The dust of the Carnival/holiday season has settled, and I am left feeling mangled and exhausted. I can now see why people dont work during Carnival season, because they are devoting all of their human capacities to the festivites. I am quite eager to spend a full year here and see just how people prepare for it, because I physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually...all of the 'llys... could not keep up with the pace of Kittitians. Allow me to give some background on what exactly Carnival is:
Carnival is basically a week or so of festivities, concerts, contests, and music that most West Indian countries celebrate in one way or another. It originated in Trinidad and manifested as a Caribbean take on West African festivals. West Indian slaves enhanced the Carnival celebration with music and dancing which is still ever so vibrant today. Calypso and Soca music blare through the streets with no regards for noise control because everyone should be celebrating Carnival, and if you aren't, youre just going to have to deal with it.
In regards to St. Kitts, Carnival can be summed up into the three integral P's: parades, pageants, and party. That is not party in the noun sense, but rather as a verb and a general state of mind. People party their faces off and allot these two weeks to be the official expunging process of every stressor that has amounted over the past year. Carnival is an excuse to stop whatever work you are doing, ignore whatever qualms you are experiencing, and dance your worries away through the winding streets of Basseterre. My friend Gisela and I commenced our Carnival celebration with the Big and Beautiful pageant, which is a positive counteraction to the typical pageants that instill particular beauty ideals in young women everywhere around the world. But I cant lie, it was also about $10 cheaper than the Miss St. Kitts pageant, so we ended up getting more woman for less money. Go us! It was an amazing night that lasted until around 1 a.m. with musical guests and a loquacious yet hilarious MC. I know that in the states a big and beautiful pageant would be like...a size 8...but here the women really put the big in big and beautiful. Not only are they corpulent, but they are extremely tall, so they carry quite a presence that is truly highlighted when an average sized woman stands next to them, like during the interview section. They were incredibly self confident and strutted their stuff like they were queens. You go girls!
On the day after Christmas, St. Kitts celebrates J'ouvert. The pictures at the top are of J'ouvert, but I don't think they can do it any justice. It is pronounced "Jew-vay", but is of no relation to the Jewish religion (clearly). I can say that because I'm Jewish..ish. Anyways, people wake up the morning of December 26th at an ungodly hour, for us it was 2 AM but for others they just start at midnight, and gather together in their troops. Our troop was the X-TREME pirates, hence the get-up. It was ENORMOUS, and we pretty much were the only one i spotted, but the tradition is to form numerous troops. We gathered at a park with music blaring and (possibly) alcoholic beverages being handed out from a rum-truck (the same thing that was pulling the speakers). There were people walking around with buckets of paint that we covered ourselves in, but people also showed up with neatly done facepaint as well. That is a longstanding J'ouvert tradition, and I actually read that they sometimes throw out colored powders to step it up a notch. At about 3-4 AM when we finally hit the streets. We basically just danced down the road at a snail-like speed, allowing for members of the troop to dance in the most shocking-for-an-oblivious-American way possible. West Indians really know how to dance, I'll admit it. I pretty much made a fool out of myself when I busted out my moves, and kind of felt like my dad at a high school dance. And i dont mean dad in a general sense. Specifically, I felt like my father.
We left the J'ouvert madness at about 11 AM and passed out into a coma-like slumber. I awoke at around 3:00 at a friends house and couldnt remember what day it was/feel my feet. They always say that's how you know you had a good time the night before! Actually, I dont think that's a saying, but I'm starting it, thanks to J'ouvert.
The rest of Carnival after J'ouvert is a haze to me. Not because I was doing crazy things, but just because it consisted of me trying to muster up the energy to participate in the activities that the locals were taking on with full force. There were parades, concerts, pageants, and plenty of liming (liming translates to hanging out and enjoying the occasional beverage). I really, really wanted to partake...but I felt like a melting glacier (too soon?). Hopefully next year I will have saved up my strength for Carnival, like a hibernating bear.
And for the record, in picture #2 I am smiling, not crying out for help. No need for alarm; it was fun.
Much love and Paz and a HAPPY NEW YEAR,
Alisa
