By Trini D
EPISODE 1: AH REACH LONDON
Well friends, ah reach.
London.
Eight days before Notting Hill Carnival.
Now before ah leave Trinidad everybody telling me, “Boy D, yuh going London at de right time, Carnival coming!”
So naturally ah thinking sunshine, soca playing everywhere, people getting ready to wine, rum flowing and general bacchanal.
Friends, ah step outside de airport and nearly turn straight back.
COLD!
And before allyuh London people start yes, ah know is “summer”.
Dat making it worse!
If dis is summer, ah doh want to meet winter.
Ah standing up there in meh little T-shirt while everybody walking around normal like nothing wrong. One man even pass me in short pants.
SHORT PANTS!
Ah wanted to stop him and ask if somebody thief de rest of his clothes.
Anyway, ah get into London and start looking for signs of Carnival.
Eight days to go, remember.
In Trinidad eight days before Carnival nobody have to tell yuh Carnival coming. Yuh does KNOW.
Radio playing soca morning, noon and night. Somebody beating pan somewhere. Fete tonight, fete tomorrow, fete after de fete. Everybody talking mas. Somebody sewing something. Somebody glueing feathers on something. Somebody vex because something eh reach from China yet.
Carnival does take over de whole place.
London?
People going to work.
People drinking coffee.
People walking dog.
One woman jogging.
JOGGING!
Eight days before Carnival and this woman training like she have Olympics Monday morning.
So ah ask meh partner who come to collect me:
“Where de Carnival?”
He look at me.
“What you mean?”
“De Carnival! Notting Hill! Eight days!”
He say, “Oh… you’ll see.”
You’ll see?
What kinda answer is dat?
Ah come four thousand miles and de man telling me “you’ll see”.
But then we driving through London and ah start noticing little things.
Poster here.
Carnival event there.
Somebody car pass playing soca.
Then ah see two people walking down de road with Trinidad flags sticking out dey bag.
Ah smile.
Aha.
So de Carnival hiding.
London behaving all proper, drinking tea and going to work like everything normal, but somewhere underneath all dat, something bubbling.
And ah know bubbling.
Ah from Trinidad.
Give it eight days.
Anyway friends, ah only reach and already ah have questions.
Plenty questions.
First one being why allyuh calling this weather summer.
Second one…
Somebody tell meh a beer in London could cost nearly £7.
Seven POUNDS?!
Nah man.
Dat have to be propaganda.
Tomorrow ah going and investigate dat personally.
For journalistic purposes, of course.
I gone.
AH TRINIDADIAN IN LONDON — CARNIVAL 2026
8 days to Notting Hill Carnival.
