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.