Last night, after I got back, I went to a free outdoor concert in Sainte-Anne with some other assistants to celebrate the opening night of this reggae music festival held in Martinique every year. Reggae music is a pretty big deal here, and the artist and his entourage -- which consisted of a clarinetist and several backup singers -- are apparently a pretty big deal in the reggae world. I could see why -- the music was pretty catchy; you couldn't help but swing and sway to it. And people take it seriously. The assistants were all clustered around the stage talking, and we were told sharply more than once by a concertgoer to be quiet so he could listen in peace.
Here's what it looked like from the audience.
Anyway. A few songs in, it began to rain. Gently at first, and then more forcefully. The wind began to blow, so hard that the row of tents housing concert merchandise blew over. It was a sight to see. People ran frantically through the grass with their jackets overhead, trying to find shelter underneath the tents that were still standing. I felt bad for the band, who had to cut their performance short.
When there was a pause in the rain, we left. I'd thought the worst of it had passed, but that night, the wind howled like I'd never heard before. And it hasn't let up. Today, I was supposed to go to a meeting in the afternoon, but it was canceled. Instead, I spent the day at my host sisters' aunt's house, where the TV didn't work and we sat around talking and playing cards and reading the newspaper and eating sarde (a fish) and poireaux (leeks) and giraumon (vegetable kind of like pumpkin). Simple, like most things here, but I enjoyed it.
The wind and rain is still going strong. Tomorrow's supposed to be the same. We'll see how it goes. But I must say, it's the first time in awhile I've experienced the sensation of cold...
