Carnaval was incredibly fun and definitely an experience, but it was nothing short of one of the most disgusting nights I have ever been a part of. So from this part of the story on, if you don't want to read about the crazy disgustingness that is Carnaval, please go down about 3/4 of the post.
Haha, now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's do this... The night started around 8:30 pm in Sevilla. At the Plaza de Cuba is where our bus took off for Cadiz from. There were hundreds and hundreds of people waiting to get on the bus dressed as everything from cows to hippies to political figures to smurfs to cell phones to who knows what. We took off around 9, and two hours later, we landed on the beach town of Cadiz.
Carnaval in Cadiz is basically a mix of Halloween and Mardi Gras on steroids. It is said that there were roughly 300,000 people in the streets of Cadiz the night we went, Saturday night, and right when we walked off the bus, we knew it would be a crazy night. There were people everywhere you looked, all in costume, and all drinking. Beer, wine, mixed drinks, sodas, random combinations of all of the above. The streets were crazy.
I hung out with about 7 or 8 tech people all night, and we just walked around the city meeting other party goers decked out in crazy costumes. What they failed to mention to us until we were ON the bus was that there are no open bathrooms during Carnaval. So men, women, and children (though naturally there were very few children) would have to just pop a squat on the street or in the bushes. EVERYONE. So basically, the whole night while we were walking, our shoes were going through alcohol and urine soaked streets. After a few hours of walking around, dirtying our shoes, and just taking in the craziness, we made our way to the actual beach, where we were able to get away from the people and the drinking some. The view was incredible, a lighthouse lit the horizon of the ocean, and the shore was full of anchored fishing boats. I couldn't get a picture, though, because it was so dark! By this time, it was about 2:00am or maybe later.
We just walked through more streets and plazas until we made our way back to where the buses would take us back to Sevilla. This was around 5:00am and we were all incredibly exhausted. People around us were throwing up, trying to sleep on the grass, or just simply passed out on the streets from the night of craziness.
It was definitely an experience. I'm not so sure if I would do it again, though. Haha.
This week is final exam week for our first mini-mester. But no worries, I think I will do really well, because my Spanish is coming along very nicely!
Wed. night is our Public Reading/Two-Stepping night at the TTU Center, and we leave for Lisbon, Portugal with Texas Tech on Thursday for four days! From what others have told me, the Lisbon trip is one of the best overall. I am so excited!
The group of kids I hung with for the night in Cadiz! (A cowboy, the devil, the Spice Girls, the Lone Ranger, and God's gift to women)
Denae, Me, and Matt (Fairy, God's gift to women, and a crazy Lobo)
I will try and write again Wed., so until then...
Peace, love and God bless,
Noel
I always knew that costume would be a success. It's awesome!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a ton of fun, except the urine, and the hurling. I guess you've learned your lesson: Spain is AWESOME!
Right?
I'm thinking about taking a road trip up there next year.