Pretty Mas!

Farewell to Flekkefjord friends who have to leave in the middle of "Pretty Mas", the real carneval, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. We'll miss them!
Oernulf and I have tickets to the Queen's Park, Savannah Stadium today, too. Here the whole parade passes buy, from early morning, 8am, til 8pm at night: 12 hours of costume parade. Each "band", that is group of about 3-5000 members, has their own theme. A lot of classical themes march by: Greeks and Romans, Egyptians, and ,of course, Amer-indians, with a great deal of plumage. The guys are usually sporting battle-gear, breastplates and shields. The gals are dressed(?)in sequined, dingle-dangly bikinis. In front of the judges their marching becomes hip-gyrating dance, and bottoms and bellies are turned towards the eager long-lensed photographers. Of which I'm one.

We wander a bit in and out of the arena, trying out the street-view under the hot, hot sun, too. But the arena lures: Shark'n'bake (a sharkfish-in-a-bun) and an ice-cold carib, breezy seats in the shade. No complaints!
This is a huge national effort. And superior quality. From calypso, Pan bands and amazing creations of sculptural costumes. We're impressed!

While CNN, NBC, NBC are all focused exclusivly on the Mardi Gras of new hope in New Orleans, we witness this fabulous, living folk-festival carneval, here in Trinidad. What a priviledge to be invited along! Thank you, Trinidad!!