Sunday, 7 August 2011

Grand Kadooment

Crop over is there
Official presentation:

If you have never experienced Grand Kadooment Day, then you've been missing out on one of life's great treasures. A
summer street carnival, filled with people consumed with "festival fever", dancing to Caribbean soca music and wearing spectacular, multicolored costumes and body paint. It's the climax of the Crop Over festival - "sweet fuh days" - in Barbados.

Colour, culture and heritage (tuk bands, land ship, stilt-walkers), music (calypso, tuk, ring bang and steelpan), alcohol (locally brewed beer and rum) along with energy, friendly spirited people and fantastic summer weather, are all combined to create the Caribbean's ultimate festival -"more than a carnival, sweet fuh days".

This will probably be surprising but I don't have much to say about it.
The text above explains.
For my personal feeling, since I didn't jump in a band the experience was nothing like the craziness you can think of.
Plus my sister left the day before and that had me very sad, I hadn't seen her for a year and I don't know when I will see her again.


I just stood up on a side and watched the bands passing, taking pictures like a cold visitor.
I was alone with Shawn, not a group of friends, not fun.
Some excited girls came to me trying to get me wukking up.



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Free drinks from the trucks for the Jumpers
Les boissons sont gratuites depuis les camions, pour les gens qui "jumpent"
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Family, watching the bands
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Rihanna
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The whole world's press commented on Rihanna's wild behavior at the Carnival.
To me she just acted the same way as all the Crop Over participants, nothing more.
But the European and American journalists don't know that, they used the pictures out of the context. I'm not the biggest Rihanna fan but on that I can only defend her.
La press du monde entier a commenté le comportement vulgaire de Rihanna au Carnaval.
Pour moi elle a juste fait la meme chose que tous les participants du Crop Over. Rien de plus. Je ne suis pas la plus grosse fan de Rihanna mais sur ça je ne peux que la défendre.


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People are super friendly. Bajans are naturally friendlier than most people I've encountered in my life, but with a few drinks "in the nose" we say in French on Kadooment day, they are like that:
Les gens sont super gentils. Les Barbadiens sont naturellement plus accueillant que la plus part des gens que j'ai rencontré dans ma vie, mais alors avec quelques rhum "dans le nez" le jour du Carnaval, ils sont comme ça:

 
Ils parlent à tout le monde, ils rient, s'amusent, te souhaite de t'amuser aussi.

 They talk to everybody, laugh, enjoy, wish you to have fun too.


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And the rain falls.... of Course !!!
Et la pluie tombe.. évidemment !
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But nothing can stop the fete

Mais rien n'arrete la fete

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Bon alors je dis "gentil bisounours" mais ça c'est d'un point de vue de touriste sur le coté, entre participants et entre Barbadiens tout court, tout tourne un peu autour de la danse, le wuk up. Je vous en ai deja parlé dans l'article sur le carnaval de UWI, pour moi ça reste une position sexuelle pratiquée en public et en musique, ça pollue tout le carnaval en lui donnant un aspect sexuel inadapté à la rue en plein jour. Enfin, encore une fois ce n'est que mon opinion d'Européenne.
Mais encourager son fils de
6 ans à attraper une fillette du meme age par les hanches et lui pousser le dos pour qu'elle se panche en avant, j'aimerais savoir qui, à part les adeptes de la pratique, cautionne ça... je dis ça, je dis rien.....


Well, I say  "friendly Care bears" but it's from a tourist on the side point of view.  Between participants and Barbadians, everything is kind of about the dance,  the wuk up. I told you already about that in the article on UWI Carnival. For me, it remains a sexual position practiced in public and in music, it pollutes all the carnival, giving it a sexual aspect that is inappropriate for the road at day. But again, this is just my European opinion.
But encouraging your 6 year old son to catch a little girl of the same age by the hips and push her back to have her bending over, I'd like to know WHO, except the people who practice that, supports it... Just saying.... 



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This gentleman was prepared to make a sale inspite of the weather

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The last band...
the wild, free, dangerous band....
No costumes, only excited people and an army for security.


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