To me, connecting is…
For this week’s blogpost we asked one of our volunteers, Ayrid Chandler, to share with us what our theme ‘Connecting’ means to her. This is what she had to say…
I think seeing the definitions of words helps make things clearer, so when posed with the topic: As a country and a people, how do we connect outside of Carnival, the first thing I did was look up the word ‘connect.’
My watered down version of attempting to define “connect” would be: spending time together and/or communicating. Having studied away for 4 years, I always admire the talent Trinidadians have for communicating. For example, while standing in a line waiting to purchase some food, you can easily find yourself pulled into a 5 minute conversation about politics or customer service with a complete stranger (who you may later find out is some relation of yours through a very complicated family history). The same can be said if you are a pedestrian relying on public transportation. A taxi driver can release a lifetime of woes on whomever dares to sit in the front seat, and an otherwise silent route from POS to your final destination can end up being a counselling session.
While Carnival is the first thing we might think of as an example of Trinidadians connecting because of its large scale, we connect on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis in this country. I embarked on a search to find visual cues of how we Trinis connect and with the help of Facebook and more specifically, Buzz.tt, Lime.tt and The Empire. Entertainment. Everything., I gathered a collection of how we Trinis connect outside the Carnival season.
Definitely in night clubs and bars. It’s somewhere we can go almost every day of the week, meet people, have a drink, and enjoy ourselves.
And by extension, any one of the numerous parties that take place every weekend!
While Trinis love to party, that isn’t the only way we connect. Our culture is diverse and there are a wide range of social events where the citizens of this twin-isle find themselves.
Being very patriotic people, sports is a major way we connect, whether at the oval for a cricket match…
…or in the stadium supporting a local football team.
And sometimes we just need to get in the action ourselves so we participate in events like this…
Or this!
One would think that’s enough connecting for a small nation like ours but our culture won’t allow it to end there!
We embrace others after superb musical performances like that of the Lydians.
We go talk to strangers’ children and make them smile at events dedicated purely to ice cream.
We support local fundraisers and get a good lime out of it too!
Hop across to Tobago and we connect at Fashion Week!
And we don’t only go on the avenue to lime, what about a free fashion show with a runway in the middle of the streets!
We love a good show and are always willing to listen to poets at an open mic in an intimate setting…
…or attend a concert on the beach for a musical connection.
And when it’s time to wind down, the connecting continues at fun water parks…
…or of course, on the beach!
As a people in this country, our connections range in size and format but it is neverending. It’s in our nature!
I look forward to connecting in the various ways mentioned as well as my personal favourite:
by Ayrïd Chandler
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