was not accustomed to seeing

“the outside of the house looking like the

inside of the house that he lived in”. All

the images representing Trinidad culture

that were displayed in his New Jersey

home came to life on the streets of

Trinidad.

At age 24, he visited Trinidad for the

second time and saw the country in a

whole different light. Beside the parties,

Martin values the food. It was the first

time he ate a mango freshly picked from a

tree, tasted a bake and shark and ate dif-

ferent foods “with so much flavour”.

Also, he remembers visiting Tobago

and going to the Reef. “This was no book,

no magazine and no video. I was there in

the water at the Reef. It is truly an expe-

rience of a lifetime,” he says.

Finally, he comments on the crime sit-

uation. “In America, when I tell people

that I’m going to Trinidad, they say, ‘No,

you’re gonna get shot or your hand is

gonna get chopped off,’ but from my expe-

rience here, the media have blown the

crime situation way out of proportion

causing it to be talked about more by the

people and making it seem worse than in

other places.”

Martin ends by saying, “I don’t think

my stories or any video would do this coun-

try any justice. The experiences here are

so incredible that all Americans should

visit T&T and live it for themselves.”

– J James

i love this country!Lifestyle

7

My friends in America did not believe my story about this place called Trinidad

where people partied back toback on the street and on the

beach with an unlimited supply of beautiful women. It is a young man’s dream.

“

”

Martin Alleyne,

American

Meet Niola Flanders from Palo Seco. Talk about

talent! I honestly don’t think that there is any-

thing she cannot do when it comes to hair and

nails.

From weave-on to extensions, corn rows, single

plaits, colouring, eyebrow shaping, nail extension, mani-

cure and pedicure, twist, locks, straightening, you name

it and I can bet you Niola can do it. And mind you, these

are skills that she did not acquire through any formal

training. The girl just has crazy skills!

When she left school Niola was faced with many of

the challenges that are still confronting young people

today like lack of money and the pull toward bad influ-

ences and company. Instead of choosing to be negative,

however, she decided to transform the talent that she

had into a career.

At first she would braid hair for people that she

knew, at her own home or by making house calls.

Satisfied customers spread the word by mouth pretty fast

and soon she was unable to handle all of the business she

attracted. Sometimes she would employ her sister and

cousin to do some of her jobs. Gradually she began to

feel like she had built up a large enough regular clientele

Southernsliver fingers

8

Lifestyle

9

LifestyleSouthern sliver fingers

base and that is when she decided to do

it full time.

Today Niola works from under her

house. She has set up a very attractive

station from which you can see her

working from 8 a.m. until 12 at night on

some days (though official hours are 9

a.m. to 6 p.m.)

For Niola, being able to wake up

every day and go to work doing some-

thing that she loves is an amazing feel-

ing and she relishes the challenge to be

more and more creative each day.

She says that business has been

good from day one but she still

sometimes feels like she must

keep herself current and this

has made her recently desire to

do short courses to become

officially certified in her

trade. If you ask me though,

many people will study for a

long time and never be as good

as she is.

So, do you have a little

talent when it comes to

styling hair and nails and you’ve proven

that you have the patience to sit for

hours on end while your brothers, sis-

ters, cousins and neighbours come and

let you do your thing? Are people

always complimenting you on how neat

or quick you plait and style braids?

If your brain is always ticking with

new ideas about weaving hair or styling

cane rows and sometimes you can just

see someone and know what styles will

look good on them, please tell me why

you have never thought about owning

your own salon! Take an example from

Niola and become one of T&T’s young

successful entrepreneurs. – R Cedeno

Life for Herman Preira of Arima is

incredibly simple. Ask people what

they do for a living and rarely the

response is, “I’m a crab collector.”

Preira is one of the most hospitable men

I’ve ever come across. He has been catch-

ing crabs for over 15 years and says he will

continue doing it for another millennium.

He states that what drew him to his

nifty profession was the fact that it led

him to enjoy a rather relaxing life. “No

pesky traffic to fight through each day, no

good-for-nothing boss to answer to, and

no daily stress of putting up with annoying

and tittle-tattle co-workers,” he said.

The calm blue waters of harmony and

cordial customers are all he really needs

to liaise with each day. He never stops

enjoying it for he believes that living on

the ocean’s brink will always remain a

thought for so many other dreamers.

What may seem like an easy thing to

do is rather complicated to the inexperi-

enced. Catching crab is accomplished by a

simple but ingenious method. Living near

the sea naturally allows you to see thou-

sands of crabs roaming across the earth

every year, and that is all the motivation

Preira needs.

Why not set a “giant rat trap”? Clever,

isn’t it? Preira says every year crabs

spread all over Trinidad in colonies of mil-

lions. He says a female crab takes about

18 months to become fully grown, ulti-

mately producing between 50,000 and

70,000 eggs (with an incubation period of

3 to 4 months) during her laying period.

Even if you are not good at maths, surely

all those zeroes could get your head spin-

ning. Simply multiply 50,000 by 100 crabs

and you already have 5 million of the

creepy little critters.

Preira uses homemade crab traps to

capture crabs. He says they are fairly size-

able (almost two feet in length), made of

bamboo, and inside the trap’s hollow nest

is a man-made rig that is craftily set to go

off whenever the crab makes its way

inside the bamboo with the intention of

stealing the hot pepper, coconut, pine, or

lime bait. But contrastingly to the physics

of a rat trap, a crab trap does not harm

the crab. All it does is lock the crab inside

the trap itself.

Traps are placed on the shores on a

daily basis, and are checked at least once

per day. Preira has made it his duty since

the 90s to head down to the shores from

as early as 7 o’clock each morning to set

the endless traps he articulately designed.

After all the easy work is over, the

real task begins. Once the crabs lose their

Herman Preira

Lifestyle

The crab collectorThe crab collector

10

freedom to the traps, Preira reaps his

investments and carefully sits and plans

what must be done with them. The major-

ity of crabs are used by Preira and his cus-

tomers to create one of Trinidad and

Tobago’s signature dishes, crab and

dumpling. Some crabs he keeps as pets,

and the remainder he shares with family

and friends. At the time I was invited into

his home, some of his “pets” were idly

roaming about his outdoor premises. The

only possible game to play was “snap my

finger”.

Preira had been busily preparing a

“crab vine” for a customer during the

interview. He ties all the legs of each crab

together with a solid vine and then he fur-

ther ties this onto one long vine. In the

end, the crab vine closely resembles the

strings which are often cluttered with

Christmas tree light bulbs — just picture

crabs replacing the coloured bulbs.

It is true that crabs are cherished del-

icacies that are second to the more covet-

ed lobsters. But there are a few facts one

might like to consider when comparing the

two. First and most important, lobsters

are very expensive! Sure lobsters are big-

ger, sweeter, and are often labelled as

being more sophisticated, but think about

it, as good as they are how many people

can afford to eat them every day?

The difference with crabs is that

there is almost an infinite supply of them.

Crabs cost much less than one-tenth the

price of a full grown lobster, making it

possible to eat them as much as one might

eat hops bread. Preira’s prices range from

TT $4.50 to $12 and he sells them in the

Arima market.

Preira shares a few other interesting

facts about crabs: In order to tell the sex

of the crabs you simply flip them over and

it is fairly obvious that the female always

has a much larger underbelly than the

male. Typically, she was designed that way

in order for her pouch to contain her eggs.

Crabs also release a distress signal when

they are in danger, in the form of a froth-

like substance.

Preira explains that crabs are general-

ly spotted in two colours: brown and blue.

The blue crabs, known as water crabs, are

more commonly seen and the brown ones

are the mountain types. Mountain crabs

are less likely to be encountered since

heavy rains need to bathe the mountains

in order to chase them out of their home

crevices.

Preira says there are two different

times that you would most likely

encounter a “crab party” (crabs seen in

such abundance that the ocean’s music

could make them dance): anytime during

the months of June to December (T&T’s

rainy season) and at night-time whenever

the moon is full and causes the tides to

grow high.

Finally, Preira gladly shares his expe-

rience of being attacked by a crab. He

says that at one time recently, a crab claw

had clung onto his finger for about half an

hour. He had a bunch of them inside a bar-

rel and was inserting some grass into the

container to separate the crabs from

fighting with each other. The crab saw its

meat and took a hearty snap at his deli-

cious finger, leaving Preira with only its

claw for him to remember the experience.

Each time he tried to remove the claw

that clamped down on his finger, the pain

worsened to horrific extents.

Since the crab’s claw had been no

longer part of its body, Herman merely

waited for the life in the claw to drain out

itself, bearing the pain all the while. He

simply removed the crab’s arm and imme-

diately soaked his finger in ice water. “Try

to imagine sharp edged pliers squeezing

your finger with maximum force if you

want to know how it felt,” he said.

According to Preira, catching crabs is

a whole lot of fun once you know what you

are doing. While some people do it as a

hobby, others do it to make a decent liv-

ing. Although Preira may not be a million-

aire just yet, there are still plenty more

crabs for him to catch and plenty more

“crab and dumpling” menus to fill.

– K Hilaire

Lifestylethe crab collector

11

12

These fellas in my picture show

that being happy is the only thing

that concerns them, and they

have every right to amuse them-

selves, especially since the cost of gen-

uine entertainment has gotten so high

these days. They know how to take advan-

tage of the Caribbean vibes, the amiable

populace, and how to let loose and just

have an insanely good time.

If you are really that curious, it may

be of a little ease to know that these fel-

las were merely spending a Sunday after-

noon at a beachside within the nature-

filled town, Beach Break, Salybia. A surf-

ing exhibition was scheduled to begin in

an hour or so, and the guys had taken it

upon themselves to just sit back and make

use of the extra time, by simply talking

amongst each other and wolfing down a

couple of ice-cold beers.

They littered the streets with their

pickups, pinned themselves at the summit

of the hillside grass, as well as to the back

of their trucks; there was also a case of

Stag, over a dozen guys on the scene, and

just two or three young women in the mix.

In T&T, the above spells a recipe for

complete chaos, the good kind though.

The music oozing from the car speakers,

the warmth of the sun, and the boisterous

people sitting at the roadside eagerly

awaiting the chance to talk to friends,

strangers, sons and daughters, as though

they each stemmed from a lone family.

Loaded for the day, this crew had

even brought along their water coolers,

home-cooked food, and a change of

clothes for the occasion. As the guys sat

there, all cool and hassle-free, they knew

it was only a matter of time before a

“farse and boldface” woman would inter-

ject herself into their personal time.

She was a pretty brave one, too, hav-

ing the audacity to pick up one of the dis-

tinct green bottles from the guys’ cooler,

put it to her mouth, then drink “a man’s

beer” just like that; but, after everything,

the guys always remain aware that they

are jovial citizens of T&T, and as our say-

ing goes, “We lime, we dine, we have a

good time, as long as all ah we is one.”

– K Hilaire

at Salybia

Guys’ day out

Lifestyle

13

Lifestyle

The hall of

halls

“Milner Hall is the best

hall, the hall of

halls, the only hall.”

These are the words of a group of

“Milnerites” sitting outside the

building of their residence. The

group who are students of the

University of the West Indies state

that the hall is “one of quality”,

and in that respect they see this

hall as being in a class of its own.

Older than UWI itself,

“Milner” was the first hall of resi-

dence to be erected on the campus

way back in 1927 and has had a

strong tradition of excellence

since then. Today, it is the largest

of the three halls and still remains

dominant in its presence and con-

tribution to the university.

According to the current Vice

Hall Chairperson, Johnathan

Thatcher, over its 81-year history,

the hall has had the pleasure of

nurturing and producing, within its

celebrated family, a wealth of

regional and international leaders

and professionals. Strolling through

the corridors, you will meet a truly

representative cross section of stu-

dents hailing from almost every

island of the Caribbean and even

Canada and North America, and

here they are all one family.

“Being on hall is not just about

having a place to sleep,” says Erica

who has lived on the hall for some

years. “We have a strictly devel-

oped culture, it is like a fraternity.

There is always something going on.

Everyone on campus knows that we

dominate all activities social and

academic,” she boasts. “Our annu-

al Hall Concert is the most antici-

pated event of the semester and

the after-party is always packed to

capacity. Our debating and football

teams constantly blow away the

competition, producing excellence

on demand. We have a tradition of

being nothing but the best.”

Evidently, this hall continues to

produce the holistic individual that

is needed in this ever-evolving soci-

ety. As Johnathan so confidently

puts it, “The next time sit in class,

take a look around, identify that

person who is knowledgeable, tal-

ented, innovative, approachable,

compassionate, professional and

considerably good looking and I

assure you that this person is a

Milnerite.”

The certainty of excellence

expressed by these students can

surely encourage new students to

beg for an opportunity to experi-

ence “Milner” life. Maybe students

at other halls on campus would

have something just as positive to

say about their halls. A visit to

Canada Hall or Trinity Hall might

just be a great idea.

– R Cedeno

Creole Corner

Imagine a foreign linguist spent 30

years of her life studying our

Trinidad and Tobago Creole lan-

guage, and wrote about it. Lise

Winer launched this gift to

Trinbagonians in April 2009 and called it “a

start” in making the language codified.

She spoke to linguistic students and lec-

turers at the University of the West Indies,

St Augustine, about her journey towards

creating the Dictionary of the

English/Creole of Trinidad and Tobago.

She says that in 1979, the only foun-

dation she had for written Creole in the

Caribbean was a Jamaican English diction-

ary which was an excellent model, but

since the overlap in Jamaican and TT lan-

guages was very low her task was

extremely challenging.

She states, “There is a difference

between adding, improving, and starting

from scratch with no substantial info,”

and since there was no previous study of

TT Creole she needed a master plan to

separate the language of hardcore Creole

speakers from those that were closer to

the English language.

Winer’s plan included the use of polit-

ical and historical texts as boundaries for

her study. She found that basilect dialects

were very similar but as people separated

and moved around during slavery the lan-

guages adopted differences. Some differ-

ences in sound that she lists are “flim” vs

“film”, “pappy show” vs “puppet show”,

and English plural words used as singular

such as “a pants” and “a mice”.

Then there are words that sound the

same but have different meanings such as

“fowl” in English which means chicken,

duck or turkey, but in TT Creole “fowl”

means chicken only. A “tree” in English is

known to be big and woody, but in TT

Creole there is a “tomato tree” and not a

plant. Some words, she says, are unique

such as “obzocky” and “broughtupsy”.

Also, there are words that people think

are local but are not such as “bamboozle”.

For years, Winer’s duty was to recog-

nise words and sentences, and then find

them. She says, “Professors called me a

word hunter.” She started her search in a

pan yard but could not approach people as

a researcher because people usually act

differently when they know they are being

studied. So when she sat in a taxi, she just

had to listen to conversations and only

record them on paper from her memory at

home.

One helpful resource for her was the

novel House of Mr Biswas by Vidya Naipaul

but since the TT Creole language kept on

shifting over the years, she became very

uncomfortable in using it as a reliable

source. She had to depend on friends to

verify the sounds, meanings and usage of

words and sentence structures.

One major problem she faced was

meeting people who were trying to be

helpful by being accommodating. She

Long live

Lise Winer holds

her 30-year

accomplishment

14

15

Creole Cornerlong live tt Creole

For times of infinity, numerous

languages have been spoken by

various ethnicities with the pri-

mary aspiration of communicat-

ing effectively whenever human heads

collide with each other – French,

Chinese, Spanish, Japanese – you get

the point.

Without the utilisation of these

twisted tongues, chaos might have been

the only language that the world would

have ever found. Can you name each

and every language that is currently

alive today? Chances are, unless you

recently travelled “around the world in

80 days”, you will be stomped before

you know it.

Nonetheless, there is one language

which some may call “the forbidden

language” that belongs to the people of

Trinidad and Tobago, and although the

majority of words come from English,

there are a number of unique words and

sentence structures that make it most

difficult to teach as a second language.

This article serves only to enlighten

non-TT Creole speakers about some of

the things that Trinbagonians say and,

quite frankly, it is impossible to grasp

the deepest mechanics of our local

tongue in a few words.

Our popular greeting, “Waz de

scene?” means in English, “What’s the

scene?” and the answer is usually, “I

dey,” meaning, “I’m there,” or “I’m

good.” Some may further respond with,

“I on like christophene,” in order to

rhyme with “scene”, or “I on like boil

corn.” Christophene and corn are com-

monly used vegetables in Trinidad and

Tobago. Yes, we are very creative!

A young man may tell an elderly

shopkeeper, “Tantie, dem pie and dem

looking rel good boy!” The word

“tantie” is used primarily to show

respect when addressing elderly women

and the phrase “and dem” is used to

pluralise nouns.

There is even a certain way to

speak when ordering food. One of our

traditional foods called “doubles” made

with two barra and channa is a delicacy

that almost every Trinbagonian cannot

live without. If you approach a doubles

vendor, the quickest and most appropri-

ate way to get what you want is to say,

“Gimme one with no pepper, one with-

out, one with slight, one with mango

alone, or one just so.”

“Doodoo, take care!” Hold up one

second, doodoo? Isn’t that something

that dogs do out on the grass? Well,

“doodoo” is actually a “sweet name”

that one should be thankful to receive.

The word has the equivalent meaning of

the word “deary” which is often used by

older women when speaking to young

people. It generally means that you

have attained a small portion of their

intellectual approval as well as a little

of their respect.

“Kill you dead” is another classical

local expression. This means that you

think you are right about something.

Many girls say, “Kill she dead she look-

ing good!” Some people may say, “Kill

dem dead, we don’t know dey robbing

we!”

“Reds!” “Dougla!” “Darkie!” These

are standard greetings that quite a few

men use to address attractive women.

Here in Trinidad and Tobago, calling

people by their race and skin colour is

perfectly natural and some men even

end up with hot dates in the end. This

does not mean that we go along calling

everyone we love “Whites”, “Blacks”,

“Yellows” and “Browns”! There are spe-

cific names that are commonly used.

One popular corny line is, “Gyal,

yuh on like boil corn!”

Our language may seem complicat-

ed because we are one of the most cre-

ative people in the world. So, the next

time you feel like taking up a foreign

language, why not learn the T&T lan-

guage by conversing with our people

and using our dictionaries. If you

become a fluent speaker of T&T’s lan-

guage, you will not regret it.

– K Hilaire

says, “Some people fit meaning with

words, like at one time I asked someone if

a macco house means that a house is fancy

and he said, ‘Well yeah,’ while other peo-

ple said, ‘Not really, it means that it is

big,’ so you have to investigate different

domains all the time.”

Winer says that the longest entry in

her dictionary is the word Creole. This

word was very challenging for her because

there are many meanings for the word

Creole, all of which are valid. She had a

problem writing definitions for each use of

the word Creole because the meanings

vary among the population. The common

uses are Creole person, Creole food,

Creole language, and Creole culture.

She closes on the note that she is con-

fident that her study goes beyond many

existing TT Creole dictionaries today espe-

cially the ones found on the Internet. In

her search for the meaning of the word

“schupidee” online, she found a TT web-

site that gave the meaning “a stupid per-

son”. However, her audience at UWI gave

many more meanings including: a person

who is easily taken advantage of, but not

necessarily stupid; one who is awkward; or

a very funny friend. Winer’s exercise was

just a taste of what she had to go through

for over ten thousand words.

So, while some people in T&T are still

telling their children that they need to

speak “properly” or English, there are

people from other countries who are

dependent on what they have to say the

old fashioned local way so that the lan-

guage of T&T can actually live on.

– J James

Trinbago languagefor beginners

16

recently, I was liming with a

cousin who grew up abroad and

the difficulties she had in

understanding my expressions

made me realise that a lot of the local

sayings we use every day are actually

quite unique.

I mean, sometimes you know that,

but when you actually experience it in

conversation you can be amazed at how

much of the language that we use is

inspired by our oral tradition,

i.e. stories, and our environ-

ment, nature and animals or,

should I say, our special ways of

referring to them. There is a

very colourful inventory from

which we draw upon to

express our desires, hopes and feelings in

unique ways.

When my cousin complained about a

mutual friend of ours, I told her, “Monkey

know which tree tuh climb, she cyah

come rong me with that schupidness!”

And she just looked at me funny like she

was going to ask what monkey I was talk-

ing about. Usually I would have just

repeated the phrase in Standard English

but then I always feel like if I sacrificed

something in terms of its true

meaning and effectiveness.

Even though it is true

that she didn’t grow up

here, she still does have

some Trini blood in her

so she should know at

least a little something.

Feeling in the

mood to tackle this

seemingly impossible problem and to do

some serious damage control, I thought it

would be really cool if I could teach her

some of the local slangs and she was

actually very enthusiastic to learn. I

decided to give her an education,

“Local Sayings 101”. I asked her

to tell me the sayings that she

did not understand and I

tried to explain them as best as

I could. To my surprise some

of the expressions have

become so normal that they

were very hard to explain. It

made me realise that I might

need a little refresher course

myself. These are my humble

attempts at explanations:

If I say “crapaud

smoke yuh pipe” I’m

telling you that you’re in a

lot of trouble. Literally the

craupaud refers to those huge

ugly frogs that are so prevalent in the

rainy season. The image of one of them

sucking on your personal pipe is not

exactly pleasing.

“Monkey see monkey do” is similar

to the copycat concept. Of course calling

someone a monkey is admittedly a lit-

tle harsher.

“Goat doh make sheep”

refers to the belief that bad

parents can’t raise good

children; in other words the apple does-

n’t fall far from the tree.

“Playing dead tuh catch corbeaux

alive.” I wasn’t too sure about this one

myself but after some consultation the

general consensus was that it must mean

you’re pretending to know less than you

really do in order to catch someone doing

something wrong.

“Pot calling kettle bottom black.”

You’re in the same position as I am but

you think that you’re somehow

better than me.

“Mouth open and tory

jump out.” Similar to letting

the cat out of the bag but

with a local spin. It means

you talk so much that you

end up saying things you

shouldn’t have said.

“Monkey know which tree tuh

climb.” People know who they can say or

do things to without having to suffer

repercussions for their actions.

They are also smart enough to

target these people.

These are just a few that I

attempted to tackle but I’m

sure that you can probably think

of a dozen more. Why not write to

me at contact@sweettntmagazine.com

and tell me about the ones you know and

include your own short explanation for

each. It would be cool to explore our

uniqueness in terms of language.

– R Cedeno

popular sayings in

Trinidad and Tobago

Creole Corner

Mouth open and tory jump out

Tourists Bengie and Sharma come

to Trinidad for a vacation. They

want to see something grand.

Bengie, the husband, is a pho-

tographer and he and his wife

make a first stop at a canyon where they

spot a cave in the distance. As they are

about to walk up to the cave, a young Trini

man and woman exit and stand before the

grotto. Their clothes are dirty, fully tat-

tered, and there’s an abundance of hair on

their faces. Together they look up at the

sun and yawn to their delight.

Sharma grows excited. “Look, Bengie,

Caribbean apes!” And she freely points at

the Trini couple.

The alleged “apes” see that they are

being watched and appear to have question

marks over their heads.

“Should we shoot them?” Sharma asks

Bengie.

The Trini man becomes annoyed as he gapes

at the tourists. “Why all yuh doh shoot all yuh

mother...!”

Sharma starts jumping up and down. “It

talks, Bengie! It talks!”

“Yeah, I can see that,”

Bengie responds. “I think I’m

gonna shoot them.” Bengie

tries to withdraw his camera

from his pants pocket.

The Trini couple’s eyes bulge

out of their heads. “Duck, Sheldon! Duck!” the

woman says to the “ape-looking” man beside

her. They both cover their heads and run into

the cave.

Benjie the photographer scratches his head,

“What the...?”

Meanwhile, inside the cave, “You think they

bought it?” Sheldon asks the woman.

“I dunno,” the woman says unconvincingly.

“That’s why I’m always glad we took this job,

minus the dress-up part though,” says Sheldon.

“Anyway, they want scenery? Just like that cou-

ple last week, let’s give em something unique

to talk about.”

“What d’you have in mind, this time?”

“Hmm, can I borrow the Cybershot?” says

Sheldon.

The woman sighs. She sounds bored. “Oh, that again?”

“Coming up with new ways to entertain tourists eh easy,

you know.”

“Oh well,” the woman says, “at least we get paid for this.”

She then walks about the cave until she is able to pick up the

Cybershot. She gives it to Sheldon.

“Thanks,” Sheldon says. “And what will you be doing in

here in the meantime?”

“Well, I think BET’s doing that special on Michael Jackson

today. I’ll watch that, then I’ll probably just check out

some old episodes of Friends and Family Guy. Oh, and

about the tourists, try to get at least one good shot this

time, right?”

Sheldon prepares to leave the cave.

Outside the cave… the tourists are still standing in

awe, waiting for something spectacular to happen.

“What the heck are those apes doing in

there?” Sharma asks Bengie.

“I dunno,” the husband replies.

“Wanna check it out?”

The wife nods. But just as

they’re about to inch closer,

Sheldon comes dashing out of

the cave, with an elite camera

that’s thrice the size of theirs.

He begins taking snapshots of

the tourists like there’s no

tomorrow.

“Would ya look at that,”

Bengie says excitedly. “The apes

here are quite advanced.”

Sheldon barks, “Who’s the monkey now,

eh?”

– K Hilaire

A tale portraying

the misconception

held by many

foreigners about

Caribbean people

The tourist trap

17

Creole Corner

Imagine it’s eight o’clock in the morn-

ing, you have already left home for

work, but because of the early morn-

ing rush you leave home without eat-

ing breakfast. As you stand on the Main

Road by Lopinot Junction awaiting a maxi,

your stomach howls at you and all you can

think about now is where to get a quick,

filling, tasty and cheap breakfast. A beam

of light suddenly falls on Kenny’s Hot &

Tasty Doubles. Your eyes are drawn to the

stand while your nose, stolen by the

aroma, guides you towards a crowd.

“Let me get three with slight pepper

to go!” In no time, Kenny done fix you up

while Jenny handling the money. Although

Kenny and Jenny have been serving the

public their hot and tasty doubles for 26

years, they have been selling at Lopinot

Junction for seven years, and with cus-

tomers numbering over 70 daily, he says he

doesn’t plan on ever stopping.

The couple live in the community of

Doublesfor breakfast

in arouca

Food

18

Bon Air West, Arouca. They come out at

5.30 in the morning and leave at 12.00

noon every day. Preparation of the deli-

cious doubles usually starts at 12.00 a.m.

With ingredients like shadon beni, hot pep-

per sauce, flavoursome chutney, filling

bara and mouth-watering channa, both the

regular and new customers are always sat-

isfied and continue wanting more.

One customer commented, “Nah boy,

this doubles tasting real good,” while

another added, “Yeah, you doh ever disap-

point me boy.” According to Kenny, while

most people usually buy three and four

doubles at a time, there are some who

order 20 at once. Many of the other cus-

tomers made similar comments about the

doubles expressing their satisfaction and

gratitude.

Now, you cannot give the people

something to eat and leave them thirsty!

Along with the hot and tasty doubles,

Kenny and Jenny also serve a variety of

drinks such as bottled juices and soft

drinks. By the time you are through, you

have gotten the quick, filling, tasty and

cheap meal that you needed; in other

words, “that doubles do de trick”!

– C Wilson

19

Fooddoubles for breakfast in Arouca

20

Iwas on my merry way, traversing the Valencia main,

when I saw all the colourful items inside the glass bot-

tles on the shop-table and thought, ooooooo, candy!

Then I saw Amy, the shopkeeper, and told myself, STOP!

I have to find out more… about the food, that is. One thing

you don’t see in T&T as often as before is a parlour (better

known by locals as a miniature grocery or snack-shop).

Most parlours are usually known to vend the basic

household items as well as a couple snacks. Amy’s shop, how-

ever, takes a slightly different approach: throw out the bread

and butter, who needs those things? Why not sell rare

Caribbean treats that can satisfy the greatest sweet, sour,

Sweet,salt or

sour... what frame of

mouth are you in?

21

salty, spicy, and even bitter cravings? Mango

chow (made by Amy herself), salted-prunes,

“Chinee” mango, sunflower bars, nut-

cakes, black prunes, ginseng sweets … and

the list can go on.

I happened to try a few of her products

and I must say that the green mango delica-

cy should please the pickiest of chow lovers

— it has the standard zing of pepper and

everything. If you are in the mood for some-

thing more on the strange side, the ginseng

sweetie is definitely worth a try; it gets extra

points for having an unsmooth texture that is unde-

niably unique.

Amy’s parlour has so much to choose from that it is almost

impossible that you won’t find yourself coming back for more,

especially since it’s likely that you would not be able to try all

her goods in one sitting. She even has those yummy gummy bears

that everyone seems to like. In the mood for ice prunes? She has

these, too; these are the white, frosty-looking ones that look

like giant raisins and initially feel like powder as they enter

your mouth, they quickly gush out a blast of intense sweet-

ness the more you suck on them.

Conversely, if you scan Amy’s table well enough,

you’ll find that she also carries some extra condiments that

would spruce up a variety of other foods. Be it bottles of

naturally produced honey, hot pepper sauce or pickles,

you’re certain to find something to flavour your tongue no

matter what frame of mouth you’re in! – K Hilaire

FoodSweet, salt or sour

get it roasted, fried, steamed or ‘oil-down’get it roasted, fried, steamed or ‘oil-down’

anyone?

This one is for all those

ardent breadfruit lovers

out there. Quick ques-

tion: Did you know that

the breadfruit is not indigenous to

this region? Back in the 18th cen-

tury it was actually transported by

ships from the Polynesian islands

to the British colonies of the

Caribbean. Why? Well it was

brought here primarily to be food

for the slaves who worked on the

plantations harvesting cane,

cocoa and other crops.

Now, for it to be considered

good enough only to be slave

food, you could imagine the stig-

ma and shame that was linked to

eating it both in the years during

and after slavery. Actually, even

up till today in many other

Caribbean islands, people still

hold this attitude and consequent-

ly they have a strong aversion to

its consumption, believing that it

identifies them as poor or low

class.

What amazes me though is

that if I had never actually looked

it up, probably I would have never

known about this disgraceful past.

In Trinidad anytime you hear

somebody cooking breadfruit, the

reaction people have is like “Wuh!

Ah passing back with meh plate in

five!” Far from being linked with

the hardships of that perilous cen-

tury, the mere thought of a bread-

fruit is enough to make mouths

water and create feelings of

uncontrollable hunger; or should I

say greed and longing? So many

people love it!

It has an irresistible flavour

which satisfies and leaves you

anticipating your next encounter.

My grandmother likes to serve it

boiled in coconut milk, seasoned

to perfection with her homemade

seasonings and fire sauce! She

usually tops it off with a little but-

ter as soon as it comes out of the

pot, still steaming. Then she

might add some smoke herring in

a th ick savoury sauce, the kind

that will make you want to lick

your fingers, the spoon and the

plate! Add a healthy slice of fresh

avocado, or zaboca as we say, to

make a meal that was already

perfect soar to heights of the sub-

lime. Oh gosh! Ah tasting it now!

Hmm!

And there are so many other

ways to enjoy this versatile fruit

both in its ripe and green state. It

can be roasted, fried, steamed,

and of course there is the ever

popular oil-down, a dish that has

the power to attract and keep a

crowd.

Still stunned that the bread-

fruit was slave food? Don’t worry,

they say Trinis have a knack for

transforming bad into good and

isn’t this a beautiful example of

that? So next time you pass a

breadfruit tree take a moment to

reflect on what you now know and

take pride in what we have creat-

ed. – R Cedeno

22

Food

Places

24

Ihad the pleasure of visiting our sister isle and

encountering one of the most beautiful natural

wonders that I have ever seen, the Argyle

Waterfall. Located not more than 20 minutes’

walk from the beautiful village from which it gets

its name, it is a truly spectacular site and defi-

nitely worth the few mosquito bites you may get

along the way.

I read afterwards that Argyle is the tallest

waterfall on the island (175 feet), which didn’t

surprise me as I remember the deafening sound of

the water crashing onto the rock at the highest level

of the fall and how it cascaded down what seemed

like a natural staircase (which only had 3 steps). It

was simply amazing!

The official trail is easy and there are tour

guides available at a reasonable price to show you

the way. Being the thrill-seekers that we humans are

(and also because we were playing cheap), the group

that I went with agreed to let one of the unof-

ficial tour guides (a local who was just hustling)

show us the way. Don’t worry, nothing horrible

happened, our guide was actually quite profes-

sional and by the end of the day he was a part

of the gang. Anyway, back to the waterfall.

At the bottom there is a calm spot where

the river flows quietly over the smooth rocks,

an ideal place for small children and anyone

who just wants to kick back, relax and enjoy

nature.

But if you’re looking for a rush why not

climb to the very top and feast your eyes on

the raw power of nature. Some people said

that if you stand under the water at the top it

gives you the best massage and that if lovers

kiss under the water they will stay together

forever.

I don’t know about that, but what I can say

is that if you’re planning a trip to the Argyle

Waterfall, be sure to carry some repellant,

wear good shoes and long pants as a precau-

tion, and of course carry a camera because this

place will simply blow you away! – R Cedeno

Argyle Waterfallin Tobago

Blown away by

26

Places

dazzling outfits. My friends and I enjoyed

ourselves in the party as we danced to

soca, dancehall, hip-hop, R&B and rap

music.

On the third day we went on the

glass boat rides where the captains Kern

and Randy ensured that we had a good

time. We went deep-sea diving and

snorkelling, and even visited the famous

Nylon Pool. We surely planned an inter-

esting vacation and the experience

turned out to be a memorable one for us

old school friends.

So, if you would like to share a story

like this one that makes people wish that

they were in your shoes, then write to

contact@sweettntmagazine.com.

Make sure the occasion is a fun-filled

one with lots of exciting activities like

the lime planned by my crew.

– C Wilson

27

29

lopinot for relaxation and parangPlaces

30

Placeslopinot for relaxation and parang

31