Too Much Whining

Pre-Service Training in Grenada has been a montage of soca music, shaking of "de bam bam,"sweating profusely, scratching mosquito bites, trying to speak in dialect and failing miserably, trips to the beach, and endless hours of training. If you tried to ask me what I did last week I probably couldn't tell you. I don't even know what day it is, I'm so tired. However, it's mostly been a blast! Those of us who were lucky enough to be sent to Grenada were flown in at one of the most exciting times of the year.

Upon arrival we immediately had a long weekend to celebrate Emancipation Day, which is a celebration of the emancipation of slaves in Grenada in 1834. A very large percentage of Grenadians are descended from African slaves who were brought here through the British transatlantic slave trade. People wear traditional African clothing during the celebration of Emancipation Day, and my town hosts a drum festival where bands march and dance behinds trucks full of people doing African drumming. There was also a concert that showcased the drumming and African dance.

In addition to Emancipation Day, we also got carnival... again! If you read my previous blog posts you probably know that carnival is my favorite thing ever. So obviously I was VERY excited about getting another one. However, I learned very quickly that I need to build some more stamina before attempting Grenada's carnival next year...

My first carnival event in Grenada was White in the Moonlight. This is an all night soca concert where everyone wears white and rely heavily on second winds, third winds, fourth winds... all of the winds. I arrived with my host sister and her husband around 10:30. That was my first mistake. Not drinking Red Bull was my second.

After dancing pretty conservatively due to exhaustion and feeling awkward about not being able to whine adequately, I was feeling pretty tired come 4am. That's when I got a text from another Peace Corps trainee that they had finally arrived. THANK GOD! Somebody to do mediocre whining with me! And it turns out 4am is the best time to show up to this event because that's when the music really gets started. Pretty much upon her arrival the crowd started to go nutzo and Lavaman came up on stage to bring down the house. We danced all the way through the sunrise and morning rain shower waiting for the headlining act- Marshall Montana. I've never experienced a more powerful 8th wind! We danced probably until 9am when my knees started to buckle from being on my feet for 10 hours and my host family decided it was probably best not to kill the new trainee after only a week.

Photo credit: http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com

Next was J'Ouvert. I just want to say that I was not at all prepared for Grenada's J'Ouvert based on what went down in St. Lucia! I probably should've done some research before hand so I could appreciate it the way I do now, having learned about the history. Traditionally, J'Ouvert is a celebration of freedom to do whatever you want- dance as lewdly as you want, dress up however you want, stay out as late as you want. Because of that there tends to be a lot of really raunchy dancing- a woman lying on the ground and having a man thrust at her bam bam, women surrounded by a group a gyrating men, and people hopping from one person to the next without reservation. For me, this was a bit much and it was hard to escape the large numbers of thrusting and grinding pelvises. Thank god for host family human shields! However, even though I didn't want to partake in that kind of dancing myself, I can appreciate the fact that this is a demonstration of what the Grenadians are now allowed to do freely, whereas in the past they would be punished severely for the same behavior.

Photo credit: http://kwekudee-tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com

In Grenada they also have the Jab Jab, which means "devil devil." The Jab Jab cover themselves in motor oil, wear horns and chains, and carry around an array of objects like doll heads, live snakes (though this is technically illegal), real cow heads, and torches. This form of Jab Jab is strictly a Grenadian thing and will not be seen in any of the other Caribbean islands. While this sounds and looks pretty shocking there's so much history related to the Jab Jab. Way back in the day the French colonizers used to make a mockery of their black slaves for one of their events by dressing up like them and blackening their skin. After they were freed, the former slaves then mocked their masters, who they considered to be "devils."The Jab Jab is a satirical and artistic expression of freedom, however shocking it may seem.

We did it!!

And as exciting as carnival is, I should probably also include that I'm now officially a Peace Corps volunteer! Team Grenada, as we like to call ourselves, swore in a few days ago, performed a skit in dialect which did not go horribly, and spent the whole day feeling very proud of ourselves. Next week we all start setting up for our schools, so our fun will be taking a very different form in the next several months.

Taking our oath