* Above all else, if you are a guest in
a Trinbagonian's home you have been accorded special status; lifelong
acquaintances may not be invited into a Trini's home very often.
Conversing with a friend over a locked gate while the visitor
is left standing in the street is not uncommon. Make an effort
to be thoughtful and considerate during your stay, bring your
host a gift, buy some groceries and include your host in your
activities. Above all, respect Trini traditions, which can be
very different than what you are used to.
* Homes with indoor plumbing may not have
a hot water heater. Get over it, after watching carnival dancers
you're going to need a cold shower anyway.
* Do not put your hands on top of your head
with your fingers laced together inside a Trini home (this is
typical Yankee body language for relaxation or comfort). Doing
this will blight (put a curse on / bring bad luck to) a household,
and Trinis can be seriously offended.
* Don't step over a prone person or someone
seated on the floor; doing so is believed to bring death or blight
to the family of the person stepped over.
* Wait until grace is said before you begin
eating; some Trinis are highly religious, don't shock them with
your heathen Yankee ways.
* Don't blow your nose at the table, this
is considered very offensive. Excuse yourself and blow in another
room, then wash your hands before returning.
* If offered food or drink when visiting
a Trini home, take it. Refusing to eat in someone's home is insulting.
Some of the things you will be offered may be new to you, but
politely eat or drink it anyway.
* Food portions served in peoples homes
in the Caribbean can be a lot smaller than you may be accustomed
to. Be prepared to gracefully accept the food portion you are
offered; you can always get a snack later if you're still hungry;
* Don't open the refrigerator of your host
or hostess without an expressed invitation by them to do so. If
you open a refrigerator without permission, you will be treated
as if you are rude or nosey, probably both.
* Few Americans remember when people built
their own homes, but many Trini's have done just that (I can remember
my parents building a house by hand in Hampton, Va. in 1950).
One of the rudest things you could do is turn your nose up at
someone's house because it wasn't built by a contractor. In Trinidad
a person's home may not have hot water or an indoor toilet; the
walls may be board and the roof may be tin; grow up, get over
it and have a good time!
* Trini architecture is adapted to life
in the tropics; many homes have decorative cinder blocks around
the top of the wall near the ceiling with holes open to the outdoors;
this provides natural cooling and ventilation in a country where
the temperature rarely gets below 50 degrees.
* It seems like everyone in Trinidad has
a dog, or more likely, several dogs. If you stay in someone's
home or visit someone, you are likely to have a close encounter
with a canine. Don't walk into anyone's yard without an invitation.
* The dogs and roosters in the neighborhood
serve as a natural alarm clock; they'll bark or crow loudly every
morning, waking you up shortly after you get home from the all
night fete.
* Most developing countries experience periodic electricity blackouts or water shortages. Expect this to happen occasionally and don't let it spoil your fun.
© 2004 Afrique Publications
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