Just recently I published stories on Laventille and mentioned Desperadoes playing "pretty mass" (masquerading on carnival day) in "Town". After reading the post, I wondered how many people reading the story understood where they (Desperadoes) played mas; and what was meant when the word "Town" was used to describe a certain place?
Well only in Trinidad do the citizens call the capital city, you guessed it, 'Town'! As you can tell the home of Carnival in Trinidad is "Town" - that my friend is Port-of-Spain, the capital city of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago! Don't you just love the way Trinidadians (citizens of Trinidad and Tobago) talk? We can confuse leading professionals with our simple talk... simple enough for "ah Trini" but total chaos for foreigners.
All roads lead to Port-of-Spain and to be honest it could lead to serious headaches if you get caught in one of those classic Beetham traffic jams. "Ah going to "Town" can be heard when someone really meant to say that they are going to Port-of-Spain. Then again some people even used the term 'Corbeaux City'to reference the capital city. This used to be the case because of the Beetham dump outside the city and the numerous Corbeaux 'hanging out in the mangrove' along the Beetham Highway. Port-of-Spain houses just about everything and that includes the important financial centers and just about every Government Ministry. "Town" is the place to be and just about every Trinidadian visits 'Town' at some point in their lives.
Important places to visit, when in 'Town' are the Queen's Park Savannah (the largest roundabout in the World with many attractions including Whitehall and Stollmeyer's Castle), the Botanical Gardens, Fort George, Emperor Valley Zoo, National Museum, and Art Gallery, Brian Lara Promenade, The Red House, Independence Square, Woodford Square, and so many more attractions.
Now if you are really interested in Trini sayings like 'Vi Ki Vi', 'Buss De Mark' or want to know what is 'Life Water' then one can find a list of these sayings/Trini slangs online and they are guaranteed to make you smile. Check out www.berdina.tripod.com for a sample of some very well-known Trini sayings or go directly to the page listing at the following link: "Carribbean Child".