59 - CARNIVAL!

Yesterday Steph, Tom and I joined in with the Carnival Celebrations. Tuesdays Jouvay in Sateurs is where all the local communities parade and dance covered in paint to Sateurs, each community with a different colour. Normally Rose Hill is Pink for pink panthers hense Tom and his pink hair, but when we got there they said this year he people who bought the paint wanted to be black panthers instead so we had black paint. We left the house at 5:30am to walk to Rose Hill junction, they party late night and early morning here because of the heat. Crowds started to gather and everyone got painted up and at about 7am the Hermitage truck passed with orange paint and their speakers and music. By about 8am the Rose Hill truck arrived and everyone was dancing and throwing paint and car oil and we were covered; we all danced, drank beer and covered eachother in paint the whole way to Sateurs which is quite a long walk! Everyone was dancing with everyone and it was loads of fun, there were even really little kids there! Some people were carrying random things, a man with a tray with a whole melon just casually on it. Other guys with half a bush. Some with air fresheners that they sprayed during a song about air fresheners. One guy had one testicle just out covered in oil. The guys on the sound truck kept giving Steph and I shout outs as the 2 foreign ladies aha. We saw Sharka and Steve as well and Zoe which was nice. By the time we reached Sateurs I was covered In black, pink, blue, purple, green, white, red, orange and oil. All my pictures are on my water proof camera so I can wash the paint off of it. We left at about 10:30am to get the bus back and shower. I had to wash my hair 4 times to get the paint and oil out of my hair and the showers were covered in black oil. Both Steph and I started with white T-shirt’s which were completely black. We were all quite merry but Steph has had a couple too many beers and said she wasn’t going to come to St. George’s with us, Kate came to the house at 1pm and Tom and I were washed and fed and ready for a trip to St George’s. Tom fell asleep in the car, it took about an hour to get there but when we arrived there was no where to park so we had to drive back to grand Anse and get a bus into town to watch the parade. We passed the girls in their carnival costumes and loud trucks with booming music and Tom didn’t even wake; I have no idea how. We got into St. George’s on the bus about 15:30 and found a spot in front of a judges tent to watch the proceedings. The costumes were amazing, huge feathered head sets and shoulder decorations, bejewelled bikinis and cuffs in every colour imaginable. A few did choreographed dances for he judges and there just danced and walked by. There were kids groups as well which were adorable and they were shaking their bums just like the adults! It was amazing to watch. Tom jumped onto one of the sound trucks and went for a ride with them for a while and Carter came and joined Kate and I. Tom eventually came back at 17:00 ish very drunk with a half drunk bottle of 69% Rum! Some of the girls in the parade gave their headpieces to some little girls sitting near us and they got to put them on, lots of tourists watching. I out a feather in my hair from someone’s costume.  At the end of the parade they had guys dressed in the old traditional carnival costumes which were like big genie pants and fancy layered material with bells round their ankles and bottles of talc power they puffed in the air. The parade finished about 19:00 and the four of us went to get some food. Carter bought us bbq chicken and potatoes which was very yummy, I had to guide and support Tom as we walked the whole way but he was a funny drunk so it was okay. We then walked back up the road to catch a bus back to grand Anse and get the car. We left at 20:00 and arrived home at about half 9. There were some diversions because of a big street party in Grenville. Tom was sleeping but Kate put on YouTube’s too 50 cheesy tunes on in the car and Tom woke up and we were jamming and singing all the way back to the house. It was a really fun day.