My first time playing mas. I am an overseas masquerader. I played with Island People in the M51 section.
Overall Grade: A++++++++++++++
Registration: B+
I registered on line. Pretty straight forward. However, after I registered I was informed that the tankini that I registered for was not available for the section I registered. And the size belt that I registered for was also not available. So I said no big deal I will take the bra and the smaller size belt. But those options should not have been there in the first place if it was not available. Any questions or concerns that I had I emailed the mas camp and got very timely responses to my inquires.
Collection: A
I went to collect my costume on Friday morning. I thought the process flowed pretty nicely, I didn’t feel as if I waited too long, even though I was there for over an hour. I did not do fast track. The attendant went thru a checklist, gave me my goody bag and Monday wear, which I exchanged for a different size.
Monday Wear: C
Up until my flight to go to Trinidad I was constantly checking FB to find out what IP’s Monday wear was going to be. They told us it was going to be silver gray all in one, which we would be able to accessorize with our sections color. When I collected my costume only to my disappointment to find out that it’s a black dress with green writing. I had purchased pink accessories that no longer would look right. But I made things work with what I had because I was unable to go shopping or have anyone alter the dress for me.
Costume: A-
With only the pictures to look at from online for my costume, I must say my costumed looked just like the pictures. It was a beautiful bright pink, one of the brightest in IP. My costume turned out to be too big for me but with some tweaking it worked. I ordered according to my measurements and the charts they provided online. But overall my costume was beautiful, just as advertised and perhaps I was a little too conservative when ordering my size. I just remembered that sizes in Trinidad tend to run small. The diamond detailing on the belt shredded mines and everyone else’s tights. Some girls chose to pull off the diamond strands and just leave the bead strands. But, from my understanding that is typical with that type of detailing, so no biggie. Also, I received bracelets and earrings with my costume which I wasnt expecting because it was not in the picture, so it was a nice surprise even though they turned my hands green.
Monday: A-
My only complaint about Monday was lunch, it was completely unorganized and chaotic, but I did get lunch. I was impressed in how nice and uniformed the trucks looked. How organized the staff looked. Drinks were plentiful and easy to get. Snack truck had plenty of tasty snacks all day. The bathrooms wowed me. I was expecting port potties lined up on a truck to find a mobile RV of bathrooms with running water, mirror and bathroom attendant. The cool down truck looked fab, even though I didn’t use it. There was too much vibes on the road to want to sit. The band started lining up and pulling off at 10 like they said. Machel and two of his dancers was playing mas with us. Monday was great.
Tuesday: A+
Tuesday was just full of fun and vibes. The waits at various points and the wait to go on the stage didn’t bother me at all. Everyone was just partying and having a good time. Lunch was better organized; I had no problem getting lunch. Towards the end of the day the drink trucks in the back was running out of stuff but it wasn’t a big deal I just walked up to the trucks in the front and they had what I wanted. Again, Machel and two of his dancers was on the road with us. Machel surprised us and perfomed on the last truck that was crossing the stage which happened to be the truck I was crossing with. He just hyped everyone up so crossing the stage was so much fun.
Overall, I had a great time playing mas with Island People, the truly impressed me. Any mishaps turned out to minimal compared to the vibes and road experience. Fellow masqueraders where beautiful and friendly which made a nice environment to be in. I had a great time with them and I’m looking forward to playing with them again next year, god willing.
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