Kay's Talking Trini

     Unfortunately, Atalanta’s demand for repairs has been keeping us onboard for much of our time in Trinidad – especially poor Richard who is well acquainted with lots of mechanics.  When possible, I have been exploring a bit of the island and trying to learn about it from a local perspective.  I still remember 15-year-old Jason being annoyed that we looked like “dumb-ass tourists” while traveling in Spain. I strive not to engage in ethnocentric behaviors frequently attributed to American tourists. . . I like the differences in our cultures!  

Not a look we plan to replicate!

  So, here are a few impressions, observations and understandings of those cultural differences:

• Africans and East Indians are almost equally represented in TT’s population.

• Of the 295 ATM machines on the island, only about 10% are working at any one time - the waiting lines are really, really long.

• Depending on the time of day, a shopping trip could be a 20-minute drive or 2 hours stuck in traffic. Driving is on the left, hire a “maxi-taxi” instead of a “cab”, and appreciate the price of gas at the pump -  $4.00TT/liter or $ 2.38 USD/gallon.

• You have to eat a double.

• There is a Trindadian dialect and yuh know yuh met a real Trini when:

yuh have a hammock in every room of yuh house

yuh put bat-trees (batteries) in the torch (flashlight)

yuh mudduh and fadduh raise yuh with broughtupsy

roti tastes good but “buss-up-shut” is bettuh

yuh good friend is yuh paliwal

de bone taste jus as good as de meat

yuh don’t say “three” or “thing” . . . yuh say “tree” and “ting”

yuh think steak is a waste of good meat, better to cut it up and make stew

yuh always ax, “Buh whey de gravy?”

yuh wear washie kongs, not sneakers

yuh point with your lips

yuh say "whappenin" even at a funeral

yuh on time when yuh get dey, and yuh leavin when yuh ready to go

yuh have at least one relative living in England, Canada or the US . . .

 . . . and those Trini’s with relatives living abroad might require translation from North American English to Trini:

NAE: Would you care for hors d’oeuvres?

TnT: Wah is dis lil piece ah ting yuh trying tah give meh?

NAE: Here kitty, kitty. Get down from the roof.

TnT: Eh yuh ole dutty cyat, come orf de bleddy galvanize before ah stone yuh tail!

NAE: Aren't your pants a bit too short?

TnT: Yuh expekin ah flood or wha?

NAE: Sir, please don't throw my luggage around like that.

TnT: Buh wha trouble is dis? Boy, stop flingin meh grip so.

NAE: Don’t worry about it.

TnT: Doh hot yuh head.

NAE: Lord, we have lost electricity again.

TnT: Jeezanages, current gorn again.

NAE: I love you.

TnT: Ah rell check fuh yuh, yuh know.