Travel

The Costume Remix – Part 1

March 5, 2011

Seriously? Like for real? We paid (insert unbelievable amount of money here that I refuse to disclose because in principle its against my religion to spend that much money on anything that doesn’t result in a degree but whatever) dollars and we are given a nightgown to wear on Carnival Monday? This is the “one piece all in one attire” you had me all excited about? The one I was envisioning as a fly bandeau top little romper in some vibrant carnival appropriate color? SERIOUSLY ISLAND PEOPLE?? A SCREENPRINTED FUNERAL NIGHTIE?

Okay now that I’ve got that out of my system, I got my costume!! Yay! So excited! Its fabulous! And pink (throws gratuitous pinkie in the air just because) and bedazzled to a level that is only acceptable at Carnival (or an AKA function for Sorors over 60) Though I’m not sure what sweatshop overseas thought that the barbie sized bottom I got was a medium, overall it fits well and I feel like a rockstar in it 🙂

 

My headpiece however…smh. Um, what was I thinking. I mean I was all like “Yeah if I’m doing Trinidad, I’m a do it big! Go hard or go home!!!” But perhaps I was being a bit ambitious. On the model it looked like a Regal Assemblage of Pink Royalty. Or something overly dramatic like that. In real life it looks like a cross between The Lion King and Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is too Damn High party. It squeezes my cheeks so hard I won’t be able to speak for 12 hours on the road and if I dare to smile for a picture my head may just explode. But it wont even matter because once the drinks start flowing and the soca beats begin, I’m learning that absolutely nothing else matters.

I’ll update Tuesday with the remixed versions of the nightie and full costume assembly! Stay tuned!

Travel

Trinidad Carnival: The Bigger Picture

March 4, 2011

“Are ya playin mas?” a tiny voice behind me inquired.

I turned around and a little woman in her 60s was glowing with excitement, waiting for my response like she had known me since I was little. Her energy was contagious because I excitedly replied “Yes, its my first time!” and proceeded to tell her all about my plans for the week. I did not know this woman but she felt like an Auntie as she asked question after question about my trip and told me how much fun I was going to have. Her husband gave me a few pointers about being on the road and wished me a great time as we boarded our flight to Trinidad.

Our conversation was short but it really put this trip in perspective. As a young American who has never been to Carnival, my perception of it has been this massive week of debauchery set to a soca beat. A maelstrom of booty-poppin shenanigans where anything goes, with anyone, at anytime. However, its sooo much more than that (though the booty-poppin shenanigans I saw last night were impressive!)

When I arrived at the Port of Spain airport, I was met by my friend’s Aunt (Aunty Coral). She reminded me of my mother – a short woman with a close cut natural and bright smile. She hugged me like a daughter and walked me over to the bar where she proceeded to tell me her carnival stories from decades past. She said that back in the day you would sew your own costume and just jump into the parade wherever you wanted. When you stopped for lunch, the masqueraders would wait in line to use the bathroom at local houses nearby, and would have food for you to eat if you wanted some. She laughed as she remembered her first carnival experience when she lasted about an hour before asking to go home, and beamed at the memories of subsequent years when she had gotten the hang of it and was able to finish the entire road.

“You will have a wonderful time,” she giggled, and as she walked off to find for my friend whose flight had finally arrived I felt more excited about my trip than I had been in the four months I had been planning it. I’m a part of something much bigger than I realized coming into it, and though I’ve been told repeatedly about how much fun Carnival is, the conversations I had with these two older women helped me understand that this “Caribbean festival” that I thought I was coming to is rooted in culture and history, resting on the shoulders of decades of people who set the stage for what it has become.

I was already having that “wonderful time” she spoke of and hadn’t even left the airport yet. The best is yet to come but its pretty awesome so far. Thanks, Aunty Coral.

Travel

Dear Universe: I have one carnival request

March 2, 2011

Dear Universe,

If I am so privileged to see any of this type of geriatric debauchery in the coming week my life will be complete and I will be eternally grateful. That is all….

Love,
Tracey

Travel

Patois Lessons for a Country Girl

March 1, 2011

Last year I fell in love with soca after my brother-in-law came back from Trinidad Carnival and sent me the Palance video (my all time favorite soca song so far). Since then you’ve probably seen me winding (or wining is it?) at parties, palancing randomly at gatherings and jumping the fence at the West Indian Day Parade with a flag in the air. However, I have a little secret. I’m not West Indian. I know…I know… you totally thought I was, right! With all my trips to the Caribbean and the delicious curry and jerk dinners I’m always tweeting about making and………wait, what? You weren’t fooled? Was it my lopsided awkward Willie Bounce that gave it away?

Okay fine, I admit it. I’m from South Carolina. My momma nem are Black. Daddy too. We eat catfish, not salftish and rice with gravy, not peas. But my Trinidad trip is two days away and I have a little problem. I’m about to head down to a country full of thoroughly inebriated West Indians from all different countries and I can’t speak a lick of patois! I have a hard enough time trying to understand my girlfriends who flip into patios without warning, and now there’s this Soca Brainwash mix that I’ve been told to get familiar with that’s pretty awesome but if you ask me what the songs are about I’d have to get back to you on that.

So here’s where you come in. I’ve put together a little translation list for you to help me with. A few phrases I have figured out from context clues in the songs, but there are several that have left me clueless. Please help! And feel free to add soca terms that I’ve left out!

Bashment – A big bash in a basement? No?
Bloodclot/Bumboclot – Not sure what it means but definitely not saying it to anyone in Trinidad
Pon De River/Pon De Replay/Pon Anything – I have no idea what this means
Big Up– Like a high five or something? Kudos? Cheers?
Bad man – A man in trouble? What did he do? Why does he need to pull up?
Battyman– Um….Antoine Dodson?
Dead Wit Laugh –  LMAO or *dead* or dying laughing
Pee pee up myself – Oh no! Wait, why?
Big chune!– I think this is the Black girl equivalent of “That’s my song!”
Selector – The DJ! I know this one! I win! No? Fine….
Pahty done – You aint’ got to go home but…
Rude gyal– Rude girl I assume? But why is she so rude? Did she have a hard life? Did she find out her boyfriend is a battyman?
Rude boy– The male equivalent of a rude gyal. Again not sure why he’s so upset. I envision the “Mad Rapper” from the 90s hip hop songs.
Bullet!! – Can’t we all just get along? Should I run when I hear this?
Mash it up – What exactly are we mashing and why?
Jump/wave/wine – I’m just gonna copy the moves in this video and hope for the best  
Wha a gwan – What’s up? Or what happened? Or something..
More fiya – Um…turn up the heat? Oh wait, it’s pretty hot down there huh? Hmm….
Fete – Festival or party I think. Not exactly sure what to expect but they are MAD EXPENSIVE DURING CARNIVAL…just had to let that out…carry on…
Wicked – Actually not wicked at all. It’s a good thing right?

Feel free to add to this list! I probably won’t use any of these but would love to understand 🙂

Travel

Wait, What’d I Miss?

January 7, 2011

So, I flew all the way to Africa and didn’t see a giraffe? I thought there were giraffes in Africa that fed on the trees above them, walking gracefully to a background soundtrack of African drumming?

And the monkeys? Where were they? Africa is supposed to be full of monkeys that swing from tree to tree. And the really old and wise ones talk, walk with a cane and give advice to the other animals in the jungle.

I missed the lions too apparently. And they are supposed to be the “kings of the jungle.” Hmph. They need to get on their job b/c I didn’t see a single one welcome me to the massive jungle that is Africa.

And all those roads and cars? What was that about? I thought Africa was supposed to be a barren desert land, with people riding around on camels in search of water. Only to be tricked by those cool mirage thingys they show in the movies. Yes, desert and sand……lots of mounds of sparkly sand for as far as the eyes can see.

Oh, and I forgot the children!! What about the naked children? You know the ones with a dirty diaper and distended stomach that don’t even blink as flies crawl in and out of their huge puppy-dog eyes? If I pledge $5 I can feed them for 20 years, remember? Where were they?

The sad thing is, there is someone reading this that is wondering the same thing. At work when I told people I was going to Ghana, people would respond, “Man that’s really cool, I’ve always wanted to do a Safari.” *blank stare*

I encourage each and every person who reads this to plan a trip to a country in Africa if for no other reason than dispelling the absolutely ridiculous picture that American media has painted of a continent that is more vast and diverse than North America will ever be. Of course everything I mentioned above (except Rafikki) exists to some capacity in Africa somewhere. But characterizing the entire continent of Africa as destitute, uneducated and ugly is as twisted as characterizing America as rich, intelligent and strikingly attractive. Rich people constitute a single-digit minority of Americans but the media makes us seem like this land of milk and honey. Which in comparison to some third-world countries, we are.

But I saw so much milk and honey in Ghana. The country was rich in culture and a pride I’ve never seen in America. Many families there had paid servants – butlers and drivers and cooks. Yes, like in real life. The fashion there was so dope that I wish I had known ahead of time so I could have bought more stuff. Everywhere I went, people laid out a figurative red carpet in the form of top-shelf liquor, amazing food, huge welcoming smiles and an open invitation to come back whenever I wanted.

Ghana is definitely one of the culturally richest countries I’ve been to and I have never in my life felt more welcome in any other place. I may have missed the African drum soundtrack that I hear whenever Africa is mentioned on TV, and I may not have seen one wild animal (except those cute little Baby Shrek goats – adorable) but what I did see was a land of true milk and honey that I hope one day will be properly reflected in mainstream culture.

In the meantime, I encourage you to take your own trip and see it for yourself. You’ll be surprised at what you don’t see.

Travel

Adventures in Tanzania: “Can’t Wait” (Day 3)

January 6, 2011

So despite a 2nd day of bummer weather (rain, clouds, mud, cold), I’ve been keeping my spirits up with an iPhone loaded with soca, random conversations with Gabe and our driver Robert, and looking forward to meeting my little niece or nephew back in the states. I hung out in Atlanta for a week before Christmas awaiting the arrival of my sister’s little one (who was due to be born the same day as Jesus #nopressure), but when I left Baby Jesus had come and gotten his gifts and was celebrating Kwanzaa while Baby Coleman was still in my sister’s belly planning a New Year’s party.

My sis sent me an email that I was able to read in Kilimanjaro on Thursday night that leads me to believe my niece (or nephew) should be here by now! I think. It’s Sunday right? Is it Sunday in the US? Whatever…either way I CAN’T WAIT!! I wonder what it looks like? Does it look like me? Ok maybe not. Is it sleeping right now? Or up playing with Gigi (my Mom’s cool non-grandma name 🙂 Is it wearing one of the onesies we made at the shower? Whats it’s name? Is it a girl or a boy? OMG IF ITS A GIRL I’LL FAINT!! What does it like to eat? Can it have jollof rice and fried chicken yet? If so, we should do lunch! Does it like soca music?

SO MANY QUESTIONS!! I can’t deal!

I tried to get service today at the Serengeti National Park visitors center to no avail, even turning off airplane mode and risking a deluge of texts, emails, and a cell phone bill from hell, but I got…..nothing :(. (Damn you desert!!! Can you hear me now??? *shakes fists at imaginary satellite in the sky*)

The good news is, tomorrow night we are staying in a traditional lodge, and I’ll get the news! I’m gonna be an auntie y’all and if you didn’t notice yet….

I CAN’T WAIT!!

Update: as of Friday December 28, 2012 at 6:36 PM – its a boy! Named Joseph Kofi. Still can’t wait to meet him lol 🙂

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