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Trinidad and Tobago are always at its finest when it comes to food. Doubles,  Bake and Shark, Roti (Buss-up Shot, Sada, Dhalpourri), Curry, stew, Pelau, Corn Soup, Crab and Dumpling, Souse and many other delicacies are native to Trinidad and Tobago. These foods will be prepared in other parts of the world but they will never be able to perfect our style of cooking and our unique taste that we get from our blended spices and seasoning.
Dhalpourri is an Indian dish that is made on a Tawa on the stove top. It is roti filled with crushed Dhal and is usually served with curry channa and alloo and various types of curried meat. It is a dish eaten on a daily basis especially on Indian Arrival Day. he way these dishes are cooked are from traditional ways with a blend of our own modern day styles of preparations. All our local cuisines are mouth watering, unique and always a wonderful feast.

Photograph 5: A photograph showing Dhalpourri being cooked on a Tawa
Longdenville , Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago
Tuesday 31st May, 2016.

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Ali, Arif. Trinidad and Tobago, Terrific and Tranquil- Golden Jubilee Edition. London. Hansib. 2012.

Ingram, May. What is Chutney. aingram.web.wesleyan.edu/chutney.html. Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

Mani. "Different Types of Indian Women Clothing." A New life Wandering, Mani Villafane, 8 Apr. 2014. anewlifewandering.com/2014/04/08/different-types-of-indian-women-clothing/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2017.

Tylor, Edward Burnett., Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art and Custom. Vol 1 , Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Persad, Seeta. "African Fashions.". Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday: Newsday.co.tt: www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,61659.html.Accessed 21 Mar. 2017.

User, Super. "History of Calypso." Origins of Calypso Music. National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.  www.nctt.org/new/index.php/carnival- history/ history-of-carnival/ history-of-calypso.html. Accessed 20 Mar. 2017.

"World Cup Qualifying Date 2006." Live Scores, Results, Fixtures, Tables Statistics and News- Socerway, int.soccerway.com/. Accessed 10 MAr. 2017.

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Christianity was the given religion to the enslaved Africans when they arrived in the region, Catholicism being one of the first. Some other religions presents in Trinidad and Tobago are Hindus, Jehovah Witnesses, Muslims, Anglicans, Pentecostals and Orishas just name a few. According to Trinidad and Tobago Terrific and Tranquil page 79, "having such a wide range of religions originating from places like Africa, Asia, Europe, India and the Middle East, it is inevitable that religious festivals are held throughout the year." Through Christianity, we adopted and still practise our "founding Father's" religion and worship methods. Traces of christianity are present in the African based Orisha religion. The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception is one of the first churches to be built in Trinidad and was built in the Gothic style, imitating those present in the Crown Lands.
Over the past three months, I have opened my mind to exploring all religions and not limiting myself to just one because I believe that knowledge lies in the unknown. I do believe that there is a God above but who am I to judge and say that someone else's religion is wrong or that they are praying to the wrong God? I personally refuse to stay in that trapped mindset and look forward to exploring the field of religion, especially the traditional lost African one.

Photograph 4: A collage showing features of the Cathedral of immaculate                            Conception
Independence Square, Port-Of-Spain
Tuesday 14th February, 2017.

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I believe that the most popular cultural clothing in Trinidad and Tobago is the series of Indian Wear. The females wear Sari, Salwar Kameez, Ghagra Choli and Kurti and males mostly wear Kurta and Dhoti. In my opinion, Indian wear is more commonly seen than any other cultural clothing because during the indentureship period they were not stripped of their culture and beliefs like the african slaves were, so they were able to successfully pass down their rich culture down to the generations that are alive today. All of their clothing are beautifully made with cotton and silk and various sparkly decorations that allows it to be unique and stand out from all other Cultural clothing. Indian wear in Trinidad and Tobago is used for Religious purposes (attending temple, prayers and also weddings as seen in Photograph 2), school functions, festivals and some use it as a everyday wear.

Photograph 2: A collage showing men and female Traditional Indian wear
Lakshmi Narayan Temple
Siewdass Road, Freeport, Trinidad and Tobago
Saturday 15th April, 2017.

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African wear, however, is not as prominent as it should be in Trinidad and Tobago as it is only widely seen on Emancipation Day and when citizens of the Baptist faith gather for worship. According to cultural activist and fashion designer Merlyn Thomas, "There is a new awareness in African traditions in TT ," while this may be true, the awareness is taking a great deal of time to reach it full potential. The top that I am wearing in Photograph 3 is not a traditional african wear but displays the vibrant colours and patterns that make up the two main characteristics of African wear. During this semester it was brought to my attention how diluted our rich African culture is in Trinidad and Tobago from the way we worship to our given names and I have made it mandatory to research and educated myself on where I came from and the richness of my mind and soul that I possess by just being an Afro-Trinbagonian.

Photograph 3: A collage showing African Type wear
Longdenville, Chaguanas
Sunday 11th September, 2016

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Another one of our great achievements was our successful qualification by our Soca Warriors to enter the World Cup in Germany in 2006. Win, draw or lose we celebrated as one, cheering on our boys from home. It was a very emotional and joyous day for the country on November 16th, 2005, as the boys secured our first ever spot in the World Cup finals.

Figure 2: A picture of the Soca Warriors
World Cup, Germany, 2006.
Photo taken from www.socawarriors.net

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In Trinidad and Tobago we have various forms of music which includes Calypso, Kaiso, Chutney Soca, Soca, Tassa, Rapso, Extempo and Parang just to name a few.
According to the National Carnival Commissions of Trinidad and Tobago, "Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago, is mainly of African origin, and can be traced to the traditions of West Africans in terms of music , structure and function." Calypso music discusses political injustice, crime, poverty and social commentary. Calypso reflects our African ancestors' culture combined with our modern day own. Videoclip 1 displays Extempo which is a repetitive type of music with chants and short choruses. This genre of music comes straight from our African ancestors and is used to tell folk stories. Some successful calypsonians are the Mighty Sparrow, Calypso Rose, Shadow, Lord Kitchener etc.
TIDCO, the official tourist development company of Trinidad, defines Chutney music as being,
"an up-tempo, rhythmic song, accompanied by the dholak, the harmonium and the dhantal..... (TIDCO 1996)." Its influence comes from the East Indian community in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a mixture of both the English and Hindi language, portraying a stronger sense of calypso in every song. It is also accompanied by dance characteristics, an example being "screw the bulb" which can be seen in Videoclip 2. Even though this type of dance and genre of music originated from within the Indian community, it has an effect on the population, as there are popular songs such as Ramsingh Sharma and Balkissoon (Raymond Ramnarine, 2017), Lotala (Sonny Man, 2007) and Budget (Ravi B, 2017) just to name a few that has everyone singing along whenever it is played. Soca is also another offspring of Calypso which is based on Carnival and all the features that come along with the festival. Soca Parang is very prevalent throughout the Christmas season and reflects the our Spanish culture.
Nowhere in this world is completely rid of racism but as Trinbagonians when we get together in this type of social setting everyone see each other as just a human, and we eat, drink and laugh merrily together.  Through this semester, I have learnt that even though each ethnic groups' ancestors came from different lands at different time, we all belong on this land. Without every single one of the races that resides in Trinidad and Tobago, it will never be the same. Our unity is made stronger through music whether it be Soca, Chutney, Parang or Tassa we all come together as one to celebrate and be joyous in what we have accomplished together as a nation.

Videoclip 1: A video showing traditional mass for parade of school bands
Woodford Square, Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Friday 24 February, 2017.
https://goo.gl/photos/MuJwTbAQnZshCwGz7

Videoclip 2: A video of the author dancing in a wedding to Chutney music
Centre of Excellence, Macoya, Trinidad and Tobago
Sunday 16th April,2017.

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"But there has to be a point in time when the consensus of opinion regards a change as having taken place. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, that point was October of this year: you made it. You are now a developed country."

(Arthur Snell, British High Commissioner, Trinidad and Tobago. Newsday, 31st October,2011)

Being one of the first islands to gain Independence in the region on August 31st, 1962, Trinidad has since been governed by seven Prime Ministers, the Honorable Dr. Keith Rowely, being the country's present political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM). We have reached the milestone of having our first female Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar who governed the country from 2010 to 2015 under the People's Partnership political party (PP). Trinidad and Tobago's population is mainly made up of East Indians, Africans, Spanish and also Chinese, mixed and other descents. With all these ethnicities and their merging cultures, T&T is a wonderland to tourists both regionally and internationally.

We have been put on the international map through our annual Carnival season, also known as "The Greatest Show on Earth", which attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world. Calypso, Soca and Chutney Soca accompany this grand festival and controls the movements of our bodies as we chip down the road Carnival Monday and Tuesday. Our lovely beaches are a must see , Maracas bay for example, with its warm blue waters and it lovely scenery at the beach and during the journey to the coast. Mostly our local cuisines are exceptional because they are like no other in terms of how it is cooked, how it can be eaten and where it can be enjoyed. foods like Doubles, Bake and Shark, Pelau, Roti and curried foods and so many more can only truly be enjoyed on our shores because not everyone can pull off Trini cooking.
All of these aspects of our country came together because of who we are as a people, where we came from and what we went through to get to where we are now. All these contribute to what is known as the "twin islands" of Trinidad and Tobago.

Photograph 1: A photograph of Manzanilla Beach on the eastern coast of Trinidad,
Saturday 15th April, 2017.

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Introduction to the Caribbean  (March, 2017)

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Introduction to the Caribbean  (March, 2017)

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Due to slavery, the Caribbean is  diversified through religion, ethnic  groups, music, languages, cuisine and many more. Tylor (1871) defines culture as "that complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, customs, laws, habits and any other capability acquired by man as a member of society." This is what makes the region so unique, and why West Indians identify themselves as Caribbean people because I believe it's not only a place, but it is who we are. If i were to mention all the islands that make up the Caribbean and their culture this portfolio will be never ending because each island has their own story to tell, so I will be focusing on my homeland, Sweet, sweet T&T.

Figure 1: A picture of the National flag of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Photo taken from www.shutterstock.com