We had a great time growing up in Trinidad—the good old days! We still remember some of the silly things we did as children!
Oh my God, riding a box cart was so much fun. We eventually progressed to a longer version that we called “the trolley.” This trolley frequently flipped over because the guys pushing from behind with the long rods always tried to go as fast as possible, which often resulted in the driver losing control and the trolley overturning—the end result was what we called ‘white man.’ You must know what I am talking about when your skin started to burn and the area turned white.
I used to love capping my carbide, spitting on it, and lighting it; those were the good old days. I used to enjoy, indeed, love, the activity of 'bussing bamboo' (creating loud explosive sounds-boom, boom, boom); there were numerous occasions when I singed my eyebrows due to the bamboo backfiring. Now I understand that you can be charged with creating a nuisance (by firing off the bamboos) if you proceed with this activity—noise pollution, my friends! Welcome to this exciting new world.
Usually, I just got feathers, but every kid remembers going into the bush with a slingshot to shoot doves. Do you recall Stinking Toe with donkey eye seeds, Chinese tamarind, kite flying with chicky-chungs, and the huge kites we fondly referred to as "mad bulls?" Playing zwill, sticking 'em up, liming on the corner, making and eating black ting (Milo with powdered Klim and sugar) and black poop (condensed milk with Milo and sugar)?
Every Saturday morning was a delightful excuse to lime on the block and play draughts (checkers), raise (soccer), and ole talk, resulting in fatigue (fatigue in this context meant roasting someone, in other words a good tease). However, a good Saturday lime resulted in a very delicious bowl of mango chow with loads of pepper, some Chandon-beni, and salt for taste.
Every evening, we played either windball cricket or 'raisin' (football) on the street. Back in the day, we didn’t have any proper balls to play with; instead, Mr. Albino's grapefruits served as our makeshift footballs, and playing on the pitched road often resulted in busted toes. You guessed correctly; most of us didn’t own any sneakers. I liked to bathe in the river and search for cocorite (the pink one was my favorite) and balata in the woods.
Do you recall the experience of learning to ride a bicycle and, more significantly, the amusing moment when we humorously referred to what were actually called 'stationary bikes'? I find it entertaining that the gear was fixed, allowing only forward pedaling; we definitely misused the term to describe the activity. I remember slamming my precious jewels on the bar a few times since that bike only had front brakes.
One of my favorite activities was controlling my roller; it made quite a bit of noise on the uneven road surfaces. Now I recall those days filled with joy and nostalgia. My "rel-pardna" and I stripped the spokes from a standard bicycle wheel to create the roller. Instead of discarding the spokes, we repurposed them as arrows for our homemade fish guns.
For homemade knives (this was a precious endeavor), we used long nails (about 6 inches) and placed them on the train tracks for the train to flatten them. Thereafter, all we needed to do was sharpen an edge and attach a handle, usually crafted from guava wood or my favorite, 'monkey bone.' Ah, I know what you're thinking, but, well, I can't recall ever eating monkeys. We got it from Clever Woods, a park that used to be a hardwood source—we called it "monkey-bone wood."
As long as the winds were suitable for an exciting session of 'zwill' competition, every boy in Trinidad made kites and enjoyed endless fun with friends. Starting with the 'chicky chung,' one graduated to making kites equipped with ducking compasses and razor blades attached to the tail to 'ayeyo' the competition's kite. The 'big boys' would create the larger kites, also known as mighty bulls... Those were the 'good old days,' oui.
Indeed, we all have memories of 'good old days.' Having said that, it would be very intriguing to read some of your childhood memories. Please send your stories for posting here. Your posts will be listed under guests' posts.
