you're listening to nutmeg nation with carlene humphrey . We are back and we're talking about spice mass . You know one of grenada's very popular events . It's a tourist attraction . I hope you already bought your ticket because if you haven't , it's going to be super expensive , like we're talking like 2000 .
I was looking up ticket prices carry onan and it's it's , it's high , it's way up there .
Listen , it's always expensive to travel to Grenada , but if you're doing it during something like Spice Mass , then yeah , it's going to be more .
Yeah , so we were talking about , like the history of Spice Mass . Yeah , but it looks like yeah , no , I think . I think we may have flubbed a little bit on the history .
Yeah , no , I think I think we may have flubbed a little bit on the history . So , from what I remember reading , spice Mass was first held in Grenada in 1877 , almost 100 years after the first carnival event in Trinidad . So that's , I think , what we got wrong with the , with the time frame . But 1877 , that's , that's what that's when it was held .
OK , well , there we go . We have a historical moment there 1877 , that's when it was held . Ok , well , there we go . We have a historical moment there 1877 , that's a long time ago . And obviously , spice Mass has changed . They've added more events .
And you know , there's one thing that we need to talk about when we talk about Spice Mass and all the events leading up to the big parade is the music . It's all about the music , right ?
So for those people that don't know the difference , like calypso , soca , like you know a little bit about both , yeah , yeah , genres of music yeah , so calypso is more of the traditional sense .
Calypso is like a little bit similar to kaiso , which is from africa . I guess we can give an example , like the feeling hot , hot , hot , or like the cent price and ten cent dollar . That's , that's calypso , yeah , where it evolves along the way . Um , or another example , I guess like from ajamo in grenada , ajamo on the road . Again , my middle name is calypso .
Like songs like that , that's calypso . Okay , soca , soca is the more soca is , the more fast , fast , faster paced , more upbeat tempo music . You have like more modern iterations . I guess more popular names would probably be like basha montano , kes .
You know you've got bon tequila and then you've got other artists like that , inspecta and grenada as well , people like that . That's more calypso , sorry , soka , which is more upbeat , upbeat and faster .
Yeah , yeah whereas calypso is a little bit slower , like in terms of tempo right yeah , and calypso also like , if we go back to like the whole political aspect , calypso calypsonians , I should say tend to put more messages in their music , uh , more political messages and whatnot . It's always trying to teach you a lesson or something in their music right .
so , in terms of music , I find , like you know , every year there's like a hot song that leads up , that's leading the way to the parade , don't you find ? Like ?
I think , like even in Trinidad , there's always the winner of like the most popular , not only the popular band Like , there's always the winner with that , but also the very popular song that was played over and over again during Carnival . You know what I mean .
So yeah , you know what that's called .
No , why don't you tell me Roadm , road , march , right , right , I'm , I'm learning .
I'm learning my lingo here , I'm brushing up . You know , road march songs are usually the ones that get the crowd moving the most , so that's why it's sort of judges like as the crowd mover .
That's why that's what road march and what other things do you think that you should know if you're going to a carnival for the first time ?
Watch out for steel band orchestras . They're usually on trucks or people have them on the side of roads at different parties , or is this ? What's it called Panorama , which is like the competition for steel band bands ? I should say steel bands .
They have their competition as well , similar to like the Calypso monarch and like the sopa monarch stuff right there we go , which is , which is the competition for all of those different genres and stuff . Uh , what do you what ? What else do you have ? What else do you think it's people should okay ?
so there's . There's this . You know we were talking about the jab jab and how the jab jab is known for . You know their historical costume design when it comes to slavery . But there is also shortening . Did I say that , right , right ?
Shut me yes , shut me yes .
So they're one of the most iconic and recognizable , and they're also known for scaring people , like I think they're scary because they have the powder and they're walking around , you know , down the street and you'll see all kinds of colors , textures . You don't see their face because they're wearing a mask , and it's also in terms of tradition .
They're African and French and they've been around a long time , right ? I mean , I don't know the history , I don't know the historical significance there , but it's definitely something you can't miss when you're in carnival , right ?
yeah , yeah , that's one as well .
Yeah , absolutely so when you're going to carnival , what do you think you need before you head down to a parade like what's ? What kind of things should you bring with you when you're attending ? What are your must-haves ?
Maybe a pouch for your cell phone . So if it gets wet or anything like that , you know .
Yeah , yeah , okay , how about some water Stay hydrated ?
It's kind of hot , yeah Well , yeah Well .
Well , you got to have your water on the road with you , so yeah , Okay , I guess we could talk about both ways , because if you're a spectator it's one thing versus being a part of the parade , right Because ?
when you're a part of the parade .
They usually give you . You know they give you food , they give you water and stuff like that . But if you're just going to watch the parade or if you're doing a little cheap like Karen and doing , you know , juve morning , right , it's not cheap , I'm just razzing you there but it's a more affordable .
Right , it's not cheap , I'm just razzing you there , but it's a more affordable Right .
It's called maximizing your experience .
What I do is I go to all the parties beforehand , or as many as I can go to , and then do juvie and then just enjoy the mass watching it , right , ok , so what do you mean ? You go to as many parties as possible , because I know in Trinidad you guys are partying for a month . They don't party . I mean , they party a lot in grenada .
I think it's the week leading up to carnival . It's maybe like a two , almost a two-week celebration , but I don't know . Trinidad's pretty extensive in terms of how much they plan it in advance , right ?
well , turn that like turn out , starts partying as soon as boxy day hits , up until carnival . So that's , that's . That's how it works in trinidad . So you get a lot more parties and everything is a party .
So yeah , yeah , what do you think of the costumes , though ? I think , like some of the costumes , like you know , it really is all about the colors and the feathers and the design , but some of the costumes are a little bit revealing . You know what I mean . Like why do you think ? Like it's so out there , like it's kind of like .
You know , depending on what kind of costume you get , there's some that I I don't know I think you take artistic interpretation to a level and then you know you say this is how I want to be , so I want to be free . Some people like the more revealing ones and others don't . Because there are variations of them . Right , you can get different levels of them .
You can get like a full bathing suit , you can get a bikini top , you can get like a wire bra or something like that , you know . So there are variations of the costumes . So it's whatever people want to buy . They have the choice .
Yeah , you know what ? There's one more thing that I think we have to talk about when we talk about carn , you know what ? Do you call it ?
Snow cone , oh snow cone yes yeah , you know , especially during carnival time , you're hot and then you get a nice little snow cone , you know , while you're attending the event and I don't know , what do you like to eat during carnival ?
Not anything in particular . It depends on , I guess , which country Both Grenada and Trinidad . Snow cone's a must . Yeah , when I'm yeah , what I mean when I'm internet in general , it's usually all about like any kind of food , basically , because the foods are so flavorful . You've got doubles roti , bacon shark , bacon shark .
Yeah , there's also all these different flavors of ice cream , that like guinness ice cream . There's now like doubles ice cream . There's a whole bunch of other stuff that's there . Double have you ever tried . Um what ? Yeah , exactly exactly . Have you ever tried Jack Daniel's Snoqual ?
No , I haven't See there you go . There you go .
They got all kinds of stuff down there . So yeah , I wouldn't even like when I just go , I just have food in general .
Yeah , no , it is about the food too , right , you know , even like when I'm in Grenada , I don't really like rum and raisin , but when I'm down there , like a good rum and raisin ice cream is really good , and I don't know , I like KFC better . In Grenada they add a little bit more spice to it . You know what I mean ?
And I don't know , people are always waiting in line for KFC . I don't understand it , but it's one of those things . It's not just about the KFC , it's about the authentic food , like you were saying .
And for me , when I went to trinidad , I was only there for a day and when I did go , like we did go to a restaurant and we had roti and I'm I don't know if I'm kind of afraid to say this , because I'm from the island , but I don't really like mango that much , but I got to give it to the trinidadians because they put mango in the roti and it
tasted amazing , it was so good .
You should try it with pumpkin too .
Yeah , Okay , yeah , for sure Next time . And you know how you're saying . You don't notice much of a difference . So I stayed longer in Tobago and I find that Tobago reminds me of Grenada because of the one beach that I went to . Yeah , yeah , a lot of nicer beaches I find in Tobago than Trinidad went to .
Yeah , yeah , a lot of nicer beaches I find in tobago than trinidad .
But to each his own . Everybody has a difference of opinion , right ? No , yeah , no for sure , tobago has way nicer beaches than trinidad especially . You get that like that white sandy sort of beach style in in tobago . You don't get that in trinidad real , because I'll depend on which beach you go to .
But yeah , you get , you probably get that more las cuevas or something like that in trinidad , but like Tobago is known to be like the touristy side and Trinidad is more the industrial sort of side too , yeah , whereas Grenada you get nice beaches basically on any one of them , right , any part of the island , I should say Right .
Yeah , well , you know , if we're , since we're adding one more thing to this Grenada has is a three island state , so it's Grenada , caracoo and Petit Martinique , for those of you that don't know , and all the islands are beautiful , from what I've heard . Mind you , I haven't been to Caracoo , have you ? Nope , I have not Okay .
So that's on your list of places to check out . So tell me , out of all the things to do in Grenada , what is one of the things that you must do when you're visiting ? Say you're going this year for a carnival , where would you head to first ? Like you're getting off the plane , you land at the airport , where are you going to first ?
I just go visit family . Family is my main attraction in Grenada Family , you know . But if I were to visit a particular , I guess , place , I would say that's a good question . I don't really have a specific place .
I'll say that okay , okay , yeah yeah , because I don't have a .
Yeah , I don't have like a go-to spot , maybe just any beach , because I just love going to the beaches so just any beach , yeah but you don't have a particular beach that you like , like well , granddad's beach is the one that's basically most talked about , so I guess I can stick with that one .
Well , I'm I'm biased in my opinion because I like Grand Anse Beach because it's close to where my grandmother lives , so , but there's a few other beaches I haven't checked out , to be honest , and I feel like I have to see the other beaches .
Like , obviously , I've been to Bathway Beach in the country , but I haven't been to Magazine Beach , and there's a few others that are nice as well . But yes , like you said , the tourist attraction is Grand Isle Beach . It's right close to the water , beautiful views , lots of resorts there and the sand is absolutely gorgeous , right ?
So I mean , can't go wrong with Grand Isle Beach at the end of the day . So well , I think we touched on it . A little history on Spice Mass . So if you're going to Carnival this year , I hope you have fun and enjoy the festivities we're counting down .
But I think it's important to know the history of Carnival because it's come a long way from what it was originally . There's more events now and I think it's good to check out what's going on before you buy tickets , or if you already bought the tickets , you know what I mean .
It's always good to know in advance before you head out for the festivities , right ? And like you said , and you also mentioned carrying a pouch for your cell phone . It's handy right .
Yeah , so that way it doesn't get wet yeah .
All right Sounds good . I'm Carlene and this is Nutmeg Nation . I'm with my co-host tonight , keron , and I hope 2024 is a great year for you and take care . Thank you for listening to Nutmeg Nation with Carlene Humphrey .