Monday, February 27, 2006

Carnival Monday

So today is Carnival Monday, a national holiday so people can recover from the excesses of the weekend. Remember the movie, Bedazzled, where Eliot first visits the club dV8. He thinks it represents exactly what he wants. Then towards the end of the movie, a somewhat wiser Eliot visits the club again, and we get an entirely different perspective on things.

Colorful floats and shiny costumes don't do much for me any more, 'cause I've seen too much permanent fallout from this relatively short lived annual escape from common sense and responsibility. I can still visualize seeing a Bonairian friend sneaking off with a woman, not-his-wife, something he would never have done under normal circumstances

Unfortunately, this year was no exception. As much as I hate to miss a day of cycling here on Bonaire, I never ride during Carnival season. I've witnessed enough craziness over the years to realize that it's just not safe to be out on the road, "protected" only by a thin layer of spandex and a Styrofoam helmet. The fresh set of skid marks we saw yesterday heading straight off the road at the corner by the Hilltop Hotel only served to reinforce that notion.

I'm also saddened to report that our good friend Amado Felix's aunt was killed instantly Saturday, right by Cultimara, when she was hit by a youth on a speeding motorcycle. Then that night, another friend, Wai Man Chan, had his restaurant, China Nobo, trashed by a crazed man on a rampage.

So I think my cynical attitude is here to stay and I probably won't be posting any colorful Carnival photos, ever.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Brad,

Intersting post about Carnivale. I just returned yesterday from our annual vacation on Bonaire - we were there from Sun to Sun. We've typically come down over Carnivale weekend (not for the Carnivale; it just seems to fall during our trip), and we think next year we'll come down later.

Not having any fresh milk, lettuce, etc. for a few days because the dock crews had the Carnivale flu, closed markets, etc. just makes another week a bit easier.

Had no idea about the death or China Nobo. Nobo's one of our favorites on the island; we carried out Thursday night and everything seemed back to normal.