Trinidad 2016 – Gerard’s Wedding and more

Dating back to when we were students at UWI Mona, I promised my friend Gerard that if not before, I would definitely make it to Trinidad for his wedding. A few years later and it came to pass. This July Stef and I made our way down to the Twin Island Republic to celebrate the union of Gerard and Menashe (Meshe).

Now one of the reasons that I was particularly excited for this wedding was that it was to be a traditional Hindu/Indian wedding ceremony. Indian weddings are gorgeous, fun-filled, food filled 3 day affairs and so I was very much looking forward to participating. Another great thing about the trip, was being able to reunite with some very good friends of mine, some of whom I had not seen since we left university.

Accommodation and Logistics

I had a look at hotels in Port of Spain and San Fernando (closer to where Gerard lives), but quickly re-directed my efforts  when I looked at rates, as well as value for money. For this trip I didn’t need amenities like pools or 24 hour gyms. We would be spending most of our time out and about. So I started looking for an apartment instead and turned to AirBnB. While I wanted to have access to the all the action, Port of Spain is notorious for its traffic. Our return flight was to be an early morning, so I decided to minimize risk by staying in a neighborhood within easy access of the airport. I settled on a nice little listing in Tacarigua. Our host was an elderly gentleman named Donald. We had everything we needed there; a kitchen with all the necessary appliances, hot water, WiFi and air conditioning.

While looking further  into the logistics, I thought it would be best that we rent a car. That turned out to be a pretty good decision. It gave us a lot of freedom. Also, public transportation down to the south of the island (where the festivities were located) would have been quite a challenge, especially at night and the late hours we ended up staying until.

Aside from a little (expected) harassment from immigration, things went pretty smoothly once we landed. My friend had arranged an airport transfer, we picked up our car, checked in and tucked in for the night.

Port of Spain

We decided to have a leisurely morning the next day, and then take a drive into Port of Spain. I’d heard stories of the traffic situation in POS, but it is on a whole other level from what I imagined. The wrong turn we made aside, it took us far longer than I had anticipated to get downtown. My friend who lives about 35 mins outside Port of Spain says it takes him 2 1/2 to 3 hours to get to work if he’s aiming to get there between 8 and 9 in the morning. Madness! I can’t imagine doing that everyday.

We started to drive around the city with no particular plan in mind apart from getting around to some of the major sites. We finally stopped in Queen’s Park Savannah, had some ice cream and went for a walk.

Along the way we came upon a row of Victorian era houses.  I was very pleased to see that several of these historical gems  have been preserved, while it seems an effort is being made to preserve a few others.

 

 

We then headed back towards Tacarigua, grabbed some groceries and went home to prepare for the night’s festivities.

 

Friday night- First Night of Festivities

Then it was down to San Fernando! When we got to the house we were met by the sounds of tassa (a form of kettle drum). We made our way upstairs to greet the groom who had banished upstairs for the rest of the night according to tradition. We missed a part of the Hindu ceremony, which among other thing,s involved him being rubbed down from head to toe in saffron.  A similar ceremony was being conducted at the home of the bride.  After some introductions and chit chat, it was time to get to the moment I was waiting for… the food.

Yes the food. My Trini posse, especially Gerard, would cook quite a bit when we hung out in undergrad, and there are certain things you just ca’t get anywhere else. Pumpkin for instance. Now I usually skip pumpkin, don’t eat it ever. However this dish? I could eat it with roti for days. No one seems to remember the proper name (we asked around), so it is simply referred to as Pumpkin. I don’t remember what other ingredients are in it and I don’t really care; so yummy!!! Gerard’s mom was kind enough to package and freeze some for me to take back home with me.

So as you may have picked up, the food was great. Gerard’s family also runs a catering business, so this was the real deal.  According to tradition, no meat is served at these gatherings until after the wedding, thus all the food was vegetarian. Can I tell you we didn’t even miss the meat?  The food was served traditional style, as seen below, and we ate with our hands.

 

Our other university crew then began to trickle in and we gathered upstairs with Gerard. It was just like old times!  We were able to pick up as if there wasn’t a gap of a few years. We exchanged stories and updates and ended up chatting away into the wee hours of the morning before deciding to call it a night.

 

 

 

Maracas

The next day, the plan was to head north to Maracas beach. It was a pleasant drive; there were parts that reminded me of the junction road back home.

 

 

 

It is a truth universally acknowledged that one cannot go to Maracas and not have Bake and Shark. Originally actual shark meat was used for this street food, but now with increased environmental awareness, that has been substituted with catfish.  So we lined up like good tourists outside the most famous Bake and Shark stall, Richard’s.

 

 

 

Now I will say something that amounts to near blasphemy, we didn’t really enjoy it. However, it seems that was our own fault; we didn’t do it right. I’ve been informed since that you are supposed to load your Bake and Shark with the numerous toppings on offer, especially shadobeni. I had only added tamarind sauce and one other condiment, which apparently was an epic fail on my part. Ah well, lesson learnt. Next time!!

We lounged about on the beach for a while and went for a swim. We then drove a little further along the coast to Las Cuevas (which I was told afterwards is supposed to be the better beach), but it was packed. We couldn’t even get parking.

The Wedding

As I mentioned before, this was my first time at a Hindu wedding. It was such a different experience and  I loved every minute!!

Once we arrived at the temple, we were asked to remove our shoes before entering the ceremony space. I had a good time doing some people watching  as the guests were looking quite fabulous. lots of colours, beautiful traditional outfits, and lots of bling on display. Soon enough the groom (dulha) arrived and made his entrance with the bride’s mother to the sounds of the tassa band.  .

 

 

He then proceeds to complete some rituals at the altar (mandap), before the entrance of the bride (dulahin). Meshe’s dress was stunning; so ornate and intricately detailed. After remarks and prayers from the pundits, the bride and groom the proceed to perform several rounds of rituals. During the ceremony there Indian singers and dance performances.

 

 

 

 

One of the interesting parts of the ceremony was when the Pundit announced that the next segment of the ceremony would take at least half an hour, so we should go downstairs and eat in the meantime. At first I wasn’t sure if he was serious, but it turns out he was, and so  off we went.

Another surprise was the impromptu speech I ended up giving. Someone, (Gerad’s mom I believe) let the pundit know that friends had come to support Gerard from out of country. After a short word about the importance of CARICOM brotherhood, he invited me to come up and say a few words. Oh boy… Well luckily it went well and I was happy that I was able to participate. Gerard is one of the best friends I’ve ever had and I am extremely happy that I was able to make it to celebrate this milestone.

We then left the temple and headed once more to Gerard’s family house for the post wedding gathering. Traditionally, the “real” reception actually doesn’t happen till the following Sunday. and apparently that is the real big splash! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend that, but from all accounts a good time was had by all.

Congrats again Gerard and Meshe!

Caroni Swamp Tour

Unsurprisingly, we had a pretty late morning the next day. We spent the early afternoon strolling around the Trincity Mall, but the main activity for the day was a Caroni Swamp boat tour.

Unfortunately it was nesting season and so most of the Scarlet Ibis (the national bird of T&T and main attraction), were roosting in an inaccessible part of the mangrove. We were able to see a few flocks as they made their way to their nests, and they were strikingly spectacular, but I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to see them a bit more up close. We got a little surprise when our guide pointed out two flamingos had made their way into the swamp and couple weeks before. He had never seen them there in Caroni before in his nearly 4o years of operating tours.

After the tour we met up with another set of friends in Grand Bazaar. That was another good lyme and I’m really happy I got to see them.

Homeward Bound

We had dropped of our rental car the night before, so it was straight to the airport the next morning. Our flight ended up being delayed and I think I know why now. Shortly before the original departure time, the Jamaica Tallawahs Caribbean Premier League cricket team come through security. They were headed up to Jamaica for their home games in the series. Eventually Chris Gayle, the big man himself came through.

Soon enough we were bundled onto the flight and on our way home after a great time.