"Bann" Sailing Ship circa 1903I love my country, I really do! I love the climate, and the fact that our 'eternal summer' afternoons end when the sun dips below the horizon no later than 6:30 - to have 34 C temperatures going till 11pm would be TOO much! They're not very tall, but I love my mountains, and the way that they're arranged, Northern, Central and Southern Ranges, so that unless i'm IN the mountains, I could never be lost! I love the mix of the peoples, the variety of the food, the rhythm of everything we do, and the cross-cultural understanding that promotes peace among quite a varied group.
I love the range of ethnic holidays that allows each group to showcase itself to other groups. After Independence in 1962, Roman Catholic religious holidays were gradually replaced by others that better allign with the lives of citizens. We still have Christmas (and Boxing Day), Easter (Good Friday and Easter Monday) and Corpus Christi, but Independence Day, Republic Day and Labor Day adorn our calendars, as national holidays, now. The ethno-religious holidays are: Emancipation Day, Indian Arrival Day, Eid-ul-Fitr, Divali and Spiritual Shouter Baptists Liberation Day! Last year on October 10th we even had a Chinese holiday to celebrate the Chinese 200-yr contribution to the island:) See? And I didn't even mention the two unofficial holidays when people party in the streets all day : Carnival Monday and Tuesday.
Today is Indian Arrival Day in Trinidad and Tobago, commemorating the arrival of indentured laborers to the islands (but mostly Trinidad) in 1845. Though quite a number of the Indians were Muslims, somehow only the Hindu sub-continental descendent receives any focus, and the holiday is almost Hindu in nature. However, this is probably because it was the Hindu descendents who began to hold celebrations in 1945. In 1990 they were granted the public holiday as a one-off event for the 150th anniversary, but soon it became annual. There is much 
contention as to the title of the holiday, as "Arrival Day" was preferred since it would better reflect the arrival of all the peoples: Lebanese, Syrians, Portuguese, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Chinese, and the two largest groups, Africans and Indians. There are, after all, few indigenous Trinidadians left. But the Indians defended the uniqueness of their holiday, insisting that it was their idea and celebration first. Personally, I don't care as long as I have the day off to eat Indian-inspired delicacies: roti (paratha and dhalpourrie), phoulorie, doubles (barra), kurma, curried chicken, massala and chutney mango, fried pumpkin, stir-fried bhagi (spinach), channa and aloo (curried chick peas and potato).
I'll probably watch part of the annual procession tomorrow morning on TV, and probably some lame, Bollywood movie. That's another thing that I like about my country. I once had a Swiss-woman-resident-in-Denmark express awe that people are allowed to profess their faith so publicly, here. In schools, for example, a child's religious background is taken into consideration, and they can receive religious instruction pertaining to their own doctrine. Public officials (government ministers and Presidents) and court witnesses swear upon Bibles, Qu'rans or Hindu Vedics, and school lunches routinely omit pork (offensive to Muslims and SDA's) and beef (revered by Hindus). Office parties also cater for the vegetarian Hindu or SDA who may be among the midst, and a woman or girl wearing a headscarf is simply a Muslim who has chosen to do so. We do not view non-scarved Muslim females as liberal nor shrouded ones as extremist - it's simply a matter of choice - and we look forward to the "Eid Moon" (the one crescent with the star next to it) along with the Muslim devotees.
Denmark takes care of religious differences by equalizing the scale, and officially frowning upon all public demonstrations of faith. The 'state' religion is Lutherism, and most of the country's holidays are Christian in nature, but religious affinity is something better reserved for one's home and family, only. However, in TnT, we embrace them all, if a group clamours long and loudly enough for a special day, concessions are made. Furthermore, they usually have the fullest backing from the rest of the population who no doubt wouldn't mind another holiday.
PS. I'm of African descent, by the way :-o
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