Afro-Carribean - Trinidadian Cuisine

I threw myself a 33rd birthday party in Jan.'03.  I waited until the 3rd  Saturday of the month so that people would have time to relax from all  of the holiday parties and new year's eve.  Then after 3 weeks of  winter-time cabin fever, I threw an Afro-Carribean dance party.  I also  made it a benefit for Amnesty International. 

I played cd's and cassettes of Trinidadian soca, Latin, African, &  Brazilian dance music.  I was on a low budget, so I did an exchange  with a local Latin dance teacher.  She borrowed some belly dancing  videos from me, and in exchange, offered Latin dance lessons to my  guests.  I invited friends who play Afro-Latino drums and percussions, and they did a performance. 

We also passed around percussion instruments for my guests to join in with the musicians. 

For the food, I  had a friend of the family from Trinidad prepare home-cooked  Trinidadian cuisine--both chicken & vegetarian. 

It was quite a feast,  and lots of fun.  Plus, I raised almost $300 for Amnesty International. People talked about that party for months afterwards!!!!!  I am planning  the 2nd Annual Afro-Carribean dance party for Jan.'04