One ah de reasons ah wanted tuh watch de CNN show orn Triniland by somebody name Anthony Bourdain ah man wid all kind ah pedigree includin being ah international foodie, was because ah read it had vex Trinis orn social media. Tuh dem, discussin social issues at dinner must be like havin yuh elbows orn de table. Or maybe is so in certain Trinbago houses since udders say de opposition was really about de world hearin T&T have serious challenges.

I wanted tuh see fuh mihself.

Ah suspect de people in London wouldn’t be too happy tuh know God use dem tuh show He is ah Trini as He put orn He Trini colors an CNN didn’t air de show.

However, accordin tuh Flow, Triniland wouldn’t ah see it anyway because of broadcast restrictions.

I remember when ah TV station advertise it was goin an carry Carnival events live fuh ah fee. After people say yes dey in dat, de station tun rong an air everyting fuh free.

Dat flash back eh happen until after dis episode ah Parts Unknown end up orn Facebook doh. So since ah see it let meh cut tuh de chase.

De story was seconds short ah 43 minutes. Given how complex Triniland is, even eef de discussion was just food, anyting shorter dan ah week only skimmin de surface. So, from jump street, dis show wasn’t goin an please everybody. After all, dem issues it have in T&T arong fuh years.

I tort de show had enough broad-strokes tuh give ah sense ah de depth, breadth, beauty an complexity dat is Trinidad an Tobago.

Widout comparin ah hefty ‘roady’ tuh Chicken McNuggets, it had enough tuh let people know Trini food is de best orn de planet. Eef dem same people want tuh see race relations at its best orn de same planet dey could book flights orn Caribbean Airline tuh Trinbago. As long as dey know ‘best’ is relative. Eef dey don’t, dey better be prepared tuh run when dey first see how politically incorrect de Trini version of political correctness is. No worries eef dey cyar run farse cause nuttin eh go happen.

In addition tuh just whettin people whistle, I tort de show leave enough topics under or unexplored fuh anybody wantin more tuh do research orn whatever area fascinatin dem. Take ah page from Lise Winer.

Ignorin de time honored concept of too much information, ah tink ah bounce mih head in school, at least once by tinkin Bourdain got de arrival of de two major ethnic groups backwards. Ah done get tell is me who rong buh ah still go check. Apologies in advance tuh mih West Indian history teachers eef ah rong. Ah still prefer my version doh.

While ah done acknowledge is only so little he could cover in de show, ah tort he would ah interview udder ethnicities like de Chinese or Jews, at least tuh balance out what he do wid de Lebanese, or Syrians as Trinis like tuh call dem. Dat part ah de show was unsettlin. It was like being in de castle after seein how de subjects live. I was expectin somebody tuh suggest, “let dey baxide eat cake.”

Dat section ah de show wasn’t no accident. Not when Mr. Sabga boast, okay point out, dey was de smallest ethnic group in Triniland at arong 5,000 — it really have more Chinese boy? — anyway, somebody add dey was also de richest group.

It also wasn’t ah accident because later orn, while torkin tuh investigative reporter Mark Bassant about crime, Bourdain ask him who control Triniland. Bassant say like anyplace else, de one percent.

Wid what Sabga say about de smallest ethnicity an de udder person in de group, wasn’t dat all confirmation ah what Trinis sayin fuh years? I see beauty in how Bourdain was clever jn putting de pieces out dey fuh udders tuh stitch tuhgedder.

Ah not sure how much of ah conspiracy person ah is buh when ah tink ah what I see in dis show ah cyar believe it was put tuhgedder no vikey vai way.

Ah next example? By de time he ask about crime an eef de fete mentality wasn’t ah narcotic Bourdain had already laid de grong work. He did done mention chadon beni, chadon beni in references tuh ingredients in different ethnic cookin, except fuh when he was wid Sagba an dem. So, when he ask dat narcotics question an point outTrini food wid all its influences, couldn’t hold tuhgedder what will tear Trinis apart, he did know where he was goin. Dat tuh me was no accident. In fact, it was one ah de two most profound statements in de show. Later orn de udder one.

De issue ah crime had tuh come up. After all, what discussion about Trinidad an Tobago could be considered credible eef it exclude crime, how it affectin de country, what group most negatively impacted an eef tings at de point where dey could destabilize de place. Trinis an ISIS fuh example.

Dis show touch orn all dat. It was viewable orn multiple levels.

Eef yuh believe God is ah Trini it supports dat. Not cleanly because in real life bad tings does happen tuh good people an not all bad people does get punish.

Eef yuh tink Trinis unique an de rest ah de world need tuh look, listen an learn, de show point dat out.

Who tink T&T revolve arong fete after fete might be disappointed lil bit but at least de rest ah de world know what limin mean.

Ah sure de show get tings rong. But ah still in mih same seat in front dis same computer, disconnected from involvement in Trini day tuh day tings. De show capture enough about T&T an in a more balanced way tuh make it, de program, better dan udder international ones attemptin tuh capture de essence ah Triniland. Eef it was patronizin I eh sense it.

De Tobago part ah dat essence was left tuh Calypso Rose tuh point out. She offer de second profound statement in de almost 43 minutes de show was. It goes tuh de heart ah T&T’s ability tuh make itself ah more amazin country. When dat happen, pity de foreigner who dare ask eef all de celebratin is not ah distraction. Which Triniland need more, validation of it uniqueness or foreigners tuh do it? I say neidder.

Anyway, Rose say makin beautiful tings is enough. My read orn Anthony Bourdain say he repeat dat tuh heself lookin fuh flaws but eh find none cause it eh had none. He know Rose wasn’t torkin about (just) music.

Eef de show couldn’t cover everyting so too can’t my take orn how well it do.

All dat’s left tuh do is grade it.

B+.

Why?

Because it always have room fuh improvement. Anyting less breeds complacency.

But did I find what Trinis didn’t like about de show before dey could even see it? Nope an ah done lookin too.