Caribana Thus Far

So last night was jouvert which many of you attended. Its always a plus to show up to these events early to avoid a line, but somebody was on my side last night. We actually didn't get to Palazzo until about 1am, and there was a fairly long line which we joined to the back, as we joined a bouncer let us know that they were now letting people in through a back entrance so we got in immediately. If you are familiar with Palazzo, its pretty large and has various rooms. Now let me tell you, it was ram pack with people and steaming hot despite airconditioning and the heavy utility fans they added to the venue. However the venue did allow for indoor and outdoor feteing. Indoor was supposed to be clean, and outdoor was supposed to be dutty. Now outdoor was dutty indeed, cause even if you tried to play cute and hold a wall you left the venue with a little water or paint. The buckets of paint were never ending! guys coming in with the buckets and tossing paint into the crowd, or wiping it on you themselves, paint was being tossed off the stage. Then came the water truck spray water into the tent with a high pressure hose (this happened several times throughout). The vibe was just crazy. The outdoor option was also alot cooler, so made for more comfortable jamming. It was too much fun, me and my friends were like "wow! this feels like jouvert back home". Oh there were also live performances from various caribbean soca artists like Zoelah, Ricky T, Skinny etc.

Now, onto the parade. It started late, which has now become a norm with Caribana. Carnival Nationz was the 3rd band on the route. And as the band began to cross the "stage" what happens but a mini rainstorm. Not a little drizzle you. When I say the clouds open up and the rain fell HARD til it stinging you! But you know Caribbean people rain or shine we jamming, so everyone just continued jamming hard and screaming in jest and excitement making the band realllly hype when crossing.

Things were moving a little slowly so by time we got down onto the Lakeshore on lookers had already started barging the band. However, it wasn't as bad as it tends to get later in the day. The band was really good about handing out the water and drinks (non alcoholic) as you really didn't even have to go to the truck. They had marshalls patrolling the band handing out the cold bottled and bagged waters (quite nifty same amount of water in a bottle in a nice compact plastic bag container) as well as fruit juice boxes and other beverages. The fruit juice boxes may seem a bit immature, but the ice cold mango juice was quite refreshing once the sun got to blazing in all its glory!

The costume stood up to the test of time. I never once had to adjust my waist band. Elements of my costume did not fall apart. It was quite comfortable to wine up and all that in. So that was a plus.

All in all I do feel that Carnival Nationz was a pleasant experience, and I actually enjoyed it alot more than Saldenah.