What are North American's concept of Trinidad & Tobago re: housing arrangement, food and clothing?

Question

This is a project that I am required to do for school which requires the views of foreigners of our Caribbean island

Answer 1

Most North Americans probably view T&T as just another Caribbean island: beaches, coconut trees, lavish resorts, etc. This is the image that they see in magazines or on TV, and naturally assume it applies across all tropical islands. From behind the walls of their Sandals resort, most visitors never experience the economic disparity, high crime rate, or even the basic culture of the island they're on, whether it be Jamaica, Grenada, T&T, or Puerto Rico. They have little time to concern themselves with housing, local food, or clothing when they're getting free Mai Tais in a beachfront hammock.

When I lived in Trinidad, I enjoyed the food most of all. Even now, over a year removed, I still miss roti, doubles, buss-up-shut, etc. I always took medium pepper with my doubles, and as a white guy, I got plenty of strange looks. More broadly, I think the food in Trinidad is too spicy for most North Americans, and they don't like the concept of getting food from a stand on the street corner.

I didn't really notice that much of the clothing until Carnival season rolled around. Obviously, the costumes on Carnival Tuesday are incredible. At the fetes, the ladies would show more skin, but nothing unusual. The older Hindu women would wear more traditional clothing, as would most Muslims. Other North Americans don't know much about the history, society, or religions of T&T, and wouldn't be able to make much of a judgement.

I found the housing situation to be very disparate. The "Haves" literally live on top of the hills, peering out of their mansions over the common folk. The poorest of the "Have-Nots" were left in squalor, or just flat out homeless. Again, with other North Americans having such little knowledge of T&T, I don't think they would care.

Lastly, I thought the government did and continues to do a poor job of marketing T&T to the rest of the world. Sure, cricket is coming to the islands and the SoCa warriors were in the world cup, but there's so much more to T&T than isolated sports events. As the wealthiest of all Caribbean nations, there's no reason that T&T can't be a business leader AND a travel destination at the same time.