Honeymoon in a mas camp
Glitter, feathers and more
Carol Lotz-Felix
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I had only been married sixteen hours when a group of demanding women snatched my new husband away. Oh, yes, I admit they were wonderfully nice to me. They knew that to get him they had to take me too, and keep me busy so he would be able to finish their costumes.
You see, I had the nerve to get married to a carnival costume designer seven days before carnival. I arrived in the middle of the madness referred to as the mas camp' three days before the king and queen competition and six days before the parade. The place was not the kind of place a prim and proper, much less innocent young bride would want to spend her honeymoon. Thank heavens; none of those adjectives could be applied to me!
I exerted bridal privileges by commenting that the bed didn't have any sheets. Fortunately everyone did not ignore the wants of this prima-dona (indicates how desperately they needed my husband.) A brand new set of sheets and pillowcases were delivered by bedtime.
Half finished costumes were stacked in every corner, even hanging over the head of the bed. I awoke in the middle of the night to peer into the face of an 18-foot high rooster. Glitter and feathers covered absolutely everything. I can still find sparkly evidence of what clothing and items accompanied me to camp.
The atmosphere of a mas camp is difficult to describe; sort of a high stress production line in the middle of an adult summer camp. The costume designers are at the mercy of whoever walks through the door. with something to say or want. There are requests. suggestions, and plenty of haggling over the already agreed upon price of the work. Then there are materials not yet delivered, the weather and the unpredictable efforts of enthusiastic volunteer helpers.
I began understand that the personality of the costume designer is at least as important as his or her talent. He or she must be able to create incredibly intricate displays that fit, are suitable to the theme, cutting edge enough to out-dazzle the competition but not too far out of the cultural norm. And all this must be accomplished in an atmosphere of total chaos, with last minute material substitutions, engineering revisions and the normal outbursts that occur when no one has had enough sleep or eaten anything nutritious. (unless your food pyramid includes rum). This takes a truly special person.
Realizing I was wedded to one, I gained even greater respect for the man I married, and valued the rare opportunity to be an observer in the mas camp as an appropriate honeymoon experience.
Carol Lotz Felix lives in St.Thomas.
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