parade preparation

My father asked me this afternoon if I'm planning to blog about Carnival this year. For those of you who don't live within a few blocks of where I do, you may not be aware of the West Indian American Day Parade, which occurs on our street annually on Labor Day.

Last year I was pretty psyched about it. This year I really wish I didn't have to deal with it. Part of this is because I have to rise very early on Tuesday to go to Cape Cod, and I have a lot of work to do before I leave. Part of this is because Christopher is still pretty wary of crowds, and so I know that we'll be spending tomorrow indoors. And the biggest part is I think I don't want to deal with the noise.

Last year, you may remember, we were kept awake by the steel bands playing on their way to J'Ouvert, a dance party-parade which starts at 2am the night before the parade at Grand Army Plaza. We're anticipating another night like that tonight, and I've bought us some ear plugs, which will hopefully help us sleep. Tomorrow we may still be wearing them, as the semi trucks with 12'+ high speakers blast their way down the parade route and past our apartment building.One more thing: I think it's really weird that white people don't know about this parade, which draws over a million people annually. Of course, it's really geared towards the Caribbean community. But it's also a weekend-long event that celebrates a vibrant culture, and there is delicious food and great music to boot. Is it that the organizers don't want to integrate it? or is it that the white folks don't want to mix?