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this is more of a cultural observation......why do people in the Virgin Islands seldom paint themselves for jouvert? I can never find someone with mud, powder, paint or water or anything. in my opinion what makes jouvert so fun is getting down and dirty.......so why is that??
curious
Me no know.
I always thought that the idea of Jouvert was: You are home sleeping and revelers come by, wake you up and encourage you to come join the tramp. You do see lots of people in nightwear- of all sorts! 😮
Maybe it's because the carnival parade is when they paint their bodies and wear costumes. Most people want to save their new costumes for the parade judges, I think.
In Trinidad for J'ouvert participants use paint, mud, powder to cover their face and bodies, and other stuff too - remember reading chocolate was being used also. Some people get really into it, covered head to foot. I've heard that if you are just standing on the sides and not 'dirty' you can expect someone to come over and give you a big hug and share their paint/mud.
curious - your observation is right, it's not really part of the J'ouvert tradition in the USVI. I always thought it was just done in Trinidad. Do you know if it is done on other islands that have J'ouvert, like St. Kitts, St. Martin and so on?
--Islander
HEY ISLANDER!
Well that is definatley the reason i asked because i know in allllll the eastern caribbean islands they really get into the jouvert spirit and get all dirty. I mean even Tola Jouvert they be getting covered with powder and water, but as for St.Kitts? Im sure they do get dirty for jouvet too. I would have to look into that.
Thank you all for the posts!
Curious
It's just not in our culture. You seldom find St. Tomians or Virgin Islanders for that matter wanting to get dirty like that during J'ouvert. The dirtiest would be people spraying beer/alcohol/liquior everywhere. It's mostly about dancing and following yor band.
