So I guess i talked about not staying out to late, yada yada yada , but that didn’t seem to be the case. This last weekend, i went to Cadiz for CARNIVAL!!
Carnival in Spain is much like Mardi Gras in the states, minus the nudity. People tend to follow the rules here, and seemed to be less out of control than i expected. Yes you do get the occasional person who wants to go crazy, but there’s one in every group; always.
A few friends and i decided to dress up as fairies/ballerinas, so we made tutus outof tool, and I am very proud to say, they turned out super cute. I decided to go crazy on the make-up and wear tons of glitter and sparkles, and it only added to our already beautiful outfits :))
It was a five hour bus ride to Cadiz, so you could say it got a bit interesting! Lots of talking, singing and bathroom stops on the way, but we finally made it. The plan of our trip was to go to Cadiz, stay out till 5 am, and then get back on the bus and drive home.
Crazy right! I have no idea what we were thinking!
Everyone started off in this massive plaza which was packed with people. We got to watch young flamenco dancers, singers, and entertainers. The noise was ridiculous. A lull roar almost. Not too loud where you couldn’t hear, but at the point when you had to talk a little louder than normal. Yep that’s where we were at. :)) I loved every minute of it!
were on a street with the flashing joker heads and irridescent squares, we were in a safe place. Since we had so much time on our hands we decided to search for kebabs. A kebab is like a think tortilla split open, filled with goodness (aka chicken, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, olives, & yogurt sauce) , and put back on the grill to finish cooking. Kebab restaurants are ALL over Granada, so we thought we’d be able to find one. Stopping every so often to ask, we kept getting pointed in the same direction. “the Red plaza, next to the blah blah blah, you're almost there, only a few more blocks, a la derecha de la...” Ay ay ay. The kebab restaurant was nowhere to be found! We did happen to pass an Italian pizza place- La Bella Italia- that smelled great, so we opted for that.
For Carnival, it is typical for students to get pretty drunk and maybe make bad decisions, but i am really glad i decided to stay with the friends I did. We had drinks, but were all really responsible, stayed safe, and had a blast without getting schnockered!
Oh I forgot to mention the parade!!! One of the coolest things of the night. On our trek to to find kebabs, we stumbled into a parade. We rounded a corner, and whack I ran face first into a man in a plane costume. Haha no harm done, but for the next 15 minutes or so, on this tiny side street in Cadiz, we got to experience Carnival in its splendor. 100’s of people in costumes, playing instruments, being led by two police officers. It was amazing. (the picture above is with one of the airplanes)
So after all of that, we got back to the plaza, met up with some other students and are enjoying the music when a few rain drops hit our foreheads. Since there are a ridiculous amount of people here, we decide to find some shelter before the rest of the crowd. We walk towards the bus, and don’t get to far when we see a casino doorway that is just big enough for all of us to fit in. We stayed there for close to an hour as the clouds start to let loose.
That closes, and we are kindly asked to leave, so we huddle together again under an inadequate amount of umbrellas and head for some shelter. We find a Burger King, only get to stay for about 40 minutes and were kicked out again! It is now starting to rain really hard, and there is nowhere to go. I see some bright lights and suggest to go to whatever it is that i see across the street. It turned out to be a churreria (churros & chocolate). We run, cram ourselves inside of this massive tent, and scrounge for 7 or 8 chairs. Picture one of those huge white wedding tents. That is what we were sitting in. We are freezing, soaking wet, and the thrill of carnival is wearing off just as fast as my makeup. This is where I spent the next 4.5 hours of my life.
Once it hit 5:30, we made an attempt to get to the bus as fast as possible. It was probably half a mile of torrential downpour! We met a new friend, who ended up going to school with us back in Granada, and he and i ran back to the bus as fast as we could. Gold medal sprinting is what i was doing actually.
By the time we got to the bus i
think i was soaked to my kidneys, i had no makeup left, and my straight, dry hair, turned into the curly creation God intended me to have in the first place. The ride home was a nightmare. We were all freezing, but we all made it back safely to Granada.
No Pasa Nada.translated into english basically means no worries. I will look back and remember all the good things that happened to us in Cadiz, and laugh at how miserable we all were.
