Carnaval in Cadiz

Ok...So it has been awhile! But, I just had a very fun and full weekend in Cadiz, a city in the Southernmost part of Span (Andalucía) where I celebrated Carnaval! The city was beautiful and the people there were very fun-loving but hard to understand! We left from Madrid, and took an eight hour bus ride to Puerta de Santa Maria, where our hotel was located. Carnaval didn't actually start until Saturday, so on Friday the program we went with rented a bar for us, where we had some drinks and danced until the bus took us home at 4:30. The city was totally dead on Friday, because everyone was preparing themselves for the whole WEEK of fiestas in Cadiz.

The trip was through an organized program, and there were students from a bunch of different countries who went with us. A group of Puerto Ricans were sitting with us on the bus and taught us this really funny dance/song they sing to get people around them to dance called the Pelua(SP?) where they basically call people out and tell them to get up and dance. Everyone was so excited for the big weekend fiesta.

On Saturday, we at breakfast at the hotel, took a little nap and then decided to see Cadiz during the day. Thankfully it wasn't raining like weather.com predicted, and the city was totally beautiful. There are a lot of beautiful plazas and buildings in Cadiz, and each plaza had a church and cathedral. Most people were already dressed up in their disguises, and we searched the city for some costumes and then returned to the hotel for some dinner.

After dinner, we got all dressed up in wigs and masks for the big party in the streets. We made it to the bus and everyone was partying and getting all excited for the night. The bus dropped us off and we were greeted by a massive group of people dressed up in groups of various different things. I was impressed by how creative everyone was, and most people carried large bottles (botalones) of alcohol around with them in the streets. Each plaza had a stage where performers were dressed up and played music, usually their songs had satirical and political themes.

Everyone was dressed up in the streets, and many of the bars sold drinks right on the streets. We ventured around to find a place to sit and ended up at a restaurant where it was mostly locals. From there we walked around, stopped in a few bars, got lost, found funny people to talk to, and saw a bunch of performers in the plazas. Although everyone was basically wasted and there were about 5 people per square inch in the plazas, everyone was really nice and no one was out of hand. I don't think the same could be said if Carnaval took place in the US the way it does here.

We ended up at a bar for a while where we talked to this Spanish guy dressed up like a Shepherd for a while about the differences between the US and Spain. All the people at the bar were super friendly, and it was apparent everyone was there just to have a good time.

From there, we left for the bus around 4 am and headed back to the hotel. We woke up by 10:30 the next day for the free hotel breakfast, smuggled a bunch of food for the ride, and even made it to the beach near the hotel for a few photos. We left the hotel around one and made the 8 hour trip back to Madrid. If you know me at all you can guess what I did the whole way back (slept).

I ended up back at my casa around 11:30, watched project runway online, and went to bed. Now it is Monday and pouring rain and I have an examen tomorrow! No es justo. I need to charge my camera but when I do, photos of Cadiz will be up promptly!