But anyways, who's ready for another exciting update?
Last time we left the week before Carnaval (which under no circumstances should be spelled Carn-i-val). I can only really describe the whole thing as a sort of Halloween without the candy but ten times the liquor. Of course we were all down to see what the fuss was about.
The start of Carnaval involved an intriguing visit to the local mall for some costume shopping. As always, I went for pirate - I don't attribute this so much to a lack of creativity on my part, but rather to a complete love for gold-hoop earrings and cheap rum. The selection at the store was very unorganized, but I managed to find a somewhat suitable wig and eye patch. The overall outcome looked like something of a cross between Brett Michaels and a douchebag, but still I was satisfied.
When the weekend came around we were more than ready to put our Carnaval shoes on and head out. We'd heard about the fantastic costumes, crazy parties and all the chaos that followed. We were pumped. We were ready. We were drunk - with excitement. We were...a day early.
Indeed the first night of Carnaval was not in fact the first night of Carnaval. This lead to a pirate, a hoola girl, an indian, a Grecian goddess, a devil, a Lady Gaga, and a hooke- a fairy, walking the empty streets at the early hours of the morning searching for a non-existent celebration. Needless to say we encouraged a profuse amount of staring. After some shenanigans and a trip to "Bratislava" we made our way home.
Take two - the second night began with a bang. We re-donned our original costumes except that our Aphrodite had transformed into Joan of Arc herself (Allison Kadrmas can do things with bed sheets that can only be described as life-changing). As we arrived at our beloved Plaza Zocodover, we discovered that we were the last to arrive at a party of hundreds. The night continued with live music, dancing, mice-families, and various shenanigans. I woke up the next morning with pain in my head and love in my heart.
Take three - Yes kids there was a third day to our Carnaval. We had fortunately been invited to a party in a neighboring town by some spainish friends. All we knew was there was going to be paella and a parade. We arrived to find a outdoor grilling of the biggest pan of rice and seafood I've ever seen (you could have swam in it). As we waited patiently for some hot eats we began to converse with the locals.
I've learned two things from interactions with the locals - they love to speak english with you, and they love to force-feed you wine. Since we were all a little gun shy from the night before we tried to indulge the former. It turns out that the party we were at was actually the gathering of a local band that was made up of people of all ages that played different instruments and after the party they would be marching in the parade - and so would we.
The dinner bell rang and the paella was served. Now at this point I can't say that spanish food was my choice of international cuisine, but the paella was probably the best meal I'd had since I arrived (excepting Donor Kebab). After my third plate the band broke out the drums and trumpets and began to play. The music was enthralling and everyone was dancing and singing along. Soon after we were given our costumes for the parade and as a pope, a nun, a pirate and a witch we marched along side the band.
We returned home, exhausted, full, happy, alive. Carnaval was over.
Next stop, Paris!
"after döner kebab"
ReplyDelete...hell yes.