Origins
As a writer, there is always something new or old to research. Since I committed to writing – childhood caveman drawings excluded – I have written close to 100 articles about things I know nothing about based on purely online research and a creative outlook. If you’ve been writing for as long as I have, things like that usually come as a second nature. I say usually, because there are certain scenarios that will totally throw you through a loop. At this point, you’re probably thinking, “This is supposed to be an article about Carnival, why is this person ranting about being a writer?” Hey, I know, I know. Give me some time to set the scene; it helps to round out the story before I head straight into the Carnival talk. Backtracking to what I said earlier about those topics I can’t relate to, Carnival happens to be one of them. See how I set that up for you?
I grew up in a household where, before I was born, my mother would play mas every year. By the time I came around, she was already retired from that life, but would still reminisce about how every year, after jamming, the nails from her big toes would pop out. The stories were shared with nostalgia and her demeanour reflected no regrets; but having never truly been exposed to Carnival, I could never understand why this would be a funny story, much less something I would want to imitate. Why would she be proud of this? That – as well as many other aspects of Carnival – was only explained from a third-person point of view, but again, so much of the experience was lost in translation. Thus, as I grew, Carnival was deemed too immature for civilized participation. I would go on to attend some shows and view the parades from the sidelines, but in the back of my head, it was never worth much effort.
I just gave you a glimpse of the past; now fast forward a few years to 2013. I’m away at college. Now, I’m not certain of the differences between the American and European college experience, but being in the US and being completely immersed in a culture that sees all Caribbean people as Jamaican or Hispanic can cause you to feel a bit isolated. Your cultural aspects are non-existent to a majority of people. “Does everyone smoke weed in the islands?” and… “Oh! If you’re from the Caribbean, why don’t you have an accent?” These are some of the frequent questions I got asked; it was like being in Mean Girls, minus the weird drama. You become a sort of novelty to them and it gets very old very fast. I’m generalizing, of course, because I have encountered people who were more sensitive to me, but three-fourths of them had immigrant backgrounds. It was easier to be around other Caribbean students, because when I used a reference, they understood what was being said! I could use slang and they wouldn’t stare at me blankly, instead they’d respond in kind! Again, I am generalizing, because I did have American friends who were open to learning about my culture, but a majority of my friends were international students and others from St. Maarten.
Thanks to the large Trinidadian population where I went to school, I was reintroduced to a whole world that I was previously ignorant to. While not a total convert to the concept, I was more receptive to the idea that Carnival could be something more than what I had made it out to be in my mind. There are many subtle similarities between Caribbean cultures and one of them happens to be Carnival. It’s a reality. Carnival does bring people together in revelling, often drunken, abandon. When something as simple as a big fete can bring recognition to your culture, it will make your small heart grow two sizes too big, a la Grinch. So, my views changed, as they are wont to do in college, and I even put on a costume and played mas for one day; but I wasn’t willing to risk it if the toenail thing was genetic.
I bought the costume, which cost me two weeks of my meagre pay check, and I did my makeup, because after the costume, I was quite broke and I went from 6:00am until long after dark. When I was done, my feet hurt and were blistered, my skin felt like every germ ever created was layered thickly on my body and my eyes burned as if one of my contacts had fused to my eyeball. My body ached for days after and if I took off my shirt, there was evidence of a sunburnt version of my costume plastered on my body. I looked like a wreck and felt as much, but I wasn’t disappointed. I could finally understand what my mother meant when she spoke so fondly of her battle wounds. It was so liberating. It’s amazing that you’ve managed to stay this long to find out exactly what this all leads to – it speaks good things of your character. I’m almost there, I promise.
Here it is, the end, or rather, the beginning:
I came home the year after with a fresh point of view, new experiences and a diploma in the midst of the other stuff. I missed Carnival 2014, so my excuse for that was that I was busy getting my education certified. However, in 2015, there was no enthusiasm for the fete. I barely went to the shows and I have never even been to the queen pageants or calypso/road march competitions, so there was no change there. But, the question is, what was the change, and how did it start? I don’t know. It’s doubtful you care and that’s fine, because I’m running out of time.
This year, I have to cover and do a lot of writing for a lot of Carnival events and I figured that this would be the perfect time to really immerse myself in the culture. Thankfully, I have an equally adventurous coordinator, which is my way of saying she’s crazy enough to agree to this madness. I want to see what it’s like to really understand the Carnival experience. To make it a bit more interesting, I usually set rules to my challenges, so there’s no quitting midway. Also, the readers are here to ensure that commitment.
The rules are as follows:
- I have to attend all shows related to Carnival 2016. This includes any directly related events, such as meetups with pageant contestants.
- I will document each experience and write about it every week of Carnival, even the Road to Carnival events.
- At the end, there will be a reflection of the events along with a final conclusion.
I’m currently working with Health & Beauty on my #30DaysAVegan articles where I go vegan for 30 days to prep my body for Carnival. Check it out this Tuesday. Don’t forget to read about the upcoming events in Out & About, if you head to the centre spread, you can find Carnival Central, it has all of the up to date party information you’d want to know about Carnival. Follow my Instagram page @revelry360 for daily updates about what’s going on and the progress I’m making. Go! Now! Do it!
