Bones of contention

AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Carla Rauseo and I am a physiotherapist.

I’m from Diego, born, bred and raised…on the playground was where I spent most of my days… I’m dating myself by quoting the Fresh Prince sitcom! But it’s actually true. I spent my youth in Blue Range. Back then it was a very different place than it is now, with much fewer houses and a lot more space.

I remember occasionally coming home at night with my parents to find a snake wrapped around the gate, and I have memories of finding a horseshoe in the yard…a relic of times passed when Blue Range was a paddock for horses. The rules were simply to come home when the streetlights came on. Kids these days often [can’t] play as we used to.

I moved to Santa Cruz about 11 years ago to escape the Port of Spain hustle, traffic, and  be surrounded by nature. I don’t do traffic. Unfortunately, Santa Cruz now is not what it was then. I wonder if the infrastructure, now a victim of government neglect, would be able to handle the construction and the burgeoning population. Not to mention the number of stray dogs that break my heart.

I come from a small but close-knit family, just me and my parents. But I have really wonderful cousins. We don’t see each other much throughout the year. But Christmas time is our time. I have an uncle who’s the family’s pictorial historian, always sharing old pictures of our [family] who have passed on, and how life was back then…I’ve learnt a lot from reading the reminiscent words of the aunts and uncles.

I have a partner and two four-legged children (11-year-old dogs), and a very cute parrot who beeps and whistles like the kettle, imitates the sound of trickling water and can blow kisses. I swear caring for elderly animals is like having real children. I’m constantly working to feed a large flock of humming birds but they are so gorgeous. When the feeders are empty, they actually fly up to me and hover as if to say, “Where mih food?”

At St Monica’s Prep on Pembroke Street, during mango season, ripe squishy mangoes would fall from the trees. Splattering all over our white shirts as we ate lunch. I’m sure this is one of the first things any alum would remember!

I have memories of staying in the St Joseph’s Convent courtyard until sometimes 6 pm playing volleyball. When I made the U-19 national team, it was both Saturday and Sunday training in St Paul Street. On terrazzo floors in Point Fortin and El Dorado, and then sometimes we were lucky to play in the Tacarigua Complex or the Jean Pierre Complex.

I did my masters in physical therapy at Springfield College in Massachusetts. Now, I’m working on my PhD. I fully admit I am a professional student. Doing a PhD is a lonely process because no one is really interested in your research except you. I find that a bit sad because when I do manage to talk to people about it, I learn from their experiences in healthcare.

I was raised Catholic but I don’t go to church.

I’m not religious, but rather, spiritual. Religion is man-made and just a vehicle to explore one’s spirituality. I explore mine mostly in nature, but also through the often unexplained amazingness of the human existence. I respect religion as the vehicle many others have chosen.

One of my favourite things to do to relax is go hiking with a small group of easy-going friends. I also enjoy putting my feet up in my hammock with a beastly cold beer.

I’m a HUGE foodie.

I can’t tell you the last time I read a fictional book. I love true crime, and historical true stories. I’ve been enthralled with a book Called Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years.

I own my inner nerd.

I love music but I’m in no way musically inclined.

I love the vibe and energy in the country at Carnival time. I love pan finals and I play mas Carnival Monday and Tuesday. But I really dislike bikini and beads mas. No originality, the dental floss gets thinner and more expensive every year. Carnival has become a “be seen," self-indulgent type of vibe. I play mas with K2K, in a costume that has an actual story.

I love a fat, saucy, boneless chicken roti from south. My South peeps, allyuh’s do it bessss. I am yet to eat a town roti that tastes as good.

I’m a physical therapist, also known in the English and European system as a physiotherapist

When I first went to university, I was majoring in environmental science and had grand and naive visions of saving Buccoo Reef. I was also playing collegiate volleyball and got injured and had to spend time in rehab. I realised I loved it. I switched my major with no looking back.

I treat orthopaedic injuries…anything from arthritis, to back pain, to surgical cases and sports injuries, at an outpatient clinic.

The patient and I are a team. At least that’s how I prefer to see it. We rely on each other to get the patient back to her life.

The best part of my job is the fulfilment that comes with helping someone get back to the things that they love to do. There’s great satisfaction when a patient’s mood changes during a session from despair to hope.

The worst part is seeing the emotional turmoil some patients are in. It wreaks havoc on their identity, their person, their body. In Trinidad, care is very fragmented. And some patients need more integrated care. Outcomes can often be poor. It is very, very vexing and emotionally exhausting at times.

Aggression and anger really bother me. I don’t like to be around such people. I will very easily walk away. I’ve never hit anyone in anger.

A Trini is a tolerant being but I believe Trini’s are too easy-going. Their inability to hold their citizens and leaders accountable is partially what has us in a mess. And of course the leaders take advantage of it.

What is a Trini? In Miami International Airport, I saw this woman, and my first impression was that she had to be a Trini. Was it the way she sauntered through the airport? The laissez-faire way she carried herself, totally relaxed? She got a phone call and, as she opened her mouth, that Trini accent came through loud and clear. You seem to be able to identify a Trini anywhere, simply by watching them move.

It's difficult to answer what Trinidad and Tobago means to me. I can explain this best by understanding my family history. My grandparents were Portuguese, French and Spanish. The Portuguese influence taught me the importance of hard work. The French aspect is tainted by the colonial attitude of the plantocracy. Our French Creole background and the associations to the plantocracy was a stimulus for my parents to ensure I appreciated everyone for their personhood and not because of what they looked like. I befriended people from all walks of life and I believe these experiences have made me into a tapestry of all the cultures and peoples that make up the different groups in the country. This is what Trinidad and Tobago is for me.

Read the full version of this feature on Friday evening at www.BCPires.com