Mardi Gras

Nic and I returned last night from our adventure at Mardi Gras. The holiday of Carnivale has long been one that I've thought about, imagined, and even dreamed about. I've had dreams that I was traveling to New Orleans by bus for the purpose of preserving giant ant statues that had been built all over the city; I've had nightmares about bodies escaping from their above-ground tombs and floating at my feet. And what can I say? The drive to the city of New Orleans was creepy as can be. Our drive was lined with swamps. Trees covered in moss growing from capsized boats and flooded homes, long abandoned, decorated the skylines. Big black birds perching against a background of grays glared at us as we sped by. It was a trip!
Nic and I were in New Orleans for Monday and Fat Tuesday. The first day we accidentally stumbled upon a parade, where we collected beads that were tossed at us. I got pegged in the head by a bag of red and silver beads. The parade was zodiac themed, with huge floats of all of the zodiac signs plus a couple of pagan gods. These detailed floats looked like hours upon hours of work had been poured into them, not to mention hundreds upon hundreds of dollars. They were gorgeous, grotesque, colorful and surreal animals, gods, goddesses, and figurines that towered over our heads.
On Fat Tuesday, we awoke early to discover that even as early as 8:30 A.M., people in the hostel were buying vodka shots and mixed drinks to go with their breakfasts. People streamed into the streets fully decked out in incredible costumes. It was like halloween plus voodoo plus tribal drunken hullabaloo. My favorite was a Gumby costume. I talked to the guy about the costume, and he had been working on it for four months. The costume was made of a soft, pliable painted foam that was not only huggable and flexible, but maintained flare legs and raised facial features even when Gumby posed in grotesque, frightening, or adorable poses. Entire families dressed up, and people, regardless of age or gender, acted extreme together. The cutest family that I saw was all four seasons plus Ewok. That is, Father Winter (husband, decked out in white robes and snowflakes), Autumn (wife, autumn leaves), Summer (Grandma, huge colorful flower hat and skirt), Spring (baby girl, daisies, too impatient to wear the hat), and a tiny baby Ewok in the stroller (fuzzy, small, lovable). I saw two parades. One was the Zulu parade, featuring large, clown-like African American figurines that smoked cigars and drank Crown Royal, and the other was a random trucker parade. Literally, decorated trailers attached to 18-wheelers were driven around and people screamed, yelled, and caught fun exciting toys, jewelry, and (!) underwear. The Zulu parade was gorgeous and fun.
The Zulu parade was hosted by a group known as the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, which is a Carnival Krewe that was founded in the early 1900s. The origins are in the working-class African American group known as The Tramps. The group is the largest African American group that puts on parades, and it prides itself in benevolent aide and social assistance. The group takes care of it's members in various ways, ranging from financial aide to sick care, and pulls its resources from dues paid by members of the Zulu Krewe. The group known as the Zulus decided to satirize the stereotyping of blacks by mocking the caucausian Rex parade and caucausian minstrel show makeup (i.e. blackface, tribal associations) that dominated the 1910s and 1920s.The Zulu floats featured African Americans in exaggerated blackface, clownwear, grass-skirts, and donning spears and stuffed tigers, alongside steppers, hip-hop dancers, and brass-instrument bands.I'd never seen anything like it. These folks were incredible at putting on shows. Here is a brief but informative article about the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club. BTW, Nic and I got a coconut.
In spite of the three amazing parades, the highlight of the Mardi Gras experience was, by far, the costumes. There was Bert (From Sesame Street), Beaker (from the Muppet Show), a Storm Trouper, Candy Hearts (Lick Me and Eat Me), a season family, Boxed Wine, Beetlejuice, Gene Simmons, Grim Fandango...etc etc etc. I was fully amazed at the creativity of all of these folks. Here are some photos. Me and two childhood superheroes.



Well, that's it for now. Have a great day, everyone!