As I sit here, in my cold rented apartment, staring out the window at the falling leaves and grey fall sky, I think back to warmer times. It seems like just yesterday it was still summer, and everyone could wear shorts. Sure, fall has its charms, but summer is definitely the more active season here when it comes to fun activities outdoors. There are some people going out to swim right now, but I'd rather not talk about them.
One of these fun summer activities I think about from my almost frost-like desk is the summer festival and or carnival we went to back in Rotterdam. This is one of the bigger cities in the Netherlands, and rather infamous for not being the safest of all the cities. After visiting, we realized that this feeling was relative, depending on where you're from and basically where you grew up, since the vibe felt similar to our home country in some cases, but not in others.
But that's not what we were there for, so back to the carnival story. We went to it, not knowing what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised. The Caribbean presence was loud and clear in the Dutch harbor city of Rotterdam, from Curacao to Suriname, and everything in between. Even the not-technically Caribbean, but still colorful, African and South-American groups brought flair to the main parade. It was also nice to see ethnically Dutch participants mixed into everything, which says a lot about the unity of the people of the city. This was definitely not about skin color, but simply about honoring cultural heritage.
From the few pictures I took with my phone, I noticed that many of the participants where excited to pose for any camera they saw, whether it was asked or not. This also gave plenty of opportunity for people, mostly kids, to quickly hop into the parade to take a picture with someone they liked.
Of course, being the city it was, we also witnessed a fight or two, but those were all resolved in a civil manner. At least, the ones we witnessed. That didn't stop anyone from enjoying the day. Neither did the little bit of rain for about 30 minutes. And neither did the new rules from the organization. The organization had stated that this year they wanted people to "behave" during the parade in terms of clothing that they wore and the way that they danced. That no body parts would be "bubbling" too much.
Well, that request went as well as you thought it would, with a few groups deliberately poking fun at the rule, not bothered by any deduction in points or fines they might receive, as you can see in the picture below.
The sign very loosely translated from Dutch and Surinamese to:
"Go tell your f-ing mother to not bubble."
The Suriname in this sentence was coincidentally the bad word. xD
Since we haven't been to Carnivals like the ones in Trinidad and Tobago or Curacao, this was the first taste for us of the massive wild vibes these festivals have, and we enjoyed it thoroughly, watching the whole parade pass by from beginning to end, with or without rain, dancing along to the beats.
And its safe to say that we'll be back next year.
But for now... back to the cold reality of Fall.
