Also, it rained all last week and will continue to do so until at least next week. So much for gorgeous weather.
Now for the subject of this post: Carnival in Cadiz!
For those that don't know what Carnival is, I don't either (thank you Hebrew School), but I do know it has something to do with a celebration before the beginning of Lent. It lasts for a week and a half and I believe Saturday, when I went, was the first night. There were THOUSANDS of people in Cadiz, a small peninsula Spanish city on the opposite side of the country, dressed up (I was a pirate), drinking, and enjoying the atmosphere and music around them. We left Granada at 11am on Saturday, got to Cadiz around 3:30pm and stayed up until the bus picked us up at 6:30am. Yup, 6:30AM. Needless to say, the bus was silent on the ride back.
I wish I could say that I felt like I truly experienced all that Carnival had to offer, but it was cold. Really, really cold. Val and I had to buy children-sized Cadiz sweatshirts to keep warm, souvenir? The woman at the store said that it was the first cold day in Cadiz in 6 months--awesome. Anyway, the day was great. We played on the beach, explored a little of Cadiz, and we were really excited for the night. However, at around 12am, it became really cold and we still had 6.5hours. Also, those thousands of people I just mentioned? They were basically in one area, making it impossible to move in any orderly way. It was also hard to stand in the cold with the masses and listen to satirical songs and skits that I couldn't understand. Thus, I felt like I wandered around most of the night looking for a place to warm up and meet up with everyone because as a group of 12, we were bound to get split up and get lost. Overall, by 5:30 we were all huddling together at the bus stop praying for the bus to be early.
However, I would say overall I had a lot of fun. It was a once in a lifetime experience, mostly because I don't want to repeat it although I would be curious as to how it is when it is warm. It was a great bonding experience with the group of people I went with because it was our first time on a trip that wasn't IES sponsored so we could go and do what we wanted with who we wanted. The friends I am making here are great and different in a lot of ways which is exciting. We get along really well and all the girls and then some are going to Portugal in 2 weeks for a 3 day weekend that we have.
Two days recovered, I can look back at Carnival and laugh at the craziness and remember the stories that we are going to have for a lifetime. But one of the most lasting impressions was the impression that everyone left on the streets of Cadiz.
This picture was taken at around 5am and its not
even in the biggest plaza where everyone was.
There were bags upon bags of broken bottles
and glass--needless to say it was not fun
walking through! But, we made it home in one
piece ready to start the second week of class! This weekend we plan on staying at home in Granada (along with the rain) so it should be pretty relaxing and enjoyable--minus all the homework I have, so much for "study" abroad. Now, I must go eat because I am HUNGRY and we are having pasta for lunch!
Hasta luego!
shwarma (best I've had since Israel)
pistol (basically a ratatouille of all these yummy veggies in tomato sauce with rice on the side)
pescado en blanco (a light soup with fish that Juanie gave us Sunday after Cadiz because it is good for "upset stomachs" hint hint wink wink)
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