It's Carnaval!

Alcohol, alcohol. Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol. Y bocadillos, embarachandos, los resultados me da igual! The chant heartily sung by many a drunk Spaniard at Carnaval in Cadiz. An experience to say the least. I ventured to Cadiz this weekend, a town south of Sevilla to what my friend’s guidebook says is “the craziest party in Spain.” I have to admit, it wasn’t as crazy as I would have expected.

I and three friends took the train from Sevilla to Cadiz for about $25 and arrived at 1 o’clock in the afternoon. This allowed for a lovely day at the beach of laying out, playing cards and eating our sack lunches. Or like the song says, bocadillos. After seeing the sunset on the beach, we ventured off to Telepizza to seek shelter from the somewhat cold outside. After this, we began our journey into Carnaval.

At Carnaval it’s very typical to go in a huge group all in the same costume. Some popular themes were Cruzcampo men (the guy on the label of the beer made in Sevilla), smurfs, chickens, and men dressed as women. The Cruzcampo men were so jolly. I asked to take a picture with them, and they were like “A picture with Pocohonta.” I went as an Indian, but I was referred to as Pocohonta throughout the night. No joke though, they loved giving me shout outs. Whether simply yelling, “Pocohonta,” “How (you know, like the Native American greeting) or lassoing me, they were very fascinated.

Really from what I saw from Carnaval, I’m not that impressed. It’s essentially like a huge community party, and it reminds me of a hybrid of Mardi Gras and Halloween. The streets and plazas are just flooded with people. People come in their groups of friends and essentially claim a spot and drink their chosen liquor for the night. There’s definite interaction amongst groups, but it’s not like everyone’s just there walking around trying to talk to everyone, but that inevitably happens. They’re so chatty and they like just having a little “where are you from, are you enjoying yourself” conversations.

At 3:30 a.m. Colleen and I began the walk back to the train, and once we got there for our 5:10 a.m. train there was a long line to get through even though we had tickets already. However, we got through the line, and claimed our seat on the floor for our two hour train ride. We arrived back at about 7:00 in the morning, took the bus home, showered and slept until 3:00 p.m. today. What a ridiculous lifestyle they have here.

So, this was the last weekend of Carnaval because it’s the big blowout before Lent, which starts Wednesday. My friends and I are giving up English for Lent, except to communicate with friends and family back home. I’m very excited because I try to speak Spanish with friends here, but no one has been that dedicated, so I just tend to use English too because it’s easier. However, I’m hoping this group effort makes things much more concrete.