When we arrived in St. Maarten, we were told that they were in the midst of their "carnival". At first we didn't think much of it but then realized what a BIG deal it is to the locals. The carnival lasts for 2 weeks and involves food, dancing, musical performances, etc. Towards the end of the carnival festivities there is a BIG parade. These parades are not like ours in the states. They do have bands, however they are not school bands but rock/reggae bands. And these bands (also called troops)don't march. Instead they sit on BIG flat bed trucks and sing/play their music over and over and over! Talk about loud. It was rough on the ears when a band would stop right in front of us. The speakers were huge and probably at least 8 feet tall.
As the band is coming down the road, they are surrounded by their troop dancers dressed in a variety of "costumes". We had a good time watching the parade. However, they walked SO slow. By the time they got to were we were it was around 3 pm (the parade started at 10 am and the route was only 4 miles). After watching about the first 8 troops perform, we decided to leave beacuse they all started sounding and looking the same!
Another thing we learned was that the last day of the carnival was their "Labor Day." Most things were closed...like shopping. Not a good day to shop for souveniers!
As the band is coming down the road, they are surrounded by their troop dancers dressed in a variety of "costumes". We had a good time watching the parade. However, they walked SO slow. By the time they got to were we were it was around 3 pm (the parade started at 10 am and the route was only 4 miles). After watching about the first 8 troops perform, we decided to leave beacuse they all started sounding and looking the same!
No comments:
Post a Comment