Skip to main content

Things I like about Trinidad and Tobago

This May I will be 41 years old. I spent most of my life living in Trinidad except for the 5 years I spent abroad for university and work between 1998 and 2003. I had to wait in Chaguanas and decided to start this blog post. I am happy being grateful and appreciative.

The first thing that came to my mind is the weather. We have two seasons in Trinidad and Tobago, a dry season and a wet season. It can be annoying when the sun is really hot or when the rain in falling and you have to travel somewhere but generally I appreciate the warm tropical atmosphere. It sure beats the bitter cold I experienced in New York and Atlanta. Coconut water and a walk around the Queens Park Savannah. Bake and shark on Maracas beach. Coffee and crix on a rainy Sunday morning.

The next thing that comes to mind is that Trinidad and Tobago is a land of many opportunities. Not perfect. Not the best. Not first world but I feel many times better than many other places. From cheap electricity to free education and health care to stable economy and governance.

How else could I decide to the be a tech blogger if it wasn't for good internet connectivity. Again not without problems and more so in some areas but overall the options and speeds in Trinidad and Tobago are something to be thankful for. Right now I am sitting in the mall using an open wifi connection. Came from the bank where there is an access point for customers. At home I have the cheapest internet package (15 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up) and that more than does it for me. A good internet connection opens us to many opportunities. So this is linked to my previous point.

The people. Tourist tend to say it more than we do. But overall the people are down to earth and good at heart. We know how to make the best of given situations. If you don't have some sugar to brown your stew you can count on your neighbour to share some with you. The ole talk, the smiles and the vibes. Let's recap. To me this is the land of tropical warmth, opportunities, good internet and good people and these are some things I like about Trinidad and Tobago.

Comments

Nicolai Matthew said…
Hello Hassan, my name is Nicolai and I am 18 years of age. I really enjoy your blog posts on technology and also your stories of your time in other countries. I also like hearing about your appreciation for our country because I feel the same way, even if the country isn't perfect.
Your stories about university abroad really interests me.
I have taught myself a bit of web development(HTML, CSS, Javascript, React) and also currently learning a bit of Data science(Python). Your story is truly an inspiration to me and I hope to follow in your footsteps. I hope to someday attain a college degree in Computer Science and get a job in Data Science/AI or software engineering. Thanks for reading.

Popular posts from this blog

Below the surface

This is a chapter from my eleventh book called Quotation Marks Sparks . __________ "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn __________ I was looking at quotes that hit hard and this quote stood out to me. It seems mundane and obvious and often repeated. Life is about how we respond to the inevitable. It is not what happens to us but how we respond. I had to ask myself to dig deeper and look below the surface. Then I saw that when we surf we really become the waves. We become friends with the waves. The waves and us are the same. Further, the waves are created by us and in our heads. We can control the waves because who can surf all the time? Sometimes we just have to come to shore and build sand castles on shore. I asked my friend Gemini for feedback and he said that I was right, the Jon Kabat-Zinn quote initially seems like a simple call for resilience, but my deeper dive reveals profound layers. The idea that we can move beyond merely rea...

A place for coders in Trinidad

DHub is being rebranded as CodeTT. Not sure how long before the change and launch takes place. Before you know it there will be elections again and then what if the government changes again. I am not optimistic about this. I want to be but I do not like politics. I wish society could function without politics. That aside it would be nice to have a home for coders in Trinidad and Tobago. I wonder what other countries are doing? I wonder if I will be alive if this ever happens. I think before any of this happens the government has to find a better way for citizens to communicate with them. From my experience I get the feeling that most people are just ignored. I have an idea for an app for this called GOQA - GOvernment Query App (QA also stands for Question and Answer). Every query (question, comment, suggestion, whatever) gets routed to the right person until it gets answered. Man that would be so fantastic. Finally a government that tries to listen to the people. My friend Chatty says ...

No phrase has been said twice

It is 111am and I have decided to write. I have no topic, but I am thinking about God. I want God to help me write this blog post tonight. We are nearing the end of the year. Time waits on no one, they say. Life is short, they say. Make every moment count, they say. Tomorrow is not promised, they say. Is there anything they do not say? What is the least said phrase? What phrase has never been said before? Then I thought about something. The moon never shines the same way twice. Perhaps the same is true of phrases. Even if a phrase has been spoken a million times—or a billion times—every time it is spoken, it is different. Who says it matters. When they say it matters. The context in which they say it matters. Who is listening matters. And then there is what happens inside us. What do we hear? What thoughts pass through our minds as the words pass through us? Two people can hear the same sentence and receive two completely different messages. A phrase spoken in joy can become something ...