Carnaval!

5 Tapa Sorpresa

I came out of my cocoon of illness this weekend and had one wild experience. Friday night was quite tame but very fun. I met up with Tina and Caroline for the First Weekly Friday Tapas! We tried a place that boasted a "5 Tapas Surprise." How could we resist? It ended up being a good surprise, with 4 yummy dishes and an interestingly textured dessert. The best part was getting to know these girls who have recently moved into the big European house. Then we went back to the house for a party and I caught up with everyone there. They went out, and I went to bed, still on the road to recovery.

Egyptian Lizzie

Saturday was pretty uneventful until the evening. Rebecca and I "decided" that we were going to skip out on this huge event in Cádiz called Carnaval because it didn't really appeal to us. We changed our minds when we thought we had a ride there, but kept with our plan to go even when that ride fell through. We got dressed - me as an Ancient Egyptian (thanks to my gym teacher for the used costume) and Rebecca as a gypsy (hoping not to offend anyone in Spain). We met up with Jonny at the train station and took the last train to Cádiz at 10:15 pm. Despite what we had heard might be the case, the train was relatively calm and we had seats. There were policemen patrolling the whole time so it was not wild and crazy.

Rachel, Julia, Rebecca, Reegis

Jonny the Cocodrilo

That all changed once we arrived to Carnaval. I cannot really describe the scene of thousands of people dressed in elaborate costumes storming the streets. In the main squares, we were packed as tightly as in crowded dance clubs - but there was no dancing. The ground was covered in bottles, broken glass, and all sorts of liquids. Apparently, this is fun. It was not for me. We spent too much of the night looking for friends, which meant we were trying to push through the crowds. I had a slightly better time walking down the side streets where there was more space and I could pull out small Spanish interactions. All in all, I guess this is something I just had to see in my lifetime. And now I know that it is not my cup of tea, or beer. I can see how it could be fun if you had a big group of people in one not too crowded location. Also, the costumes were very entertaining, and I was impressed with how much work the Spaniards put into them. 

An example of the ground

Rebecca and I took the earliest possible train back to Sevilla - it left at 4:45 am. This meant that we passed out on the train for a little while (it was funny seeing everyone asleep in their costumes) and finally got home at 7 am. New record! I took a nice little morning nap until 3 pm, and still managed to fall asleep at a decent hour the next night. Now it's back to a normal schedule, normal outfits, and a normal amount of personal space.

Man hanging from the building and drinking

Next weekend, I'm off to Dublin on my first solo trip. I'm very excited since I have a small weakness for the Irish accent.