J’ouvert 2014 in NYC
Swiftly, Joan slides purposely through the crowded streets of Brooklyn with her notepad masking her face for protection and disguise. Joan hopes that danger doesn’t surface around her and wants to be unseen and able to escape unharmed if it does. Harmful people from New York have the tendency to kill any persons that may be eye witnesses. Her red pen marks decorates the page as her right hand energetically moves with persistence. She has little time to observe her surroundings without being left and/or harassed in this wild habitat. It is now 2:59 a.m. and Joan notices that the once half-dressed female primitives have protected themselves with raincoats and hats. The drunken men begin to pack their curb-side belongings up and cover their merchandise with huge black trash bags. When an instinct feeling of death drops over Joan she draws nervous and runs down one of the side streets where the road was fairly deserted. Joan sat in front of an unfamiliar home, while she contemplates what she will do. She needs to think thoroughly and hope she makes the right decision. Joan is deep in thought when she sees a group of men walking across the street. There is about five to six but there are only two of the men voices she will never forget. One doesn’t seem too enthusiastic about the tradition of paint, water, powder and tar being thrown on everyone around this time of the night. But the other man seems terrifyingly ecstatic about the idea of harming unarmed civilians that flood the main route. Joan’s body tenses up and she immediately feels nausea. At that moment, she knew she has fucked up by attending the event and she will definitely try to get home as soon as possible A person does not need to live in New York to know the harmful conflicts that can emerge when a bunch of previous and potential criminals gather together. Parades never go correctly and the worst ones, will just so happen, occur here in New York. Who will dare to allow a parade in one of the many states that display a massive amount of dismal and destruction? The never-ending news reports about violence and murders constantly dance on television screens and vacation on newspaper articles. Who decides it is a good idea to allow all the notorious undercover criminals to feast in (what I would call) a buffet of potential victims. This was the beginning of a tragedy; this was J’ouvert 2014 in NYC…
It is only 1:06 a.m. and my experience isn’t going very well. I have already engaged seven conflicts with my selfish festival mate, Chris. Chris wants to be a sweet heart and detour her friends from attending J’ouvert so that she can pick up her girlfriend, Yana. Well, technically not her girlfriend but a friend who is a girl that she frequently engages in sexual intercourse with. When Chris decides to get her head out of her ass, we all jump on the bus with tension blood-thick in the air. As the bus wanders up Eastern Parkway, the tension completely vanishes because the scenery is thrilling and entrancing yet a sense of eeriness and nausea is automatically present While riding on the bus and looking down at everyone makes me feel as if I am traveling through a wild safari. I observe the usual act of females quarrelling with each other, then allying against the police officers. This was the first sign that more police officers needed to be present. It is a shame, yet obvious, that an officer has to be given the double duty of protecting civilians and protecting fellow police officer colleagues. Traveling farther into the chaos, I took note of the open restaurants that are usually closed around this time of night, just in case I get hungry.
At 1:42 a.m., I am released off the bus and am officially part of the action. I immediately begin to take more notes. There are a lot of girls dressing nearly nude in costumes or wearing their country’s flag tightly across the most explicit parts of their bodies. It’s a surprise that the streets aren’t closed off from vehicles. There is an excessive amount of buses, cars and emergency vehicles that race throughout the area. I even get the experience of watching a motorcycle gang rampage the streets and display reckless behavior; there had to be approximately fifty potential dangerous bikers. Despite how “cool” being a biker may seem, there is an unspoken idea that bikers are very dangerous and will brutally beat the life out of a p-person for a number of unjustified reasons. Because of the numerous amounts of people wandering about, there are people outside of their homes grilling food in hope that someone will purchase a homemade dish that may make a consumer sick from all the other chemicals around the area. My restrained urge to pee cannot be held any longer. So Chris and I find somewhere to use the facilities. A kind man allows us to use his bathroom, so Chris goes first. After it is my turn but when looking around I notice there isn’t any tissue. The bathroom owners suddenly become snobbish when I ask can I use paper towels instead and tell me to leave. I am furious because Chris should’ve told me she used the last bit of tissue so I could make sure I had some of my own. The fact that I have to urinate and I am not able to immediately go home put me in a horrible mood.
I decide to walk down further to take more notes instead of just being a total bitch. The more I sauntered down, the louder the music grows. The music is so loud that authorities will not even know if someone is being beat, stab or shot to death. People are selling glow-up sticks, flags, hats, belts, marijuana and nutcrackers on the sidewalk. Some random seller uses a rather unappealing claim in attempt to sell his nutcrackers by claiming that ‘If you drink the nutcracker, it will make your vagina big.” The sexual references are implications that females are targeted during this event and can easily be abducted and raped and/or severely harmed to the point of death during this event. The statement makes me cringe so sudden that the urine starts to push harder on my bladder. There is one random lighted area I am passing through. On each side stands men which makes the middle seem like a run way. Groping eyes drags across my body as I walk down the run way, so for me that is extremely uncomfortable and indirect sexual intimidation that many females certainly faced and is affected by at these types of events
Shortly after this, my experience cannot get worse. By this time, I have given up on maintaining pace with my friends and slow down so I can thoroughly take notes. I haven’t seen police officers in nearly thirty minutes; the lack of law enforcement is shameful. After passing through the exploiting lighted area, there is a secluded dark area. I am not alone, but I walk amongst complete strangers. We all stroll down towards the darkness, when suddenly a man jumps out of a corner and scares the piss out of me. Literally! I can feel the embarrassing warm liquid run down my leg and trickle on the floor. I am now scared for my life, so I run down a side street and sit my piss-stained shorts in front of an unfamiliar home. I contemplate what to do next and how I will be getting home. All I could think is that my first experience is pretty lousy; I continuously feel my life is at risk and this stench is overwhelming. I doubt anyone notices my embarrassing accident, besides isn’t getting dirty and danger what J’ouvert seems to acceptably be all about?
It is only 1:06 a.m. and my experience isn’t going very well. I have already engaged seven conflicts with my selfish festival mate, Chris. Chris wants to be a sweet heart and detour her friends from attending J’ouvert so that she can pick up her girlfriend, Yana. Well, technically not her girlfriend but a friend who is a girl that she frequently engages in sexual intercourse with. When Chris decides to get her head out of her ass, we all jump on the bus with tension blood-thick in the air. As the bus wanders up Eastern Parkway, the tension completely vanishes because the scenery is thrilling and entrancing yet a sense of eeriness and nausea is automatically present While riding on the bus and looking down at everyone makes me feel as if I am traveling through a wild safari. I observe the usual act of females quarrelling with each other, then allying against the police officers. This was the first sign that more police officers needed to be present. It is a shame, yet obvious, that an officer has to be given the double duty of protecting civilians and protecting fellow police officer colleagues. Traveling farther into the chaos, I took note of the open restaurants that are usually closed around this time of night, just in case I get hungry.
At 1:42 a.m., I am released off the bus and am officially part of the action. I immediately begin to take more notes. There are a lot of girls dressing nearly nude in costumes or wearing their country’s flag tightly across the most explicit parts of their bodies. It’s a surprise that the streets aren’t closed off from vehicles. There is an excessive amount of buses, cars and emergency vehicles that race throughout the area. I even get the experience of watching a motorcycle gang rampage the streets and display reckless behavior; there had to be approximately fifty potential dangerous bikers. Despite how “cool” being a biker may seem, there is an unspoken idea that bikers are very dangerous and will brutally beat the life out of a p-person for a number of unjustified reasons. Because of the numerous amounts of people wandering about, there are people outside of their homes grilling food in hope that someone will purchase a homemade dish that may make a consumer sick from all the other chemicals around the area. My restrained urge to pee cannot be held any longer. So Chris and I find somewhere to use the facilities. A kind man allows us to use his bathroom, so Chris goes first. After it is my turn but when looking around I notice there isn’t any tissue. The bathroom owners suddenly become snobbish when I ask can I use paper towels instead and tell me to leave. I am furious because Chris should’ve told me she used the last bit of tissue so I could make sure I had some of my own. The fact that I have to urinate and I am not able to immediately go home put me in a horrible mood.
I decide to walk down further to take more notes instead of just being a total bitch. The more I sauntered down, the louder the music grows. The music is so loud that authorities will not even know if someone is being beat, stab or shot to death. People are selling glow-up sticks, flags, hats, belts, marijuana and nutcrackers on the sidewalk. Some random seller uses a rather unappealing claim in attempt to sell his nutcrackers by claiming that ‘If you drink the nutcracker, it will make your vagina big.” The sexual references are implications that females are targeted during this event and can easily be abducted and raped and/or severely harmed to the point of death during this event. The statement makes me cringe so sudden that the urine starts to push harder on my bladder. There is one random lighted area I am passing through. On each side stands men which makes the middle seem like a run way. Groping eyes drags across my body as I walk down the run way, so for me that is extremely uncomfortable and indirect sexual intimidation that many females certainly faced and is affected by at these types of events
Shortly after this, my experience cannot get worse. By this time, I have given up on maintaining pace with my friends and slow down so I can thoroughly take notes. I haven’t seen police officers in nearly thirty minutes; the lack of law enforcement is shameful. After passing through the exploiting lighted area, there is a secluded dark area. I am not alone, but I walk amongst complete strangers. We all stroll down towards the darkness, when suddenly a man jumps out of a corner and scares the piss out of me. Literally! I can feel the embarrassing warm liquid run down my leg and trickle on the floor. I am now scared for my life, so I run down a side street and sit my piss-stained shorts in front of an unfamiliar home. I contemplate what to do next and how I will be getting home. All I could think is that my first experience is pretty lousy; I continuously feel my life is at risk and this stench is overwhelming. I doubt anyone notices my embarrassing accident, besides isn’t getting dirty and danger what J’ouvert seems to acceptably be all about?