What's it like to be a Trinidadian Expat?

"The world was made to be explored and Trinidadian expats lived everywhere."

And so there is Dérivé: A Trini Expat Comes Home by Jennylynd (Lindy) James, Ph.D. which is perhaps the perfect cure for any Trinidadian expat who grew up during that almost idyllic period in Trinidad (the early to late 80s) when it seemed as though the avalanche of social ills that now seem to season the headline of our newspapers, were still managed to be held at bay. 

On Amazon, where the book can be purchased it reads: 

"Dérivé (pronounced Dreevay) is French for drift, go off course, or gallivant. At nineteen, Jennylynd James drifted for the first time from her home in Trinidad and Tobago, to attend university abroad. It was the start of a lifelong passion for travel and adventure. This expatriate’s quest to find balance between the need for adventure and the desire to return home is described in a witty collection of stories of nostalgia and mad risk-taking. With a mix of humour and colloquial sayings of Trinidad and Tobago, the reader is drawn into the lifestyle and culture of this Caribbean melting pot."

Recalling a time when things were indeed simpler, James does a great job at capturing that space of nostalgia, longing and how it crashes with reality when we allow our entrepreneurship and passion  to take us far and wide. This is perhaps the most brilliant aspect of the book, the way that James, through her own creativity, will remind most of us of those who came before us and their ingenuity at creating spaces for themselves: it is how we survived. 

The narrative chronicles a Diamond Vale native who like so many other Trinidadians, make the decision to study abroad, and like so many of us, remain living there.  James, again like so many others, is a devout Carnival reveler and her play by play breakdown of her Carnival there with her daughter, friends and other family members envelops you like the smell of callaloo wafting from your grandmother's kitchen or the doubles stand outside a fete. If you've been fortunate enough to experience a Carnival in Trinidad, her account takes you there amongst the Jouvert revelers, mud mass and steel pan. 

Not just a traveller, not just a entrepreneur, but also a mother- many will be able to relate to her decision to take her daughter to her first carnival, 

"'Travel is education. And Carnival is a cultural experience!' That was always my justification for missing school. 'Nobody could teach you that kind of culture in the classroom!' "

Tackling issues such as aging parents, Alzheimer's (there's an eery number of Diamond Vale residents who have succumbed to this disease, including my grandmother), she not only places Trinidad and Tobago in a literary context but Diamond Vale as well. I was fortunate enough to live with my grandparents on Emerald Drive in the old Vale during the 90s and so cherished her accounts of this neighborhood, not to mention the visits to the usual suspects: Maracas, Charlotteville and not to mention the hysterical insight into the culture of what is and isn't to be posh in Trinidad. 

James' no-holds-bar approach to writing ensures that you get an authentic peek into her thinking, and in so doing you can't help but trust her and know her: whether it's her perspective on class, race, culture, whether you agree or not - the transparency in which she writes is welcoming. She says a lot through her scenes- whether it's the juxtaposition of visiting Trinidad with a European partner and all that encompasses or the universal Trini truth of what really goes into our grips (suitcases) when we travel from "home" - this is certainly an authentic and honest peak into a certain aspect of our culture that is ripe for writers to reflect, not to mention that in my mind- an truly underexplored market. 

The author is full of wanderlust - and she takes us on journeys not just to "home" but reminds us of the interconnectivity of those of us from the African diaspora when she decides to take her daughter to Ghana - a place that many of us dream of going, if only because of that ancestral calling that many of us feel born with. Her perspective is not sugar-coated, but it is real, and the constant references to food is something every Trinidadian will appreciate. 

This book is a must-read and buy for the 100s of thousands of Trinidadians who have spent way too long away from home and need a quick and satisfying entry back. With a narrative peppered with the unique flavors and language of what it means to be Trinidadian, James is emblematic of the personal and professional excellence that has come to define so many Trinidadians, both past and present. A perfect, quick and uplifting read that inspires, takes you home and in the end shines. 

The book can be purchased on Amazon here Dérivé: A Trini Expat Comes Home by Jennylynd (Lindy) James, Ph.D. 

Check the author out in a recent interview and pay extra attention to her advice to youth at the end of the interview.