Carnival is Bacchanal -
February
21, 2002
After all the drama we did eventually make it to Trinidad. My parents
who
where scheduled to meet us in Chaguaramas, Trinidad flew instead to
St.
Vincent and took a ferry to meet us in Bequia the day after Miranda was
released from the hospital. They joined us for the 26 hour sail to
Trinidad
(pictures). It was delightful to have them along, and made the short
passage
much easier for both Miranda and me. We
arrived in Trinidad on February 8th, just as the festivities for carnival
weekend were shifting into full gear. Of course preparation for carnival
is
a year long process beginning as soon as the previous year's carnival
is
over. Things really get going after Christmas, and then the week before
carnival day everything in Trinidad centers around the approaching fete.
The
night we arrived we were able to head downtown to the main venue of the
carnival, the Queen's Park Savannah Grandstand, and see the Queens Contest.
The Soca music we would come to know so well over the next few days played
through massive speakers as women in fabulous costumes paraded around
the
stage. As we watched the show we enjoyed our first Shark and Bake, fried
shark sandwiches which we quite enjoyed. This was also our first taste
of
the sounds and sights of carnival, but it was just a small taste of what
was
to come.
The
following day my parents flew out, Miranda and I anchored out in
Chaguaramas harbor, and that evening we again found our way to the Savannah
Grandstand to hear the Panorama, the Steel Pan Orchestra competition.
There
were 12 orchestras and it was amazing just watching them wheel all the
shiny
pans: the tenors, the doubles, the basses and more, on and off the stage
between each group. But, even more incredible were the sounds that came
out
of the instruments. The power of the music was amazing, at times quiet
and
calm, most of the time loud and energetic. The judges had a hard time
picking a winner and in the end only a few points separated the top 5
bands.
Phase II came in first, with the All Stars following close behind, third
were the reigning champs, Exodus, and in fourth place was Miranda's and
my
personal favorite, Redemption Sound from Tobago.
We
took a lay day to rest up for carnival was approaching quickly and Monday
morning at 3am we were going to be in Port of Spain to take part in
J'Ouvert, the official opening of Carnival. We slept as much as we could
Sunday night, but the anticipation made us restless and we were up by
midnight getting prepared to head into town along with everyone else.
We
joined an organized group of yachties for J'Ouvert and were provided with
transportation to and from town, a pre-parade party, a steel pan band,
free
drinks throughout the night, costumes, and all the mud and paint with
which
we could cover ourselves. We arrived at the meeting ground and promptly
were
given our costumes which each consisted of a flour bag and a rope to tie
it
on. We just had time to grab some corn stew and a drink when the paint
and
mud was opened and started flying everywhere. People were quickly splattered
in red, yellow and blue paint, and simply covered in mud. One man came
up
behind Miranda and emptied a full bucket of mud onto her head... we laughed
and kept dancing to the pan music. Once we were all muddied up, the band
which was on a large cart pulled by a tractor, began moving down the road.
All of us revelers followed after it. We soon met up with other bands
flowing through the streets, some with steel pan bands, some with large
trucks with huge speakers blasting Soca music.
People
whined (Trini for dancing in a sexual manner) all around us, while we
flowed down the street dancing, singing, and drinking. We were able to
grab
beer, rum punch, and water from the truck that drove along with the crowd.
We talked to the others in our band as we moved along, and soon struck
up a
conversation with a couple of friendly locals named Don and Emily and
their
Irish friend Jon. We had a good time dancing with them, and decided to
go
together to look for other good bands to join. All we had to do was stand
on
the curb for a few minutes to let the band we were currently dancing with
pass and another would be right behind. If we liked it we would jump into
the crowd and follow the truck. At one point a water truck passed and
we all
ran into the stream of water that was raining down on the crowd. Now we
were
muddy, painted, soaking wet, and loving it.
Time
was flying by and dawn was already approaching. Emily, Don, Jon,
Miranda and I kept a look out for each other all through the night, and
amazingly did not get separated for long. Miranda and I had to be back
at
our meeting point at 7am to catch the bus back, and Don offered to get
us
back to where we needed to be because a night of wandering through
unfamiliar streets while drunk had left me pretty disoriented as to where
I
was. But, we were all starving so we decided to stop into a pizza shop
for a
quick breakfast.
The
pizza we shared tasted wonderful after a night of non stop partying,
but
by the time we had finished it off we realized we had missed our bus. "No,
problem" said Don, who offered to take us in his car back to where
our boat
was anchored. We carefully lay down towels in the back seat of Don's
car so
we wouldn't get paint and mud on the upholstery, and in the bright light
of
the new morning drove back to Chaguaramas.
When
we got to the dock we met a Swedish couple spraying each other off with
a garden hose, trying to remove the mud and paint. We joined them in the
shower, spraying ourselves and each other until we thought we were mostly
clean. Then it was back to Baggywrinkle for a few good hours of sleep.
Most
people get up Monday after a short rest and head into town again to see
the parades that begin after J'Ouvert and go through Tuesday night. We
decided to stay on the boat Monday get more sleep and go in early Tuesday.
When
we got back to town Tuesday morning the scene was quite different. The
same catchy Soca tunes were still blaring, but the streets instead of
being
filled with muddy people were filled with beautiful costumes everywhere
you
looked. Vendors selling Roti, Shark and Bake, Snow Cones, Coconuts, Corn
Soup, and more lined the streets. The streets themselves were swarming
with
people wearing every color imaginable, some in simple yet elegant costumes,
some in huge elaborate contraptions that were basically human powered
floats
(pictures). Huge trucks stacked with speakers were interspersed with the
people, and the music emanating from them shook your whole body. By this
time we knew these songs by heart, since they had been playing over and
over
for the past week, and we sang along with everyone else as we walked.
We
spent a wonderful day wandering the streets in awe, taking needed breaks
from the action every once and a while to sit in the park and relax. The
whole country was out partying, enjoying themselves, celebrating another
carnival, knowing that at midnight it would all stop.... until next year.
Ben
Shaw
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