This time around it felt like a real wedding. The "bride's" mother was fussing over her early in the morning, people were running late, some cancelled, a bouquet had to hurriedly be made by Terscha's (the bride) mother who happens to be a florist.
Terscha helps her mother with the bouquet, crafted from an assortment of rubbish.
Upon arrival in Arima
After a slightly later than anticipated start, we reached to Arima. The small entourage accompanied the bride along the designated route: From corner Queen & Sorzano Streets, Arima, down Queen, past the dial to the market and back up to Sorzano via the other block. We were joined along the way by a few other Greenlights and friends.
Terscha's footwear made a fashion statement and kept her comfortable on her bridal trek
Trying to find some shade.
It was a really hot day ... and it couldn't have been easy walking in that hot, heavy dress.
The trail. By the time we reached the market, not many bottles were left.
The bouquet
Note the garbage in the drain. We stood here for a while talking to some people. During this time one of the women from the stores came and swept up the rubbish and put it in a bin. Talk about instant impact.
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Photos courtesy Elspeth
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GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
PUBLIC SUGGESTIONS
Generally the vibe in Arima was different from that in POS. Apart from having a different bride, different entourage of people, etc., the people seemed to be more interested in the idea and what was going on. Very many of them offered useful suggestions which we will incorporate the next time. Some of these included:
1. Have a sound system (e.g. megaphone) announcing her arrival, what she represents, reciting the pledge, etc.
2. Print the pledge to give to people along with Greenlight contact information for those who want to join
3. Have a bigger entourage to accompany the bride, along with music ( incidentally we were planning to have a rhythm section using rubbish items like tin cans and bottles. This will be incorporated in the next stint).
4. One man pointed out that awareness is one thing ... but people need bins in order to throw their garbage away. he was making a good point. There were hardly any bins ... but that doesn't mean the drain should act as a substitute.
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IRATE CITIZEN
A few people seemed to be not too taken with the idea of a bride walking on the sidewalk dragging bottles behind her. They either sucked their teeth and moved on when we explained what we were doing or simply cast disdainful looks as they passed us. One woman, perhaps not looking where she was going, tripped over the bottle trail and began shouting. Part of her brief tirade included: "What is dis?! CARIFESTA?!!!" (Well, actually we have discussed letting the bride make an apperance or two at selected CARIFESTA events)
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NOT AS DIRTY
Arima is not as dirty as POS. By the time we had finished the walk, the hem of the dress was only slightly dirty ... as opposed to when Gab did it (it was black).
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TRINI TIME
The police never turned up. They called as we were well on our way back home to ask where we had reached and to announce that their men had reached to work late. Oh well. (gayelle couldn;t make it, but ...) one of the TV stations called around the same time as the police to find out where we were! "We are on our way home ..." Did they both think we meant "Starting time 8:00 p.m.?"
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Special thanks to:
Mother Nature for great weather.
All who braved the hot sun and traffic to be a part of it.
Members of the public who participated and showed interest.
Terscha for playing the bride/Environment.
Terscha's mum for making the bouquet.
Glen for transporting the entourage.
Terscha's friends/relatives for letting us park in their yard.
Chanzo for the pistachios.
