Carnival

It's been sixteen years since my last Carnival on St. Thomas. I loved Carnival as a child, going up and down the street, following troupes I liked, walking past troupes I didn't. As I got older, though, Carnival started to sour. There was a lot of crime and animosity. "Kill the Rabbit" kind of ruined Carnival for me. I don't want to go into it, but anyone who was on St. Thomas in the mid-80's should know what I mean.

I'm not the biggest fan of crowds, or people for that matter, so I never made it a priority to come back for Carnival. Over the last few years, though, the more parades I've been to in the States, the more I appreciated what we have here. It's really a coincidence that I'm here for Carnival this year. I hadn't really planned on going to the parade, but my cousin Hans called this morning. I didn't know he was going to be on island, so it was a nice surprise. Anyway, I decided to go with my cousins and I'm glad I did. I ran into lots of people I know and it was entertaining as hell.

I love that there are no barriers, so it is really more like a moving party. I love that even the fattest women on the island get into skin-tight outfits with sequins and feathers and dance down all of Main Street. I love how people of all classes and nationalities can join together for a good fete. Carnival really unites us as a people in so many ways. I think if more Americans had the experience of wearing sparkly costumes and dancing down the street with a beer in their hands, they wouldn't be so uptight.

Things have changed since I was a child, everyone's telling me that Carnival was smaller this year, but I thought it was wonderful. I'm glad I brought my camera.