My Trip Back Home

In July of 2018, I got some great news – I WAS GOING HOME TO ANTIGUA!!

For 2 weeks. For carnival.

Now, don’t question it. Just go with it.

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As it was extremely last minute, I told no one except the key players in the game (aka my usual trouble maker mother and a handful of other family members). This made it all the more fun so that I could surprise everyone!

Now, for those that don’t know me, I am a carnival baby in every sense of the phrase.

It’s truly me and I love every moment of it.
(Also, if we count back 9 months from my birthday ,
it adds up to around carnival time in Antigua as well – hehe).

Carnival, is the epitome of my Caribbean culture and essence.
Soca, the main musical genre of this festival, is what feeds my soul throughout the year when carnival is not in action.

[FYI, this is where if you’re unsure about what ‘carnival’ is you take a quick break and google Caribbean carnival to get a better idea of what I’m talking about]

The highlight of this week and a half of festivities are two public holidays where parade and revelry take over and the people of the island have a great time on the road (literally) in their beautiful costumes and ‘jam’ to the music we all know and love – soca soca soca. (And there’s alcohol. Lots of it. ‘Cause, that’s just the way it is 🤷🏽‍♀️).

I have played mas (put on the costume and jam on the road in the parade) since I was about 7 years old and haven’t missed a year since.

It has taken a combined effort (it takes a village people!) to make this ‘feat’ happen with my galavanting, but some how, every year I find myself on da road and I’m forever grateful each time.

This year, being in New Zealand didn’t stop me.

With less than two weeks to plan, I made arrangements to put my life in NZ on hold (confirm that I’d be gone from work – part time jobs are the best for this, notify all my friends in NZ of my absence, arrange layover details etc) so that I may return home and surprise everyone (family & friends) and join in the festivities of carnival – this epic event that is shared throughout the Caribbean and defines a huge part our identity.

The excitement of it all started from da time I boarded my first plane in Auckland (I saw someone from St Lucia I knew from NZ on the plane!) and it didn’t end till I reached back in my bed on this side of the world two and a half weeks later.

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I landed in da heat of carnival (literally) with costumes, music, sun and drinks to start my trip off straight from da plane. My experience was nothing short of fantastic and RAM packed with events. To see everyone whom I loved dearly and all their faces when they were ‘surprised’ to see me was absolutely priceless.

And lemme tell you, to jam in da middle of da road, with a drink in ya hand and the warm sun shining on your beautiful feathers and jewels; to have your friends right beside you and not a care in the world (at that moment) when the DJ plays your favourite song(s) as you all jam to da beat; to have your heart filled with the joy the music brings and the atmosphere the festival creates – is magic. Is a vybeeeee. It’s bliss.

It’s an experience – an experience like no other.

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My two weeks home however was also packed with so many other activities and events. Not only was I at PLENTY of da fetes (parties for carnival) they had that year, but I also did/attended the following while on island:

• 1 wedding
• 1 funeral
• 1 birthday/anniversary party
• 1 birthday birthday party
• Had a surprise visit
• Had a house guest (My Vincey friend that I met in NZ) (but also there were two cousins staying with us so the house was ram packed)
• 3 boat cruises (in some way shape or form)

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I met ‘new’ family for the first time and saw old ones I hadn’t seen in a while. I ‘bounce up’ on new people, saw old friends, hung out with family, saw my granny and grandad😁, heard steel pan, saw the guy who sings split in the middle perform, was one of the last people to walk out of Breakfast Fete, got a photo on Trini jungle juice (breakfast fete girls), waved the Antigua flag on the hospital wall, swam in the ocean, got powder on me, slapped on a costume and danced to my heart’s content. I spent my last night at Spliff Bar with my mom, sister and cousins, had fish with my aunts and uncles, went liming at a bar with friends and finished the night off introducing some regional folk to the Antiguan ‘bread shop’ experience. I woke up and took one last dip in the beautiful ocean before showering and jumping on the plane and having a ‘United experience’ (click here for dat session) back across the ocean.

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When I tell you it was plenty, I MEAN it was plenty. But I wouldn’t change my experience for anything ❤️.

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A week later after my return to NZ, I was sick as a dog with my nose runnin like a pipe, but that was all good.

These photos and this write up are only a handful of sites and sounds from my trip back to Antigua.

My trip back home 🤗.