2013 Jouvert after Jouvert after Jouvert



Casear's Army Trinidad - the jouvert of all jouverts

J'ouvert is a large street party during Carnival in the eastern Caribbean region. J'ouvert is a contraction of the French jour ouvert, or dawn/day break. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J'ouvert

I said it before and I’ll say it again. I love love love love love love love jouvert!!!  I’ve slowly been able to convince some of my non jouvert loving friends that being DUTTY is the way to be.  The thing I look forward to the most at any carnival is jouvert.  

 

I love jouvert so much, I do it twice during Trinidad carnival.  CAESAR'S ARMY Ambush Jouvert “the untraditional jouvert” is truly an ambush held in the early AM carnival Saturday and located in The Bush!!! I was having so much fun at AM Bush  that I didnt realize that both Bunji and Superblue were out there on the trucks until I watched my video later. I was too caught up in the madness of the moment. 

Casear's Army Trinidad carnival

Carnival Monday we did Dirty Dozen Jouvert and that was awesome as well. Dancing from 2am-6am in the streets of Port of Spain covered in paint & powder and all liquored up. Could a girl possibly ask for more???  Thinking of trying out Red Antz Jouvert 2014, then again if it aint broke... dont fix it. 



Dirty Dozen Jouvert Trinidad



Jamaica jouvert started off at Pandemonium with one of the best concerts ever. Then the paint & powder came out and my girls were like PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!  I didn’t give a *BEEP*  I dwent hard in the paint by my dayyym self. 


Pandemonium Jamaica

Not truly a jouvert, but worthy of an honorable mention is Cooler Fete in Atlanta. I’m going to quote my Atlanta Carnival blog, “Carnival kicks off the weekend before Memorial weekend with the Kiddie Carnival and then Cooler fete. All I can say about cooler fete is it was PURE Madness. There were so many casualties and so many “in ah mess” moments. Most of us did something regrettable that night that we shall never again speak of. I’m too embarrassed to even list any examples of what MIGHT have went down. “ Like I said, Cooler Fete isn’t a jouvert, but that didn’t stop us all from bringing power and turning it into the biggest Power Fete ever.  It was beyond fun and I was so glad that I would be able to do it again the following weekend at Atlanta carnival jouvert.

Atlanta Cooler Fete

Atlanta Carnival Jouvert The rest of the ATL girls needed a lil convincing, but they came around.  I told em to bring a rag for their hair, a rag for their face and lots of powder. Realizing they missed an awesome impromptu jouvert the weekend b4 the girls obliged and had the time of their life at Atlanta jouvert.


Atlanta Carnival Jouvert

Toronto Jab Jab jouvert is kinda scary, it’s too many people in too small of a space.  The thing I like about Toronto jouvert is the water trucks, cause I can dance in front of those things for hours. Sadly it was too cold for all of that this year.  Glad to be skipping Toronto carnival next year and heading down to Barbados that weekend instead.  Although  I hear that there are some bands in Barbados Foreday aka Jouvert were you won’t get dirty at all, and it is kinda of on the fancy side with their version of Trinidad’s “Monday wear”  yawn yawn yawn. Bring on the paint, powder, mud, wata… you can keep the oil and chocolate.  Caesar’s Army does an AMBUSH Barbados so I know I will have a mutha frekkin BLAST!!! 

Jab Jab Jouvert Toronto

There was no carnival September, but What Had Happen Was… Caesar’s Army IN:DE:PAINT:DANCE (Independence Day Beach J'ouvert) I really should be ashamed of myself for this, but I’m not.  Facebook showed me that my girl Rocky RSVP’d to the Caesar’s Army jouvert and me being a Caesar’s Army Roman, went straight to my computer to book a flight to Trinidad.  It was sooooooooooo awesome. Jouvert + Beach = My Heaven

Ceasar's Army Independence Day Jouvert

Miami Carnival Jouvert was all just a blur, but when I looked back at the pix I laughed nonstop for hours. Tears coming down my eyes asking myself, “WHAT THE BEEP are we doing?”  Miami carnival jouvert is pretty new and still has a few kinks to work out, but we all had a dayyyym good time and any complaints we might have had we were too drunk and tired to remember them. 

Miami Carnival Jouvert

7 ½ jouverts in one year!  I would call this a pretty successful year.  Next year, I predict we will be throwing our own mini jouvert fetes in the backyard now that my peeps realize how much freekin fun it is.  

Carnival Trip Planning

I always have people ask me about my carnival planning. So Ima break it down for ya. I just happen to be pretty darn good at handling logistics, guess that why I love my 9-5 so much. This is just how I go about plotting and planning my trips. Not saying it’s the best way, but it works for me.
 

Travel package vs. DIY (do it yourself planning)
I’m not a fan of travel packages. You are paying double the price to have someone handle the logistics for you. I’m cheap, I need that $$$ for RUM!!! But if you are not good at coordinating ish, you like having things handled for you and you got $$$ to spare, by all means this is the easiest route to go.  Pay your $$$ and just show up knowing that everything is in order.  Some of these travel agencies even arrange meals.  I thought we were going to starve to death 1 day at the Trinidad Carlton Savannah, the room service was deeeeeeesgusting. Thank goodness for all inclusive fetes that feed you like a champ. 


When to start planning
Generally you can book hotels and flights 11 months in advance. The earlier you book, the more you shall save. I can only laugh when someone tells me a couple months before a big carnival, “I’m coming to _______ carnival!” Go 'head, baller $$$$, might as well book first class while you're at it.

Flights
The laws of supply and demand apply here.  If you are going to a place with limited flight options you are going to want to book as early as possible. The price starts off high and only gets higher as demands gets increases, but the supply decreases. I booked my flight for Trinidad 2014 in early April 2013. I’m late in the game with Barbados 2014 and am watching those flights get HIGH very quickly. Definitely need to book before month end. But if you find yourself buying a flight late in the game, don’t be afraid to fly multiple airlines. ATL to MIA on American, MIA to POS & POS back to MIA on Caribbean Air, MIA to ATL Delta has worked for me before and it’s a couple hundred $$ cheaper than flying American the entire trip. Also don’t be afraid to take an unorthodox flight route to save $$$, flights to the Caribbean seem to be pretty darn cheap outta NY. Or if you are going to Caribana you could fly to Buffalo, NY and then drive the 2 hours to Toronto and save $$$.

If you are going somewhere with multiple airports or somewhere the country or city doesn’t shut down cause its carnival you can set a price alert on a travel site like Kayak (www.kayak.com/alerts) and they will email you when a flight is available that meets the criteria that you set.

Lodging
These darn small islands don’t have a lot of lodging options, book early dammit. If you are going somewhere with lots of lodging options you can usually use a discount rate: AAA discount, www.hiltonfamilymvp.com, Military discount, Gov’t discount, or whatever random discount you find on the internet. Believe me there are plenty of discount rates that can be found if you dedicate the time to search for them. Like corporate rates that are posted online, friends and family rates. I’ve used these b4 and not been asked to provide proof that I am eligible for the rate.

You are going to a carnival that you have never been to, WHAT FETES TO GO???
Websites like the ones below are your friend, of course there are many others. They give reviews from the previous year, provide ticket information and have lots of pix so you can see for yourself.  Does the venue appeal to you? Do the people look like they are having fun? Does it look stush or wotless?  Pictures don’t lie… although they can be slightly deceiving in the hands of an evil villain.
www.lehwego.com
www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com
www.trinijunglejuice.com
www.islandmix.com
www.youtube.com

To rent a car or not to rent a car… that is the question?!?!?
I find that island people drive like mutha BEEP’n maniacs. Somehow my daughter convinced me to rent a scooter in the Bahamas and all I can say is God was watching over us that day. If you are a driving pro… go for it!!! I only drive in civilized cities lololol

Playing Mas
Gotta be sure to note when the band launches are. Mess around and miss the launches & registration and you’ll end up in Whatever section of Whatever band you can get in. That was totally me Trinidad Carnival 2011. My girl was trying to get me to register with her in Tribe, but I decided that I would worry about my costume after Miami Carnival 2010. Big mistake, everything was SOLD OUT!!! I stalked http://fineahban.herokuapp.comin hopes of finding a resale costume, but ended up buying a costume from www.paparazzicarnival.com 2 days before carnival. This year I put my Trinidad costume deposit down in July!!! Securing your costume that early is also good because you have plenty of time to pay it off.


TnT 2011, everyone was in Tribe except me

What do I do when I get there?

Well first of all, if you are on an international trip you need to buy some duty free booze before you leave your country (even tho we usually fly at the crack of frekkin dawn) then you need to buy some duty free booze when you arrive at your destination. Nobody has time to be looking for a liquor store, especially if you don’t have a rental car. 


Fresh off the plane, straight to Dufry

Hopefully you did the whole currency exchange thing before you left home.  It’s carnival man, no time to waste standing in line for an hour to exchange $$$. If not, just hit a dayym ATM and pay the international fee.  

You are going to want to get your taxi cab drivers info (if he seems like a cool cat) if not get the info of your next taxi driver.  Finding a taxi after the fete at 5am “E No Easy” as P-Square would say.
 





Planning multiple carnivals At The Same Dayym Time?

It gets confusing. What flights have I booked, hotel confirmations, what has been handled, what has yet to be handled? Keep a spreadsheet!!! I have a living document, an ever changing Excel spreadsheet in which I track any and every travel expense. It’s ginormous, with endless tabs, but it really keeps me on track. I’ll share one tab from it, but the $$$ have been removed to protect the innocent.

Final Thoughts

If you live in the US, get a hot dayym Global Entry card. Don’t let me see you in the long TSA and/or Customs line looking like a Sucker MC!

 

For gawd sake, get a portable speaker. If you read back to my old blogs there is one common theme, “random moments in random places turn into instant fetes because of good chunes.”  Music unites the world. Just read my Bose-soundlink-porta-party blog.

 

I should say something about working out & getting carnival sexy,  but I don’t wanna be a hypocrite.  I haven’t started my annual “Work Out Like a Mad Oooman” the days leading up to carnival. Soon dammit!!!  Gotta build up the energy and stamina to party nonstop for a week straight.

Best wishes on your fete planning

More Trinidad Carnival Monday Wear

2013 I played with Island People Mas and they gave us this white cloth that you were basically supposed to cut, tie, fold or do whatever with and make your own for Carnival Monday.  I’m a pretty creative person, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what in the world do with this crazy looking cloth.  When we were on the road I saw the girls were able to work some magic with it, but I was so glad that I brought my own Monday wear. 

2014 carnival Monday Wear I’m thinking K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple Stupid!!!  Going with FRINGE!!!  Can’t go wrong with gold old faithful FRINGE!!!  I could make another costume, but I don’t feel like it.  I don’t want to have on too many pieces.  Gotta deal with your belt being crooked, your shoulder piece bothering you, your arm & leg pieces falling off, etc. I’ll deal with all of that on Tuesday, for Monday its K.I.S.S. I’m going to just get a plain fringe bikini, wear one of my old carnival boots,  (Gotta recycle dem thangs and get your $$$’s worth) and of course one of my beloved baseball hats!!!

The girl on the left is SO ME!

The Deep V bathing suits are cute, but I don’t need a Girls Gone Wild moment while I’m doing the 6:30 so this Deep V 2/pc Fringe Bikini seemed like a great alternative.  The high waist bikini is super cute although I wouldnt be able to pull it off.

 

 

More Monday Wear Ideas: 

http://www.angelapanama.com/2014/01/monday-wear-blues.html

2013 - A Year in Carnival Review

Trinidad, Jamaica, Atlanta, Toronto, Miami carnivals in 2013

Several years ago I decided that celebrating carnival once a year is for the birds.  2013 was a good carnival year for me: Trinidad, Jamaica, Atlanta, Toronto and Miami carnivals. I did 5 carnivals  in 2012 too so I didn't break any personal records.  I ended up going home to Panama the week of Houston Caribfest otherwise  I would have hit a personal high of 6 carnivals in one year. 

Rank in order of awesomeness is pretty obvious:

(1)    Trinidad

(2)    Jamaica

(3)    Miami

(4)    Toronto

(5)    Atlanta - but don’t get me wrong Atlanta carnival is very awesome and I always decline offers to travel out of Atlanta during Memorial weekend because I can’t miss carnival. I will even be missing my family reunion next year because it’s during Atlanta carnival weekend and there is much carnival work to be done in Atlanta.
 

The 2014 carnival forecast is Trinidad, Jamaica, Atlanta, Barbados and Miami.  Pretty sure Ima take my daughter to Panama the week of Houston Caribfest so that’s out again. Then again she’ll be 17yrs old so I guess she could go alone if I prep her to answer the customs questions in Spanish. lol

I find it hilarious that in 2011 I told myself I was doing Trinidad carnival one time and one time only. Here I am prepping for my 4^th trip to Trinidad carnival.  For those that ask why one time only… the price tag!!!  I think in 2015 I’ll go to Panama carnival instead (Panama, Trinidad, Dominica and Mardi Gras are always the same timeframe), so I don’t go frekkin crazy when everyone is flyn out and I’m staying home. For those that are thinking, “I wanna go too!!!” HAULT!!! I don’t know what they do in the capital, maybe it’s just like the carnivals you are used to. I am not from the big city, where I’m from it’s not “Bikini Mas” no beads & feathers.  It’s a traditional carnival, probably only enjoyable to those that are from there.  After working so hard on my diablo Halloween costume & doing the background research & watching Youtube videos, I look forward to spending a carnival back home. Plus my car will be paid off early 2015 so I have an excuse to travel more.  Muahahaha

I leave you guys with my long time carnival anthem and I’ll see you guys on de road in Trinidad 111 days!!!

 

So now when I say “Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready, Ready” you guys can chime in like my homies do and finish the sentence!