We tried to start our evening around 10PM at Village Cafe. They had advertised a reggae event starting at 11PM, but very few people were there. Except for a few scantily clad women in short short shorts (that's right, not short shorts, but short short shorts!) They looked a little out of place, like they were slumming from a dancehall.
We decided to go to Acropolis for a drink. Acropolis is a gambling club (slot machines, etc.) on the Loshusan supermarket site. Acropolis is bright and elegant (at least until you get into the slot machines). There is lots of highly polished marble on the way in. Drinks were OK, but our hearts weren't in it. So off we went back to the Village Cafe to meet Paul. Still nothing happening. Danny decided we should go to Mas Camp and we were off. Mas' Camp is short for Mask Camp, the place where masquerades are prepared for Carnival.
Mas Camp is held in a huge lot right next to New Kingston. Cars are parked everywhere for blocks and blocks (in the road, up on curbs, in parking lots, and elsewhere). It's really hard to park. We walked a few blocks to get to the gates, where we paid to get in. Meanwhile we heard the music pumping. This is Soca (soul and calypso), the music of the spring carnival season. Mas Camp is held every Friday until Easter, when it gives way to the formal Jamaican Carnival.
In we walked, only to be greeted by a homely older woman in a guard service uniform. She patted down the men (quite intimately in my opinion), and ignored the women. Most of them couldn't have hidden anything if their lives depended on it, given their skin-tight clothing. The uniform of the day for women was shorts and fairly abbreviated and open tops. T&A galore!
The crowd was mixed in a lot of ways, old and young, black, brown, and white, scantily clad and normal dress. The site is half football stadium-sized, with booths all around the edges, selling food, drink, souvenirs, and anything else you needed. In the middle was a stage where women in really short skirts and bikini tops were dancing up a storm. There was also a big stage for the DJ who kept things pumping. And Soca really pumps! There is a hard bass thump all through the music, played loud and clear. On one side were the Appleton rum girls, a set of girls in tight tight short short shorts and a tight top. Several were dancing on top of a bar, brandishing bottles of rum and pouring for the drunks. Apparently you pay about J$700 (about $10 US) for a plastic mug and drink all night for free. The girls could dance. One was incredibly hot, shorts so tight I told Danny a picture should be in the dictionary for punani. A lot of people were gathered around just watching her dance and taking pictures.
The crowd was really dense in the middle, around the center stage, but thinned out enough near the edges to pass through. With the music pumping there was a lot of dancing going on. This is dance that reminds you of procreation! The women are doing the "dutty wine", bottoms gyrating and pushing back into their men's crotches. The men are jumping, too, with big, dreamy smiles on their faces as they rub up against the girls' bottoms. E thought they should all go get a room, but this is just the Caribbean!
We got some drinks and some jerk and fries to eat and wandered the edges of the crowd. There is always something to see, with people milling around and getting jiggy "wid it". The girls all look good, even if they aren't good-looking, if you know what I mean. They are done up to the nines and enjoying themselves.
At one point we saw Ribby, owner of the Quad nightclub. Danny saw a lot of people he knew in addition to Ribby. We saw some cheerleader-looking women; not sure what they represented. Then we saw a lot of flags going through the crowd and handkerchiefs flying to the beat.
As we got into the middle of the crowd, a couple of older women were wiggling together. One reached out and pulled E's hair lightly as she went by. Then, as I passed, she roughed up what's left of my hair. I turned and waved to her; then all hell broke loose. She grabbed me up along with her partner and proceeded to dance "pon mi". I had a handful of two big-legged ladies, one of which brought up her leg and wrapped it around me. Yipes, audience participation... I obliged and danced a little while E and Danny grinned and watched.
After a bit more we had enough and went home. Another 2AM Kingston morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment