Carnival is on in Trinidad, and wonderful memories came running back to me of my first time (not like what Destra sang about this year :)). The year was 1990 and it was a couple months after I had started my first proper job. The desire to go to Carnival though, might not have arisen had I not done the university course I did.

Back in the day, Soca was not very popular in Jamaica. Sure….the old folks liked Sparrow and others of that era. But young people, unless you had been exposed to Trinis, did not gravitate to that genre of music. I spent the first two years in Jamaica and I can’t recall meeting or bonding with any Trinidadians there. I had been to Trinidad first in 1979 and maybe I slept the time away but I don’t remember much about the food, except a green banana and saltfish combo. When we hit Nassau for the second half of university, there began my education about all things Trini. Continue reading →