Mas camp and pan band tour

The entire country is preparing for Carnival.

To get a better understanding of what goes on before Carnival, I went on a tour of several mas camps and pan bands.

Mas camps are the places they make (and sell) costumes. Mas is short for masquerade (I think). There are mas camps everywhere and each camp has a different theme for their costumes. This camp (MacFarland) worked with traditional themes from the original mas - muted tones telling stories from the past. Each costume would start with an artist design... and then they would make the costumes by hand using bits of fabric, paper mache, wire. They pick 12-14 costume designs and then make a large number of them to sell and then during Carnival, they will wear them together as a group. I couldnt imagine anyone wearing this costume for 8 hours in the parade. There is a big competition for the best groups who 'play mas'. The camps proudly display all the trophies they have won. MacFarland had 4 cabinets like these full of trophies.

The next camp had a different theme - it was called 'skimpy'. At the camps, they encouraged you to try the headpieces on... Carnival is for people of all ages. This lady is a retired Professor of Nursing from McMaster. She picked out her costume. It rained most of the night which resulted many of the pan bands to suspend practice but we did find a small band out practicing. It was a mix of young... and old players. They quite enjoyed practicing with 25 of us watching them. We stopped in at the Woodbrook Playboyz spot... and while they werent practicing, the boys were playing cards and watching old movies. It has been a long time since I've seen a black and white movie on a black and white TV.
We also stopped in at the Brooklyn Bar. Apparently, it is on some list of the 1000 places you should go to before you die. Make it the near the end of the list, the bartenders are protected by screens and pass your drink to you through the bars. It was a bit sketchy....but still fun.

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Little studio on a little island

I have heard of small wedding chapels...you know, the Vegas thing. But I cant say that I have seen a photo studio for weddings that is this small. B.

Highway to Heaven

This would be a crummy way to go to your own funeral or perhaps the hearse is on its way to its own funeral...

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A reality

We live in a very nice apartment but this morning I woke up with no water pressure in the apartment. We didnt have water all day. There was no notice.

It explains why the bottles water business is quite successful here in Trin. It also explains the large tanks that many homes and businesses have.

Many areas in the country required water to be trucked in. In some connected areas, they only have water pressure on certain days of the week. On those days when there is water, you fill up your tanks and it carries you through the down days.

We have three tanks at the office. WASA is the Water and Sewage Authority. They arent very popular here.

We do have one big water reservoir at the apartment. Its where I had a bath today.

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P.S. Our next door neighbor is one of the senior guys at WASA - he doesnt tell that to a lot of people.

The view from the hill

We went up to Fort George on the top of a hill in Port of Spain. It is at the end of a very windy narrow road. Good thing there was little traffic. The fort was built in 1804.
The guns never fired a shot. The stockade never held a prisoner. The garbage can never was used.
Apparently, the stockade was used to store the valuables of wealthy Trinis when they felt threatened. These days, I think it might be pretty full.

It's a great spot to see the whole city. You can see our apartment building from there.

You can also see the Queen's Park Savannah. The Savannah is a big park in the middle of the city (260 acres). It also creates the biggest roundabout in the world. It's one way traffic all the way around. So we have come from the city with the widest street in the world (Av 9 de julio in BA) to this.

The Beyonce concert will be held in the Savannah right after Carnival. It is a pretty big deal that she is performing here....except that about every 2nd song on the radio these days is one of hers.

Enough-ay.

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Our first Fete

Carnival season consists of many things here. Mostly partying. It fills the newspapers. Pan bands practicing, costumes being prepared and a full schedule of events coming up and photos from recent events. A popular event to attend is a Fete.
We attended our first Fete this past weekend. It was the Blue Flame Fete held in the Blue Range community north of our apartment. It is set up in the neighborhood park. It is all fenced off, it is surrounded by security. They take down the tennis court fences to create a dance floor out of the courts and they lay plywood sheets on the grass to finish things off. Then they build out bars, food stations, huge walls of speakers and lighting system. It doesnt start until 10 pm and goes until 4 am. You cant leave before 1 am. You can talk to people around you until about 2 am and then the sound system just takes over.
Any noise laws are suspended (if they exist at all). A fete is basically an all-inclusive cabaret/Stampede Party/New Years Eve party all rolled into one. Organizing them here is a business of its own. In the weeks ahead of Carnival (this year Feb 14/15), there are 4 or 5 of these fetes each night on the weekends. There were probably 2000 people at this fete alone. We went with a group of new friends - a bunch of Canucks living here in Trinidad. The Winnipeg Jets shirt was a dead giveaway. There are several bars set up - no waiting. They had the drinks ready to go. They also had these little tiny cups. I dont think we had any.
That's our story and we are sticking to it.

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Every night at about 10 to 6

They may not all look this good but we do get our share of beautiful sunsets here. The sun pretty much drops out of the sky at this latitude (we are at 10 degrees north). B.

I am feeling very Olympic (sort of)

Let the Games begin!
The Olympic Flame is making its way to Vancouver. On its way through Calgary, it stopped at COP where it was sent down the bobsled track in a bobsled. Our son-in-law helped organize this part of the torch relay. Here is Devin with some torch buddies..... Devin is looking pretty excited about being part of the Games experience.
I felt a little closer to the Olympic down here when a friend in Calgary sent me this photo. This torch bearer was running by in front of his house. Not sure if you recognize him but it is the Trinidad-born Stephen Ames. A professional golfer who lives in Calgary. B.

Security systems

We can hear the local security systems working effectively all over the neighborhood. They consist of dogs barking at all hours.

In some neighborhoods, it is just noisy dogs and in others, it is mean dogs. The newspapers are full of ads for pitbulls for sale (I know there are 'nice' pitbulls out there - but that's not why they are popular here).

Just up the street, we went by this house gate on our walk - that's a Rottweiler on the other side.
There were two of them and the homeowners do not have to worry about anyone hopping that fence. Most effective.

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View on the highway

My trip to work (120 km round trip) consists of going through four 'rush hours' each day - one coming out of Port of Spain and one going into San Fernando in the morning and then the same two on the way home.
I am actually going against traffic as the traffic coming into Port of Spain is brutal in the morning.
Once I am on the highway going south, this is the view I have...It does move rather smoothly most of the time.
When the traffic slows down, it gives you a chance to look around. Here is one spot along the way. I want to believe they are separate buildings, separate parking, separate chimneys - really I do.

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Gasparee Caves & new friends

We have met some new friends here in Trinidad.

Mimi connected with the CWC (Canadian Women's Club) and we joined a group of Canadians going to the Gasparee Caves. We arrived for a 9 am start and learned (once again) about Trini time. We didnt get started until about 10.
Among other things, we had to wait while they took the boat out of one of these racks. It is a simple process, they use a big forklift. The boat was CDA 1....really. Here is what is stencilled on the lifejackets..... It was a beautiful morning and we werent in any rush. We couldnt hang out too close to the local store. Like good Canadians, we follow all the rules. Here was another reference to 'liming'.

The time gave us a chance to meet the rest of the folks on the trip. We finally got on our way and Edmond, our guide, was most informative describing the local area and history.... including the prison island, the Trin naval base, the sight of Venezuela off in the distance, the offshore drilling supply yard..Mimi really did enjoy the trip - what she isnt enjoying is the fact that this might be the 40th photo of her that I have taken that day. They have built an extensive path system that leads from the island dock to the cave interpretive centre.

The caves are kept locked up and only guided groups are allowed in.This is what John was pointing at. The bats were keeping eye on the entrance.
It gets warmer as you go deeper into the caves and the colors get more interesting... and the formations more dramatic. They have a lighting system inside much of the caves. The red and green spot lights add (or detract) from the natural colors of the cave interior.

The pool at the bottom of the cave is crystal clear. So a bunch of us jumped in for a for a swim. On the way out, we noticed this sign.

Oops.

The Gasparee Caves is one of those spots where the locals go when they are in Grade 5 as a school trip but for visitors, it is a good half day trip we would recommend.



It was nice to meet some new people and see a different part of the country.


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