Hello and welcome to my latest update!This past weekend at Navy Band Northeast we had an exercise in parade EXTREMES. Let me explain. On Saturday we left Newport for Charleston Massachusetts, where we marched in a VFW parade through a corporate park. It was 90 degrees and humid, and there we were playing Anchors Aweigh while marching through the parking lots between various office buildings. There were about 12 people there to cheer us on.
Then, we drove straight down to New York City and checked into the Hotel Pennsylvania for the night. Some friends and I revisited an Irish pub that our band frequented during Fleet Week, and I enjoyed a festive round of strange and various drinks with friends. Meanwhile a heat wave was really settling in around Manhattan, and walking home to the hotel we knew the next day's parade might be a bit hot.
So, on Sunday morning we muster at 1000 to form up for the Annual Puerto Rican Day parade. The parade runs north up 5th Avenue, from 46th street to 91st, including the entire length of Central Park. It's a long one. And its 95 degrees and rising. We are wearing dress whites, that's long sleeve polyester, ladies and gentleman. I thought I was going to melt into the Subway grate and never be seen again.
If you have always wanted to experience Rio's Carnival, or Spain's Running of the Bulls, you may not have to travel so far -- a parallel experience is this Puerto Rican Parade. Over 2 million spectators and a few thousand participants converge on 5th Avenue every year to proudly and loudly celebrate the Puerto Rican community in New York. We were warned about rowdiness and violence, but the 2000 policemen and 5 miles of barricades insured our safety.
So we are staging our band and ready to join the mayhem at 1100. Not until 3:30 PM did we step off!! We had to wait almost 4 hours for our spot to open up in the parade, that's how big this thing is. Every Puerto Rican has some kind of noise maker, from whistles to air horns, to a super loud Latina scream, and they use them unabashedly. No disrespect of course, the culture is obviously passionate and excited to be from the Carribean island state, and that's cool with me. Here are some photos from the event, then I have more to share below.
Marching up 5th Avenue was actually really fantastic, despite the constant stream of sweat running down my spine. I imagined such a parade in 1945 for V-day, with sailors, soldiers and marines returning from Europe to a mayhem of ticker tape and adoring women. Then when it got really hot I remembered how beautiful 5th Avenue is at Christmastime, with the giant illuminated snowflakes strung across the wide avenue, ice skating at Rockefeller, Christmas windows in the stores, and fresh snow on the ground. I will definitely be back in December to witness the magic this year!
So that was our two extremes in the art of performing a parade. It was a crazy weekend.
2 comments:
Jenny, You are such a fun writer; I could really grasp a good sense of what that interesting experience must have felt like! You're so cute :). And yay, so happy you got a new car, love it!
wowwy zowwy! I love reading about all the adventures you're getting to have up in your northeast corner. :) I do miss marching down a parade route but not the sweat that trickles down your spine. lol Oh and I love your car! Big change from Mr. Ranger. ::Love::
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