I haven't been to Trinidad for about 3 years. I get homesick at times, envious of those I know who are visiting 'home' for one reason or another. Circumstances may prevent me from going back any time soon, however I still miss Trinidad; the good parts anyway.
On the other hand, most of what I can get in Trinidad, I can get here. KFC? We get the zingers, popcorn chicken etc just as well, only the spicy chicken is missing (though we did have it as an introductory offer for a few months until it fizzled out as being too spicy for bland English tongues).
Chadon Beni? Again, I get that here. I even have fever grass growing outside and on my window sill. I get cassava, eddoes, cooking fig (bananas for those of you who ent know what I am blabbing about), breadfruit, zabocca (again, avocado), yam, dasheen, plantain etc etc. Mainly sold by Jamaican merchants but what the heck, it's all Caribbean. I admit, sometimes the samples can be scruffy and not worth buying but at times there are good quality stuff available. Most expensive though, and I am not homesick enough to pay through my nose for stuff I never fancied in Trinidad anyway. Sentimentality doesn't extend to my pocket that much.
I haven't seen shark and bake but since I can buy shark in the market, I am able to make that myself. I can also make doubles or those Indian delicacies so I don't miss the food.
I miss the people and the idyllic life I had before I migrated. No rush 1/2 hour lunches there, one had a full luxurious hours every day to eat and digest lunch. No more quick drives to a sandy beach with blue clear waters (I hope the beaches are still that way, but with the crime situation being what it is, this may well be damn risky), or just going to the movies at 8:00 PM with 11 friends piled into my car, just on a whim. (^_^)
I miss going for a haircut and having it turn to a lime with friends when other customers turn up. I miss friends just dropping in on you unannounced, then going into your pot or fridge and checking out what you have for them to share in. I miss the old talks when liming, the gossip even we shared from ' maccoing' all the neighbours... yeah, even that is alien here in England.
I tell you what I don't miss though. I don't miss mosquitoes, or the 'mike cars' that pass blaring out community announcements, the tassa groups drumming incessantly a cacophony of noise, the cars revving up and down outside the house when you want to take a nap, same cars blaring music like a DJ in a convent bazaar, and I definitely don't miss the crazy driving I saw when I was there in 2005. I shudder at that still.
I will definitely have a mind blowout if I have to go back to dial-up or even 256 Kbps 'broadband' that cost an arm and a leg. I would hate to have to depend on T&TEC; I remember electricity going regularly and having to repair my computer and television so frequently, I could tell you the serial numbers of all the parts in them. In 5 years of being in England, I recall having no electricity for all of 1/2 day at my workplace - through an act of sabotage where some kids threw a burning tyre into the substation in the wee hours of the morning.
I miss people greeting me with a 'good morning' and a smile when we pass each other walking in the road. I miss sand to pitch marbles (I would love to show Punks how we played marbles when small), or play hopscotch, pesay, rounders, 'three hole' or many other games from my youth that seem to be forgotten now.
Yep, there are a lot of differences indeed.
