¡Eso es Carnaval!
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2009
1
5
14
Trip End
Jun 2009
Cádiz, Spain
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The 21st of February, buses and buses full of students ventured down to Cádiz to experience the most outrageous Carnaval in Spain! During Franco's control, he tried to do away with several Carnavals and celebrations throughout Spain that revolved around thousands of people kicking back and letting loose (in many respects) together. However, La Carnaval de Cádiz endured and is still going strong to this day.
The best way I can describe carnaval there is the following: Think of Halloween, then think of Halloween on copious quantities of heavy drugs. This is Carnaval in Cádiz. Everyone decked out in costume, drinking, smoking, singing, dancing and shouting in the streets for hours and hours and hours at a time. And how can I forget the peeing in the street part? (Which I of course took part in...where else was I to go?) We followed around a drumline clad in pajamas for a while that was getting everyone all riled up, including myself! I'm such a sucker for drumlines. Shoulder to shoulder, absolutely packed in there, but everyone is having a grand time, so it doesn't matter. You just make new friends! It's customary to bring your own booze and dress up! They way you could tell the natives from los guiris (non-natives) was that the natives all wore group costumes. For example, scanning the streets, at 2 o'clock you spot a pack of smurfs, 4 o'clock a pack of Steve Urkels in blackface (Al Jolsen style! >>for Alice Ann), 6 o'clock you have the entire cast of Chicken Run, 8 o'clock a pretend SWAT team that looks a little too real to start to wonder...and so and so forth.
My friend Erica and I, of course took the easy way out, bought eye patches and swords, just happened to have similar peace-sign scarves and transformed into Piratas por Paz! (Pirates for Peace) I also donned a long brunette wig just for shits and giggles. I wasn't drinking that night since I was on antibiotics recovering from a throat infection, but I had a fabulous time nonetheless!. (Just absorbing the atmosphere alone was enough to get one drunk.) The trip was short, we left Sevilla at about 9:30 pm and left Cádiz by 4:30 am. Arrived in my bed at 8 am! (In true spanish fashion.)
