Carnival in the Dominican Republic

Carnival is thought to be a semantic derivative of 'carne vale' - a farewell to meat, heralding the traditional fasting of the Lenten period. República Dominicana was the first place in the Americas to observe the pre-Lenten carnival custom. The celebrations became an escape of the pressures and rigidity of religious tradition. By the late 1700's carnival had become a major celebration. Then, when Dominican Republic won their independence February 27, 1844, the celebration evolved to encompass the Independence Day commemorations as well. Beginning the traditional carnival with the pre-Lenten celebrations, the climax concludes with the Independence Day observances. Combining both celebrations and making the entire month of February a celebration and time for enjoyment.

In The Dominican Republic, carnival is expressed differently throughout the different regions of the country. Each community adds its own particular flavor to the celebrations. However, most towns have a parade with groups of people dressed in the same colors or wearing the same costumes, some may be in floats, or they may wear masks and represent various allegorical characters.

In many of the towns, the tradition may include devils chasing spectators when they venture across their paths. The devils playfully tap celebrants with their traditional vejigas. The local version of the ever present anthropomorphic devil, is El Diablo Cojuelo. It has been suggested this character might be a referent stemming from Spanish literature, specifically from the novel, "Don Quijote" by Miguel de Cervantes, where a character appears described as a devil dressed in a costume with mirrors and bells and who carries an inflated animal bladder (the vejigas) as his weapon.

Now ordinarily I wouldn't take kindly to strangers smacking me, but today it's Carnival and we are standing in the streets of La Vega, getting in the spirit. And in this small Dominican town nestled in the Cibao valley, the Carnival spirit is definitely different.

The town divides into punishers and sinners. The punishers are those who parade, attired in endless variations of brilliant homemade devil costumes, and who arbitrarily spank unsuspecting sinners. The sinners are us --- the spectators who line the parade route and scream with nervous laughter. So I'm standing, tourist-curious in the crowd while loudspeakers blast jumpy merengue music. The parade boasts a seemingly endless supply of devils who march down the street in both directions at once and who unexpectedly dart out of line to mete out justice. Devils in gaudy red costumes lined with jingle bells, feather-lined purple pantsuits, satanic black robes, devils draped with tin cans, snakes, fake human heads. All the devils wear huge papier mache masks that sport real animal teeth and have wide leering mouths, bovine nostrils and horns that jut out from the forehead curiously making all these devils look like cows.

The vejigas are a balloon type weapon dangling at the end of a strap, toted by these wicked creatures. These balls are traditionally made of either cow or pig bladders and filled with air. They are also sometimes made of rubber these days. It is said that getting hit brings good luck.

I may be just another jaded Americano, but I think it is luckier if you can avoid being hit!

Tom

Turks and Caicos and traveling at night

We had two long passages requiring us to be underway for some or all of the night and we are getting more comfortable moving at night. We have been traveling in company with Bay Pelican and I’m finding my electronics very helpful at night. An ARPA feature on my radar allows me to lock on to a target and see his speed, direction he is steering and our Closest Point of Approach (CPA). This was helpful as we were leaving Mayaguana and Marty lost his GPS as he was negotiating his escape from the coral reefs in pitch blackness. Since I had already followed the GPS breadcrumb trail out into safe and deep water, I was able to watch his movement and see which way he was steering. I jumped in a couple of times to provide some directional guidance and I’m sure it was appreciated.

Another electronic toy is my Class B Automatic Identification System (AIS). This device lets all the big ships and other boats with AIS see my boats name, speed, current course and other data. It also allows me to see the same data for all the cargo and cruise ships that are required by law to have AIS. When I see a large boat coming too near me, I can call them by name and confirm how we are going avoid each other. They are much more likely to answer me since I am very specifically calling them. I am quick to give way to these behemoths that travel at much higher speeds regardless of who has the “right of way”. I will say something like

“ I am the trawler off your Port bow at 3.42 miles and we will cross within 1 mile at our current courses and speeds. I will alter my course 20 degrees to starboard to pass behind you. Please acknowledge. Over”.

We are finding Provo to be enjoyable although quite desolate. We anchored in Sapodilla Bay for a few nights and when the wind shifted and made this spot rolly, we moved into Cooper Jack Marina. I use the term Marina very loosely. Apparently, a group of investors spent about $30 Million and dredged out a deep basin with a narrow entrance channel. They lined it with concrete bulkhead and then ran out of money. Here we tied up for free and enjoyed completely calm conditions where Emily could hop off the boat and run around. A nearby functional marina invited us and the 5 boats that shared Cooper Jack over to share a barbeque with them. We brought our own meats and a dish to share and they provided grills, plates, ice, utensils, tables and chairs and even ice cream for desert. Since the marina was almost a mile away, we were a little concerned about the return dingy ride at night. Not to worry as they came over and picked up the 10 of us in their pick-up truck. Kim and Emily rode in the cab, as Dad and 7 other cruisers sat on bags of mulch in the open bed of the truck. Rushing over the potholed roads at breakneck speeds, I had to smile that I never had envisioned this mode of travel for this 51 year old body! It all worked out fine and everyone had a great time. One of the locals had just caught several black fin tuna and he shared the best sushi we had ever had with the entire group. The only thing that could have made it more enjoyable would have been some kids for Emily to play with. She stood her own as several of the cruisers befriended her, but she was ready to leave when the flat bed limousine brought us back to our home.

We took advantage of the calm spot as Kim did some varnish work and I replaced a banged up prop on the dingy with a spare I had brought along. Both projects went well and we will be moving to South Caicos tomorrow to clear out of this island and to stage our departure to the Dominican Republic.

Tom

Georgetown, The Exumas

Georgetown is the end of the road for many cruisers. It is a nice protected harbor and we shared it with more than 200 other boats. Every morning at 8:00, the VHF radio comes alive with the morning weather report, business announcements and specials, community announcements and then boaters swap to fix broken stuff or get rid of unused spares. There was yoga on Sand Dollar beach at 9:30 AM, lap swimming at 10:00 at Honeymoon beach, volleyball everyday on…you guessed it…Volleyball beach. Pig roasts were held every Sunday, Texas hold’em poker and bridge games, basket weaving, Turks head bracelet making and more. We met several cruisers that came for a week or so and have stayed for 15 years!

We enjoyed much of what was offered for 10 days while we waiting for the 20 knots of wind to ease up for our next move. Kim started weaving a basket, but after learning how long it may take, it may stop as a hot plate. Emily had a fellow cruiser aboard Barbara make her a horn out of a Conch shell. Many of the cruisers herald the sunset by blowing a mournful sound on these timeless instruments or firing off a cannon shot. We have now joined that rowdy bunch as Emily lets out a bellow each day as the sun sinks below the horizon. We attended “Beach Church” each Sunday morning and Emily sang and performed in the Children’s Choir in front of more than a hundred attendees.

We had our first test of our medical skills one day on the beach as Emily learned about gravity and the pendulum motion of a wooden swing as it contacted her forehead. A small gash opened up and provided copious amounts of blood and excitement on the beach. Daddy stopped the bleeding with a leftover Conch salad napkin and we launched the dingy and were back on the Hospital Ship Emily Grace in 5 minutes. Daddy provided some comfort assuring Emily that she most likely would survive while Mom injected novicaine from our medical kit and proceeded to put in a single stitch to close the wound. After liberal applications of antibacterial juice and some cleanup, we were back on the beach in an hour. I’m happy to report that it’s healing well and the small wound is hardly noticeable up near her hairline.

We enjoyed meeting several new friends that were heading to Trinidad that we are sure to see time and again as we island hop south. Lois and John aboard Topaz had just finished their global circumnavigation and were interesting to talk with. We particularly enjoyed spending more time with Corey and Linda aboard Livewire II that we have known for several years. They have now been cruising out of Connecticut for over 5 years and have been generous with their knowledge as we were starting out. Linda baked two pizzas aboard Livewire II for our farewell dinner and they were devoured by both crews.

We were not alone in waiting for the wind to die down and move East and South. We left in the dark and motored through calm seas past Long Island to Rum Cay and were soon joined by Georgetown friends on Bay Pelican, a Krogen 42 trawler. Marty and Deb are cruising with their Cockatiel “Mugsy” and we shared Deb’s first overnighter as we traveled with them from Rum Cay to Mayaguana Island. This is the southern-most island in the Bahamas and tomorrow we will both scoot further south to the Turks and Caicos Island…and into a new country. Kim and Emily have already made the new British Ensign that we will need to fly there.

Stay tuned, Dear readers. We will continue to post as we find spotty internet connections among the islands. We have no idea what further adventures await us there.

Tom