VASHTIE

as you know, the organization ANTILIA invited me out for TRINIDAD FASHION week for a weekend of events and a presentation of VIOLETTE.

thursday night we landed. we were picked up by our friends MARCUS and GIAN and delivered safely to our hotel at THE CARLTON SAVANNAH in PORT OF SPAIN (the capital). in those first few hours, i knew this trip would be far different than the previous 3 trips i spent in TRINIDAD.

the first time i went to TRINIDAD i was 15 and thought i knew it all, as most teens do. my parents always complained that my siblings and i were “lazy americans”, even though by 14 i was volunteering at ALBANY MEDICAL HOSPITAL and working an after-school/weekend JOB – not to mention by 16 i actually had 2 jobs.

i spent a whole childhood confused by my parents, the cultural and age gap proved to be massive – but, at 15 i understood what their lives were like and what opportunities we were given by just living in AMERICA.

coming to my family’s country of origin was a serious awakening. not only did i finally really understand my heritage of INDIAN and AFRICAN roots for the first time, i also got a glimpse into how my parents grew up…no running water, bathing with buckets of water, using an outhouse, etc. since then i’ve never taken a hot shower for granted!

this time around — you can imagine what a shock it was for me to be staying in a posh hotel room, eating caribbean fusion foods and meeting upscale TRINI’s. i was honestly mesmerized by all the white TRINIDADIANS who spoke like my parents and if SOCA came on they would “wine” down. i had never seen them before, until this trip! being on the “other side” i saw a whole new side of this island.

*TRINIDADS new female prime minister KAMLA.

*right after we landed we went straight to club 51 DEGREES to help celebrate GIAN’s birthday!

*MARCUS, GIAN and ROB

*everyone was “wining” in the club.

*SCOTCH and COCONUT WATER is the popular drink there. i thought it was RUM and COKE, but maybe that’s just my dad’s generations drink

*all of my friends told me that KFC in TRINIDAD is the bomb and has a different recipe than in the states. it even came with “pepper sauce”. i ate it, but had nothing to compare it to – i’ve never eaten KFC!

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stay tuned for more pictures and a fun video!!!