I had good intentions ya’ll. I really did. The past 3 days have my brain on such a sensory overload with the new music, dances, history lessons, food, drinks, hilarious moments and general tomfoolery that I couldn’t wait to get home and try to unload stories into my blog but um…yeah. It is not a game guys. Like, seriously. Apparently I am pledging Trinidad Carnival Inc. because I do not sleep like normal humans are supposed to and am convinced that with all this “winin’ to the left” my thigh muscles are going to shut down this entire operation.
I have been to 4 parties in 48 hours. Yeah, exactly. Pull out your calculator and do the math on that! I’ve danced through sunrise every morning, have given up on watches/clocks/time in general and am still not sure if right now is Saturday night or Monday morning. But it’s like you don’t even notice what time it is, or what day it is or where you are because all that matters is this guy behind you is wining so hard that if you don’t hold your own you may end up the ground asking God why hath He forsaken you. For those who don’t know the term, wining (I assume a version of “winding”) is a dance move where you basically walk up to the closest person in your vicinity, hold on to them (or somebody stable nearby) and WEAR THEM OUT. Yes, in all caps. As the conservative young Christian woman I am, I just had to clutch my pearls at all those fast girls I saw on the dance floor (that was for you Mom 🙂
However, its all in good taste. I know that sounds like a cover-up for pure debauchery but it honestly is all in the name of fun and carnival love. I cannot even describe the energy at these parties. All inhibition is thrown out of the window along with pretentiousness, arrogance, conceit or any other unnecessary hindrance to having a good time at a party. All that standing around scoping the scene, looking cute waiting for the “right guy” or a”girl worth dancing with” is out the window. Nobody cares what school you went to or wants your business card. All that MAC eyeshadow you spent 20 minutes applying perfectly has melted into the steel drums of the soca music and any set of feet that walks up behind you is worthy of a good wine just because…its carnival.
There is a pride and energy in the air here that is infectious and I’m so thankful to be a part of it. I could write post after post about the electricity at the Marchel Mantano performance, or what it’s like to dance in the streets at sunrise on top of cars. Or about how my friend’s Aunt tried to hold us hostage the other night against our will. But instead to avoid more photos like the one above, I’ll take notes and tell you guys all about it later. It’s Carnival. And tomorrow morning is my first Jouvert. Wish me luck 🙂
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