Triniglish|Trinididioms spoken and explained #70
Not too long ago, the dread of Summer vacation was mother's purge; that is not the case for this generation of children! As much as we looked forward the August vacation period the dreaded purge was always a guaranteed fight and flight situation. Castor oil, lamp oil, chenopodium and senna and stinky smelling worm grass to 'show dem worms where to pass'!
Yuh is ah Trini|"August Holidays Purge"
Every Trini child looked forward to August holidays. Those were the best of times for some and not so great for others. Some of us were sent to other parts of the country to "spend time" with an aunt or uncle for a week or two. That was exciting in the beginning but there was so much crying after a day or two... "What happen chile? Why yuh crying?" The tears flowed and the chest heaving made understanding difficult but the outcome was simplistic and common to all, "ah miss meh mammy, ah want to go home". Those were the "good ole days" indeed.
However for those who remained at home there was always the dreaded clean out 'to kill d'worms' and the follow up 'to show dem where to pass' (d'way out!). This was and will always remain a very bad memory. To think that parents did this out of love in nerve wracking more so when we look back and relive the experience... it was not pleasant and came with licks and the horrible taste of Castor oil and senna.
It has been said that Castor oil offers a natural protection from deadly viruses but we got it for constipation. This has me wondering why we were given it followed by a dose of senna? Long long ago when I attended government primary school we were give a drop of an oil that I recall as chinaponium followed by a small cup of Epsom salts. Lord have mercy the oil tasted horrible and the Epsom salts had you literally going - it was a glorious day of "forced runnings".
We woke up in the morning to a very beautiful day with the sun shining through the windows only to be called into the kitchen for an enamel cup of senna. That was it... but they had to catch me to get me to drink it. I was forced to drink that nasty tasting liquid after receiving several lashes with a belt and doing a crazy dance and scream in the yard. Well everyone in the neighborhood knew that I was giving trouble and that I deserved the cut arse that I was getting... but this time the Gods should have intervened! No one should have to drink those concoctions!
I have to add here that if you believed you escaped the ordeal from your parents then watch out for your grand parents because they would introduce you to the stinky smelling worm grass.
One thing that those experienced did was help me create concrete memories that not even ginkgo biloba could accomplish. To this day I recall those experiences as if they happened yesterday. Indeed, if you can recall those days then you have passed the litmus test and can consider yourself one true true Trini. Yes, 'Yuh is ah Trini' if you ever had to drink Castor oil, lamp oil, chinaponium and senna.
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