31 Days of Where I Live (Day 7) - Down de Islands

Day 7 of write 31

I've already established that Trinidad and Tobago is made up of two islands. but that should be two main islands there are others.

Here in Trinidad they are referred to as "down de islands". The "de" is pronounced like a hard d and it means the.

One is a jail, some are inhabited regularly but they are mostly used for a day or weekend get away by the locals.

Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos, Gaspar Grande and Gasparillo Island. 

Little Tobago, St Giles Island, Sisters' Rock and Goat Island off Tobago.

Caledonia Island, Craig Island, Lenagan Island, Nelson Island, Pelican Island Rock Island.

Carrera on the left, Cronstadt on the right

Cronstadt Island, Carrerera Island (the Jail), Faralon Rock, Soldado Rock, Saut D'Eau

 

I took these because I can see some of the islands on my to and from work.

If you would like to learn more about writing for 31 days in a row, please visit www.write31days.com and learn more about it. I chose the "Too Awesome to Categorize" category for my own blog this month.

31 Days of Where I live (Day 6) - Where Exactly Is Trinidad and Tobago

It's day 6 of write 31!!!!!

So you may be thinking I get T&T is an island and it's in the Caribbean, but where?

Trinidad and Tobago lies just 7 mile off the north eastern coast of Venezuela, it a 58 minute flight to Caracas. We are the most southerly islands in the Caribbean.

Guyana, which is also a Caribbean country but not an island is the only one below us, technicality is a beautiful thing.

Trinidad is surrounded by four different bodies of water. The Caribbean Sea to the north, Gulf of Paria to the west, Atlantic Ocean to the east and Columbus Channel to the south.

When I tell some people that I am from Trinidad many ask if it part of Jamaica, please note how very far away we are from Jamaica.

If you would like to learn more about writing for 31 days in a row, please visit www.write31days.com and learn more about it. I chose the "Too Awesome to Categorize" category for my own blog this month.

31 Days of Where I live (Day 5) - Pictures

Day 5 of write 31!!!!

This is actually going to be a picture day. Some pictures of the past and a few of the present

If you would like to learn more about writing for 31 days in a row, please visit www.write31days.com and learn more about it. I chose the "Too Awesome to Categorize" category for my own blog this month.

31 Days of Where I live (Day 4) - Our History Part 2

Day 4 of write 31!!!!!

Remember I said that Trinidad had a relatively peaceful history, the Spanish even gave up control without a fight. Yeah.... Tobago's history isn't like that.

It seems like everyone fought over this tiny island.

Now Columbus saw Tobago as he was discovering Trinidad back in 1498, and he named it Bellaforma, but he wasn't interested in it so he left it alone. He was the only one.......

Now even before Europe started showing interest, Tobago was the scene for battle between the Carib Indians and a few other Amerindian tribes. The Caribs and Arawaks were not the only ones.

Named after tobacco which was grown by the Carib Indians, Tobago was established by the Dutch and Courtlanders (Latvia) in the 16th and 17th century. Then Spain finally decided they wanted it then the British, the France, then Holland again. No one gave up without a fight so it was a vicious cycle with Tobago changing hands about thirty times for almost two centuries in violent clashes.

The British ended up on top in the end. They finally annexed (that word again) Trinidad and Tobago as one country in 1889.

As with Trinidad, the British brought in slave labour. Later they imported Chinese, East Indian, Tamil (Sri Lanka) and Portuguese indentured or free labourers. The free labourers were not under any form of contract and could come and go as they pleased.

Like Trinidad post 1889 had an influx of Chinese and Syrian people, but also German and a few other European countries.

If you would like to learn more about writing for 31 days in a row, please visit www.write31days.com and learn more about it. I chose the "Too Awesome to Categorize" category for my own blog this month.

31 Days of Where I live (day 3) - Our History Part 1

It's day 3 of write 31 and I'm still here!!!!!


Trinidad and Tobago have dissimilar histories so I'm going to cover them separately. They were two separate countries until 1889. So I'm going to provide brief histories with a few key points in two parts

Trinidad was discovered by Christopher Columbus 0n 31st July 1498 and was named La Trinité. Columbus saw three hills (now named the Trinity Hills) and thought of the Holy Trinity and so blessed us with the name.

Before Columbus the island was inhabited by the Amerindians (think Native Americans), mainly two tribes the Caribs and the Arawaks. The Caribs were a warring tribe while the Arawaks were a more peaceful tribe. One of our local beers and beer producers is called Carib and one of our chicken producers is called Arawak. Just saying.

Sir Walter Raleigh came to Trinidad in 1595 looking for El Dorado, the City of Gold. I remember from school that he found the Pitch Lake and proclaimed he had found black gold. However the area named El Dorado and the Pitch Lake are not in the same area.

During the French Revolution, French planters and their crew migrated to the Caribbean, Trinidad was one of the islands that they came too. The country was still under Spanish rule at this time despite Sir Walter Raleigh's little stint on the island and a little uprising by the Carib Indians some years back.

Trinidad has a relatively peaceful history. Though not totally.

In 1797, General Sir Ralph Abercomby landed, prepared to take the island by force but the Spanish Governor capitulated without fight (as I said relatively peaceful). Trinidad became a British Colony with French citizens and Spanish laws,

The British brought in lots of slave labour but after slavery was abolished East Indian labourers were brought in to make up for the slaves who refused to work.

Trinidad has a very multi-ethnic population thanks to coming and going pre-1889. Post we have the Chinese and Syrian influx but I'll get to that in time.

If you would like to learn more about writing for 31 days in a row, please visit www.write31days.com and learn more about it. I chose the "Too Awesome to Categorize" category for my own blog this month.

31 Days of Where I Live (Day 2) - Trinidad AND Tobago

Welcome back!!!!! I made it to day 2.

The and in caps in the heading is not a mistake, I just wanted to make a point. When people ask me where I live I say Trinidad but in fact the name of the country is The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago or informally Trinidad and Tobago.

Another fun fact the "country" is actually TWO islands that are annexed but not physically connected. I may get into that annexed feature in another post since that takes me back to a history lesson or 2 and I'm not ready for that as yet.

Trinidad, where I live is the larger of the two islands. It moves at a faster pace, more indstrialized, big business, etc.

Tobago the smaller island, moves at a slower pace. It's a tourist haven. Many celebrities quietly vacation there. Another fun fact a season of Real World/Road Rules Challenge was taped there, remember that show.

So if you want to party, do big business you come to Trinidad.

Want to relax, get away from it all, fish, etc you go to Tobago.

The two islands have completely different histories, the culture is not very similar but we are one big happy country

31 Days of Where I Live (Day 1) - Introduction

Hello blog world, it's been a while. I haven't blogged since May, life has been hectic and busy and crazy. While I have been tired, overwhelmed and burned out. Yet I miss blogging. I still write, my journal and I have gotten pretty close over these last few months as I struggled to find balance in everything I had going on and it has been a good time for me. Now it time for me to get back to my little corner of the internet......I hope.

To help myself out I've decided to take the 31 Days Writing Challenge. When Bobbi blogged about it earlier this week I thought this is exactly what I need. Then I thought what in the world can I blog about for 31 days. While I'm thinking short daily posts for this challenge I couldn't think of a topic that I cold stretch for a WHOLE month. Did I mention that every post is on the same topic!!!!

Then it hit me...... I live in a country that very few people know a lot about. Raise your hands if you've ever heard of Trinidad and Tobago......

So there is my topic Trinidad and Tobago, where I live. I hope you'll join me as I try to introduce you to this beautiful country of mine.

This is the landing page for the whole series and I'll link back to this page all the post

Day 1                         Day 9                               Day 17                     Day 25
Day 2                         Day 10                             Day 18                     Day 26
Day 3                         Day 11                             Day 19                     Day 27
Day 4                         Day 12                             Day 20                     Day 28
Day 5                         Day 13                             Day 21                     Day 29
Day 6                         Day 14                             Day 22                     Day 30
Day 7                         Day 15                             Day 23                     Day 31
Day 8                         Day 16                             Day 24


If you would like to learn more about writing for 31 days in a row, please visit www.write31days.com and learn more about it. I chose the "Too Awesome to Categorize" category for my own blog this month.