The Lights Went Out in Trinidad!

Tonight was just another ordinary evening.  I was eating dinner and relaxing when all of a sudden my room went dark.  Yes, the lights went out in Trinidad...well actually only a few surrounding cities located near the hotel.  My room is equipped with an emergency back up light which they tested and found to be not functioning 2 weeks ago...which they still haven't fixed! 

The internet in my room stopped working as well so I decided to go out to the lobby of the hotel since I assumed they would have light - and they did.  After 30 minutes of sitting doing nothing I got bored so I walked around and took in the moonlite landscape and bay area - quite relaxing.

By this time it had been over an hour and nearing 10pm.  I figured that I would go back to the room and go to bed early.  I tested the shower- success there was still water! My computer provided a shred of light and I showered in almost complete darkness but the computer backlight helped a little.  Now I was refreshed and clean and ready for bed.  Not 5 minutes after I got out of the shower did the power come back on...but it was still fun to shower with moodlighting :-)

Now let's see how long it takes the hotel to fix my emergency back up light....Goodnight :-)

It's Carnival No More....

The festivities of Carnival 2k10 here in Trinidad has come to a close.  The season of Fete's which lasted from the day after Christmas until Ash Wednesday is no more.  Unfortunately I still have Fete fever but no cure...what is a girl to do now?!?!  I end up listening to Soca music which is the type of music played at the fetes and Carnival. 

So as my previous post mentioned I was going to attend J'ouvert where you get covered with mud and paint while drinking and dancing....BUT.....I was told misleading information and ended up missing the whole event!!  So no pictures which means I need to come back next year for Carnival to participate and document!

After work on Monday the younger crowd of the work crew headed up north to Port of Spain to witness the first day of Carnival.  On Monday the people who will be marching on Tuesday in costume will march the same route that day but not in costume.  It is more relaxed and everyone having a great time. 

On Tuesday starting early at 6am the parade starts and everyone are in elaborate costumes.  There are large music trucks associated with each Band playing music so they can march to the Soca beat - I swear that the sound coming out of those speakers when they pass by you will knock you down.  Definitely recommend wearing ear plugs!  There is a song that wins Carnival march and this year the song was Palance by JW & Blaze.  The song the wins Carnival march is then played at each judging point (there are 4 I was told) along the parade route.  At the end of the night we ended up by one of the judging areas; needless to say I was quite sick of Palance at that point but loved dancing to it every time!!!

Next time I am in Trinidad for Carnival I am playing Mas and I strongly recommed that if you like dancing then you too should play mas if ever in Trinidad at Carnival time - although registration is in August of the previous year so plan in advance :-)

^ Fanon & I Monday night

^ Melissa (local), Matt, Jeremy and I watching the parade of people dancing to Soca music

^ Sea of people marching Carnival Monday without costumes

^ Same sea (well not exactly) of people on Carnival Tuesday in costume

^ Jason (fellow refinery coworker) who marched Carnival Tuesday and I.  The orange headband is from Fanon's costume and the green neckgear is from Jason's costume. 

It's Carnival!!!!

Starting at 9pm tomorrow night the Carnival festivities officially begin; although the day after Christmas was the start of fun leading up to Carnival Monday and Tuesday (Feb. 15 & 16).  Even though we will have to be working during the day these two days we are going to definitely still go up north to Port-of-Spain to see everyone celebrating Carnival. 

The main event that locals and tourists participate in is called playing mas, which is where you are in a tribe within a band and march down the street having fun.  This normally occurs during the day on Monday and Tuesday but as soon as the sun goes down another kind of party beings called J'ouvert.  This starts at 9pm on Sunday and continues unti Ash Wednesday morning.  During this event there is music playing and people throwing mud, oil, paint and I have heard even chocolate into the air therefore by the end of the night you are covered - so I am will not be wearing anything nice!  I look forward to posting pictures of everything I participate in and get to see these next few days! 

Stay tuned...

My explainations regarding Carnival are somewhat elementary so you can Google more.