And while the kids waved flags today, tomorrow morning the adults will be waving their rags in the J'ouvert. It's an annual celebration of debauchery, the carnival without custumes, where huge crowds come out and - under the cover of dawn's early light, they cover themselves in mud and create chaos in the streets.
But, where does all the mud come from? As we found out, it's slow cooked by an expert. We went to Ms. Marsha's mud factory:..
Jules Vasquez reporting
We've all seen the J'ouvert - a orgy of mess mud and madness in the street that plays out in the pre-dawn of carnival day. But where does all that colored mud come from? Well it starts here with mounds of clay brought in by the trucks loads to Marsha Smith's yard on Dolphin Street. From there she mixes the clay with water and puts it in drums and open fires to let it boil down. This caldrum-style cooking could lasts for hours, even days.
Marsha Smith
"We have to boil it for sometimes 48 hours. All through this rainy season we take a lick because we hae to boil with wet wood."
After it boils down Marsha and her helpers have to strain it and add color.
Marsha Smith
"We have to strain it from one pan to another pan. It depends how it feels when we finish straining it. If its not properly feels well we strained it again until we get most of the sand out of it. After that we start doing our mixture with different colors."
After that they have to test it for feel and consistency. From there it is poured into small plastic bottles which will go into the streets tomorrow morning. The culmination of week's intensive work.
Marsha Smith
"Sometimes it takes more than two weeks. For the amount of mud that we have to take out, I think I am doing good because I do not sleep. The crowd comes out more every year, so we have to take out more mud."
And Marsha should have enough mud and enough energy to participate in the J'ouvert herself.
Marsha Smith
"I am up and jumping - going."
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