The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) is made up of two islands off the coast of Venezuela, Grenada and the Lesser Antilles. The combined area of the two islands and numerous smaller landforms is 1,980 square miles. While T&T is a fabulous tourist destination, its primary industry is in petroleum and petrochemicals. Vacationers and job seekers alike are always on the lookout for vacancies in Trinidad and Tobago.
Luckily, the country lies outside the hurricane belt, an area in the Atlantic Ocean that is prone to hurricanes between June and November each year. This contributes to the islands' appeal as both a tourist destination and the petroleum industry. The islands enjoy a tropical climate, with six months of blazing sunshine and six months or torrential rain each year. The larger of the two islands is shaped predominantly like a rectangle with a thick "tail" in the southwest corner pointing towards Venezuela.
Occupying 1,841 square miles, Trinidad is the larger of the two main islands. In the early days of its settlement by humans, it derived its name from the Arawak language. There are disagreements over whether it was named for the hummingbird or simply, "island." When the Spanish Catholic explorer, Christopher Columbus arrived, he called it Trinidad, in recognition of the Holy Trinity.
A popular tourist attraction is the annual national carnival, an extremely colorful and somewhat racy two-day event held every year just before Ash Wednesday. A celebration of dancing, music, parades and masquerade, carnival serves as a final fling before the long period of Vatican-inspired abstinence known as Lent. The predominant music of the festival is normally calypso, although soca has been making inroads and becoming very popular.
Calypso music originated in T&T and dates back to the 1600s. It was heavily influenced by West African kaiso and the arrival of slaves from the French Antilles. Soca, on the other hand, uses instruments from the subcontinent of India and is affectionately referred to as "chutney music."
While Carnival was imported by the French, their slaves were prohibited from attending. Instead, they kicked off their own party, called Canboulay. The word comes from the French for burnt sugar cane. Unfortunately, the celebrations were sometimes infiltrated by what we would probably refer to as gangs, who would start out by singing song duels at each other. Eventually, they degenerated to violent clashes.
The British authorities got involved and tried at first to ban the weapons the gangs used, mainly sticks and torches. When this did not quell the violence, they banned the festivities outright. This riled the ordinary citizens, who loved the Canboulay and were not that worried about the fighting.
After some bloody skirmishes, called the Canboulay Riots, the British police brought the scene under control. What emerged was a more subdued carnival, which led to what is now celebrated today as Carnival. It is worth seeking out those vacancies in Trinidad and Tobago to sample the present-day festival.
Luckily, the country lies outside the hurricane belt, an area in the Atlantic Ocean that is prone to hurricanes between June and November each year. This contributes to the islands' appeal as both a tourist destination and the petroleum industry. The islands enjoy a tropical climate, with six months of blazing sunshine and six months or torrential rain each year. The larger of the two islands is shaped predominantly like a rectangle with a thick "tail" in the southwest corner pointing towards Venezuela.
Occupying 1,841 square miles, Trinidad is the larger of the two main islands. In the early days of its settlement by humans, it derived its name from the Arawak language. There are disagreements over whether it was named for the hummingbird or simply, "island." When the Spanish Catholic explorer, Christopher Columbus arrived, he called it Trinidad, in recognition of the Holy Trinity.
A popular tourist attraction is the annual national carnival, an extremely colorful and somewhat racy two-day event held every year just before Ash Wednesday. A celebration of dancing, music, parades and masquerade, carnival serves as a final fling before the long period of Vatican-inspired abstinence known as Lent. The predominant music of the festival is normally calypso, although soca has been making inroads and becoming very popular.
Calypso music originated in T&T and dates back to the 1600s. It was heavily influenced by West African kaiso and the arrival of slaves from the French Antilles. Soca, on the other hand, uses instruments from the subcontinent of India and is affectionately referred to as "chutney music."
While Carnival was imported by the French, their slaves were prohibited from attending. Instead, they kicked off their own party, called Canboulay. The word comes from the French for burnt sugar cane. Unfortunately, the celebrations were sometimes infiltrated by what we would probably refer to as gangs, who would start out by singing song duels at each other. Eventually, they degenerated to violent clashes.
The British authorities got involved and tried at first to ban the weapons the gangs used, mainly sticks and torches. When this did not quell the violence, they banned the festivities outright. This riled the ordinary citizens, who loved the Canboulay and were not that worried about the fighting.
After some bloody skirmishes, called the Canboulay Riots, the British police brought the scene under control. What emerged was a more subdued carnival, which led to what is now celebrated today as Carnival. It is worth seeking out those vacancies in Trinidad and Tobago to sample the present-day festival.
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