Carnival Monday

Yesterday, I picked up my cousin Andrea from the airport.  She's been teaching in Brazil for 5 years and decided that she wanted to see how to really celebrate Carnival.  Ok, maybe she didn't say that.  But it will be interesting to hear her comparison of Carnival in Brazil versus Trinidad.  I know there are some differences that make each one unique, but it will be cool to hear from her after all is said and done on how the compare and contrast.  Maybe I'll have her write a 2 page report that will be due by the time she leaves.  If we can dish it out every day, we should be able to take it too.  (She's a former teacher and current co-principal for those who don't know her).

FYI - the things that were most exciting for Andrea since she has arrived is the fact that we drive on the left side of the road (complete with the steering wheel in cars on the right side) and all the things that we have in our grocery stores that they don't have in Brazil.  I've never seen someone so excited to see Ragu before.

Anyway, today was the first official day of Carnival, although the celebrations have been going on for weeks.  We didn't don our full costumes today, so it was really more like a dry run.  I just wore my shorts and she only had her sequined top and bottom on.  The full headdresses, hats and other accessories come out tomorrow.  So no pictures today, but definitely some for tomorrow.

We basically walked up and down the streets of Port of Spain with incredibly loud music being played.  There are about 5 tractor trailers pulling flatbed trailers with stacks and stacks of speakers.  And as you would probably expect, they are turned on full blast.  But that doesn't really bother anyone too much because everyone is busy dancing in the streets and enjoying lots of water and various adult beverages.

The temperature was probably in the upper 80's and it was overcast for the first half of the day.  It did rain for a bit, but that was actually quite a relief because it was so hot, the rain was actually quite refreshing.  However, with heat and sun, there comes sunburn.  We cut our afternoon a little short because the skin was starting to get a little too red and we wanted to be able to participate the entire day tomorrow.  

But here's a little tidbit for the family members who are probably rolling their eyes at us.  We had sun block on before we left and reapplied 2-3 times throughout the day.  The other thing that I feel I should point out, is that I was NOT the one one to get sunburned this time.  Maybe I built up a bit of a tolerance or my skin has become some kind of thick, leathery substance.  Or maybe Andrea is just not quite used to the sun a bit closer to the equator.  Either way, even though I know she's hurting just a little bit, I am still gloating a bit that I didn't succumb to the sun and that I don't have funny tan lines the shape of my hands.  Of course we all know that I've just sealed my fate for tomorrow.  Oh well.  It was nice while it lasted.

Kings and Queens

As previously mentioned, probably the one thing about Carnival in Trinidad that stands out from the rest is the costumes that the revelers wear.  But that is just for the commoners; the peasants.  The REAL costumes come out for the King and Queen competition.

I still haven't figured out exactly what makes a contender for King and Queen.  I believe that each band competes.  Bands are the different groups that you sign up to walk with in the parade - which is what most people believe is the only way to celebrate Carnival.  But I also think that there is a competition open to the public to submit their costumes for judging as well.  However, as with most competitions, those entrants with deeper pockets and sponsorship from bands are over the top and tend to take the top prize.

Here are a few of the highlights...

Believe it or not, this is one of the individual costumes which are much smaller than the sponsored costumes.  This particular one had an underwater theme.  She was dressed as a fish and there is a giant fish on her head, with very large fins.

Here are a couple more of the smaller costumes that I liked.  Not sure what their themes were.

The sponsored costumes also consist of things worn by the individual, but they are also usually wrapped or pulling some kind of cart which brings the rest of the costume.  Some of these bigger costumes range in size from 20' x 20' ft to the biggest that I recall from the night, 30' x 35'.  Here is one of the smaller of the sponsored costumes, also an underwater theme.

This last one was one of my favorites.

Aaron, Kate, Meredith, and I went to the semi-finals for the kings earlier in the week and are hoping to make it to the finals tonight.  Kate took all of these pictures except for the blue one, which I took.  She asked if she could go up to the front of the stage and take pictures with the rest of the press photographers, and they let her.  That's why all of her pictures don't have heads in front of them.  She was standing with this group when she took all her pictures...

The anticipation builds...

Those who know about Carnival, know that it is one giant party.  Whether you are in the states (New Orleans), Colombia (Barranquilla), Brazil (pick any city), or Trinidad, the party is well known.  However, Trinidad has one thing that sets it apart from the other Carnival celebrations, and that is the costumes of the thousands of revelers.  

Some of you may have been privy to e-mails and links from me, giving you a hint of my costume.  Some of you may know from other sources.  Some of you may have no idea what the costumes are like.  All I will say at this point is that the theme this year is Persian Empire (not quite sure what that has to do with Carnival, but when in Rome...or Persian...or Trinidad for that matter...) and that I picked up both mine and my cousin's outfits today.

The interesting thing about the costumes at this point, is that they were given to me in two shoe boxes.  Have you ever tried to fit one of your outfits into a shoe box?  I didn't think so.  Not much fits in there and you will have to wait to see pictures of us in our get up.  But I will provide you with a glimpse to whet your appetite.

Panorama 2009

There are many kick offs for Carnival in Trinidad.  There are fetes (large parties that usually go from 10 or 11 PM until 3 or 4 AM) pretty much every weekend after New Years Day.  Some say that is the beginning of Carnival season.  I never made it to a fete (although I did try but my ticket got stolen) so for me the kick off has been Panorama.

This is an event where steel pan bands from across the country, and Tobago, come to compete to claim top prize as the best pan band.  Steel pan drums are one of Trinidad's claims to fame.  It is the only instrument that has been invented in the last 100 years or so.

There are small bands, which are bands with less than 50 players (called pannists), medium sized, which is 50-100 pannists, large bands, 100+ pannists, and single pan bands, where each pannist only plays one steel pan.  The small, medium and large bands, a lot of the musicians play more than one pan at the same time.  It's really quite impressive seeing all these pan players playing in unison.

Here's a link to a quick history of the steel pan if you are interested.  

The vibe of these steel pan bands is enough to get anyone ready.  Here's a short video that I took of a medium sized band practicing.

For Panorama, most spectators just hang out and watch the bands practice in the fields around the savannah instead of paying to watch them being judged.  I actually got up to the fence by where the judging was happening and the stands were completely empty, but the fields by the bands practicing were packed.

I have had some apprehension for Carnival because it's an event that consists of a lot of drinking and a lot of wining (a dance that is a lot like bumping and grinding on complete strangers).  Neither of these are my cup of tea - not to mention that I'm sure I will look like a complete tool in my Carnival costume.  But after going to see the semi-finals of pan a couple weeks ago, and stopping by the savannah tonight to see some of the finals, I am full on ready for Carnival.

Focus people. Focus!

I wish I could say that Phase 3 of my root canal came and went.  But it came and it's kind of stuck with me.  Allow me to explain...

Everything was pretty similar to Phase 2.  My dentist dug out the temporary filling and then started to fill it my tooth with the permanent filling.  I don't know why they couldn't just put the permanent stuff in the first time and make this a 2 part process.  I'm sure there are reasons, but those were not fully explained to me.  Of course I didn't ask either, but I will next time I'm in there.  Yet I digress...

I'm in the chair and all is going well.  He's digging out the temporary stuff and after that is all said and done, starts filling the tooth in with the permanent stuff.  Now it's important that all the spaces are filled, otherwise there is opportunity for decay from the inside again.  So he has to make sure that he gets that filling all the way up in the roots.  Basically, from what I can tell, this consists of putting the filling material on something small and needle like and shoving it into the empty spaces (ie - the roots) of my tooth.  All is well for the first 3 roots.  Ah, but I am one of that lucky 10% who has the 4th root.

Since the first 3 roots went so well, the conversation between the dentist and the dental assistants increased.  They were talking about carnival, who's playing and who's not, internet phone services (Skype vs. something called MagicJack), and the cost of various office items (gel tip pens) in Trinidad vs. the cost of the same item in the states.  All very stimulating indeed - although I will say that I was a bit intrigued about that MagicJack thing.

So Dr. Dentist starts packing the filling into the last root.  He went a little too deep and I winced.  There was pain but at least it was quick.  Unfortunately, I don't think he saw the wince because the next little pack of filling went too deep.  This time there was A LOT of pain and it was not so quick.  From what I can gather, or at least what it felt like, was this needle thing went a bit too deep and really felt like it went through the bottom of the root into my gums.  The pain was fairly intense and my hand shot out to the arm rest of the chair and my back arched up as all my muscles tensed up and as I tried to not jump out of the chair.

He says "Oh, oh.  Ok, it's all right."  But really it wasn't because whatever he was working with came apart in my mouth, with the needle jammed into my gums and him still holding on to the tool.  So now he's trying to get it reattached or dig it out with some kind of tweezers or something.  I don't honestly know how he got it out, but it did come out after a couple quick attempts.

Now, when I said in my last post that the root canal is kind of like digging the marrow of a bone out of your tooth, I think I was only partially correct.  The other stuff that is getting dug out is all the nerves.  So while this did hurt, it wasn't the kind of hurt that you have when you have exposed nerves or a chipped tooth and air gets on it.  This is more like you have that piece of popcorn or apple that gets stuck between your teeth so far that it hurts and you can't get it out.  Except that the popcorn, or apple if you choose, has a needle attached to it and actually imbeds itself into your gums for a minute or so.

I didn't really think that this was going to be eventful enough to have another post about my dental work.  But after that little mishap, I just felt the need to share the final phase.  Next comes the crown.  That should be uneventful.  We'll see though.