Carnaval

February 17th
Hello!! I can’t believe I haven’t posted in a week, so sorry but it’s been exam week here so we’ve been pretty busy. I have so much to catch you all up on. However, I’m going to try to not make this a ridiculously long post (yeaa right)

Last Thursday was beautiful out and I was headed to my History of Spain class very sad that I would be sitting in an insane asylum-white classroom for the next hour and a half with a teacher that I could barely understand. (Please take note that this is the teacher I said talks like Fronk) Plus, he writes all over the board in literally no order, then draws arrows to different points and I have NO idea how his brain works. So in a desperate attempt to escape, I half-heartedly suggested that we take a fieldtrip. He asked me where might I recommend that we go and I answered all over because the history of Spain is right here! (Uber gay answer but cut me some slack I wanted out) And to my surprise, along with that of my other 5 classmates, he said “vale.” Which means ok! So we headed out to the sunshine! I was hurriedly preparing destinations for us incase he asked but to no avail because Reda was waking with a purpose. The first leg of our tour consisted of his favorite book store which used to be a theater and has since been transformed into a really cool collection of books but still looks like a theater so there are book shelves on the stage and in the balcony where there used to be seating. (Mom you would have loved it! I’m bummed I didn’t have my camera.)

We were only there for a few short minutes and in fear that we were leaving to go back to school I threw out that we should visit a historical little church near by but was quickly shot down with no hesitation whatsoever as he said “Maybe later. I know where we’re going.” You can imagine then, my utter shock and amazement as I watched him meander through the streets with his little gaggle of geese only to make a sharp left into a… bar. Laura and I looked at each other like wait, is this a joke? The story would have been good enough if it stopped there but oh no, it gets better. The place was hopping because it was the time of day people close shop to nap or grab a beer and clearly these folks had opted for the latter. When Reda asked us what we wanted to drink we all just kinda stood there until he said come, what do you want cerveza (beer)? Some girls looked unsure but for me the answer was easy. Si por favor! When in my life am I going to get to have a beer with my professor?! Others soon had the same epiphany and we sat and enjoyed our beer, purchased by our professor and talked about how studying abroad is really more about experiencing the culture. I was only halfway listening because I was just enjoying the moment and the reality that this was actually really happening. (Dad, I felt like you had just handed us all sugar sandwiches and mom was due home any minute haha) Needless to say I have a whole new appreciation for this teacher and I truly think I will enjoy his classes (I have 3 with him) so much more now! Especially because I got to know him beyond the classroom and now obtain the knowledge that he has a wife, no children and 3 cats one of which is named cookie ☺


Wow. This turned out better than I thought it would. I'm going to frame it.

Later that afternoon we decide to head to the river for a little wine, cards and sunshine. This is definitely going to become a habit of ours and I predict that we become total hippies that just lounge around, read, listen to music and play cards or guitar (Katrina wants to buy one) all while barefoot and in big sunglasses. I can’t waaiittt!!

Beautiful

The weekend in Seville was rainy and cold so we didn’t really do much. Thursday night we ended up meeting some local Spanish guys and ended up going to a bar with them. I guess preppy Spaniards are called “pijos” because that is what Katrina called them. It was refreshing to find somewhat normal Spanish guys. Even though I could barely communicate with them but we had sooo much fun! The bar they took us to was this little place we would have never found and Laura and I got our palms read by this 30 year old creeper who later tried to kiss me goodbye on the mouth. NOT ok.. and don’t worry, I didn’t let him ☺ but the palm reading was interesting because it was clearly completely made up and just an attempt at a pick up line so it was much like watching a train wreck. Guys think they’re so sneaky… I am absolutely certain that my broken Spanish was terrible and a complete joke but the guys were pretty patient with me and I found myself wracking my brain for more words that I knew and could somehow incorporate. We then went to “Boss” which is supposed to be this super selective club or discoteca I guess and we were excited when we all got in but once we surveyed the place we realized we were let in because no one was here.. hah We didn’t really care though and managed to dance the night away all the same! Successful night with Spanish guys! Go us!

Trina with a few of the guys at the little Spanish bar

Friday it was raining more so we tried to run a few errands and do a bit of shopping for our Carnaval costumes. Time out. I guess I should explain what Carnaval is (or what I thought it was until I experienced it). Carnival is 11 days worth of a crazy carnival. Approximately 1 and a half million people come for this every year and it is the 3rd largest Carnaval celebration in the world. So you see now why we haddd to go but not for 11 days, only Saturday night. It is somewhat similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. People dress up, more so like Halloween, and drink and party until the wee hours of the morn. This takes place is Cadiz which is in Southern Spain and on a beach. Thus, my visual was of people dressed up, drinking and dancing on a beach. With this picture in mind I was originally thinking something cute like a toga but when we saw it was supposed to be cold and rainy I rearranged my thoughts. I needed something I could wear with layers!

So, in true “me” fashion I waited until Saturday afternoon to get my outfit and I had no idea what I wanted. (I honestly tried to shop earlier but stores close smack in the middle of the day for siesta, which lasts like 4 hours or something ridiculous, and I haven’t realized the extent to how annoying that can be until I was on a mission for an item) Laura and Tricia found these pretty ugly jean overall things and decided they were going to make something out of those but Trina and I continued on our journey and eventually found actual costumes. We dug through Spanish versions of hippies, Snow White, kings, queens etc (all of which look pretty similar to the cheap costumes we have in the states) and our hopes were diminishing. Not only was the variety slim, but also the prices were ridiculous. Then on our way downstairs (every store has at least 3 floors here) we caught site of the children’s section. Bingo! Katrina found an angel costume and low and behold I found… The Virgin Mary. It was 7 euros and would go quite well if we said Katrina was the angel Gabriel. I was struggling with the sacrilegious aspect of it until I watched a family with a 4-year-old daughter grab the same costume. (In hindsight I’m not sure how or why this gave me comfort since I am neither 4, nor was this little girl going to a huge drunken party in the costume, but for some reason at the time, it did) So we purchased them and headed home!

Excited about the humor in our costumes and giddy for the night ahead we were all in good moods. Tricia and Laura got these ridiculous wigs and they looked great! However, when I slipped in to my “Maria” costume all was not well. I appeared to be wearing a huge blue potato sack while having a toothache. The white sash that was supposed to be draped over my head was only wide enough to cover the top of my head, not the back of it, so when I wrapped it around it looked like I just had a strip of cloth there to hold some ice on my face. Nootttt ok. So I made the quick decision to alter some aspects of the costume. I tucked in the long blue sleeves so they were puffed up at my shoulders, used my white wrap as a sash around my waist, poofed my hair, pulled it into a bun, put a headband and some big pearl earrings in and viola; Cinderella! It might have been a bit of a stretch but what else is a girl to do with a blue dress? Plus, Katrina could be my fair godmother! I felt loads better with my altered outfit especially because it avoided the awkwardness of me appearing to be an intoxicated mother of Jesus later. Seriously, what was I thinking?

Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother. Such a pair

It was an hour and a half bus ride to Cadiz and we had all decided not to drink beforehand. We had a long night ahead of us because we wouldn’t be on the bus home until about 6 am so we figured we would have enough time to fully enjoy ourselves when we got there. When we arrived in Cadiz it was mayhem. We got off the bus and were handed sandwiches (we went through a travel company and it was part of the deal and oh what a deal it was) and 2 shots. After, the bus pulled away we were left staring at a street full of people dressed like everything imaginable and they all seemed to be heading towards one direction. It was kinda creepy but the shots were settling in and we were excited by the energy so we jumped into the sea of people and traveled down stream with everyone to some big plaza. Here people were singing, dancing, climbing poles, climbing up on little stages that were sporadically placed for no good reason other than to have drunk people climb them and fall off, drinking, yelling, singing and ultimately just doing an array of wonderfully odd things. The streets were actually decorate with lights, garland etc so clearly the city is supportive of the festivities.

Our gang

Us with some new friends?

The costumes were just insane. I don’t even know how to describe the assortment I saw. The biggest shock was the amount of men dressed like women, and I mean like completely dressed in heels, make up, everything, not just the dresses! Lots of people did group themes and there were groups of chickens, firefighters, dwarfs (saw 1 real one), lots of Sponge Bobs, flowers, clowns, giant babies, penguins (Blake I thought of you of course, although I am 100% positive you don’t read my blog son get with the program), probably one of my favorites were the mops that were running around. Hilarious! Oh and of course there was an Avatar, but that’s a given…

Nick and Trina make friends fast :)

Clowning around

Flower Power!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea... Some weird Spaniards!

Happy Feet

Our baby with some big babies

Literally all ages here folks

Unreal. Please click on this image to blow it up. Frightening

Stage full of weird people singing? Hey, is that the pope?

The mops. Look at 'em in action! My favorite!


My second favorite.. :)

Ok wait, it might be a tie. Lipstick on cig there buddy? Pretty sure that's a check!

As far as what we did for the night I am honestly not quite sure I could tell you but here is what I believe took place; we wandered around, listened to an odd band on one of the big stages, drank from the water bottles we stashed in our purses like we were in high school, watched lots of weird Spaniards, met lots of weird Spaniards, laughed at lots of weird Spaniards, had to use the street as a bathroom (my least favorite part of the night… Seriously gross but luckily we came prepared with toilet paper!), ventured into a bar at one point, bought a baked potato for 7 euros (we’re idiots) on which the vender put corn, carrots, ketchup and loads of other stuff on this thing and we ate them in all their gross glory, danced, climbed up the very stages I had made note not to climb up on, took my hair out of it’s bun, wondered where the beach was, drank some more and froze our butts of waiting for the bus that we boarded in a happy haze of drunken joy. I slept for part of the ride and woke up to talk to Laura as we were pulling into Sevilla. Everyone around us looked so funny sleeping in their costumes and I laughed and pointed for awhile until I realized only moments ago I looked the very same.

This was captured by friends of ours who were just taking a picture of the weird people on the stage and.. it ended up being us. All time low or all time high?

Close up on the mini-stage. Please take note of all of our faces.

Enjoying ourselves


After hailing a cab and sleep walking into our rooms we slid into our beds as the sun was rising. It was a pretty odd sensation to watch the world waking up as we were falling asleep. When we did manage to rise from the dead Katrina and I voted on some Domino’s pizza. So around 3 pm we headed next door (Domino’s is literally right next door to our building which played a large role in how we decided where to eat) and used a coupon (the other solidifying factor) to split a pizza and 2 coca lights. It was the most romantic little lunch. The rest of the evening consisted of flashes of memories from the night before where we would all laugh at whoever had the recollection. Katrina and I met some friends of ours, Melanie, Mindy and Hanna for Hanna’s birthday dinner which was really good! They even got her a cake and we sang happy birthday and everything! It was lots of fun.

Happy Birthday Han! And thanks for all the pics Mel :)

However, when they were going to head out for a night of more drinking, Trina and I had to head home to start studying for our exams.. boo. It was drizzling and we each had our umbrellas, full bellies, and the taste of chocolate cake on our lips as we slowly picked our way home through the puddles in no real hurry to reach our destination. I then realized the date and, never being a fan of February 14th, it dawned on me that I had actually genuinely loved every part of it! That never happens! So I promptly wished Trina a Happy Valentine’s Day because it was exactly that, a very happy one. I was in Spain with some of my best friends and we were having the absolute times of our lives. This had to be my favorite V-day in a long time and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world ☺

Today is February 17th. What does that mean to you? My half birthday of course! I cannot believe my mom is the only one that has wished me a happy half birthday.. Seriously come on people I call you my friends?! haha... Clearly I'm kidding! Really weird though that from now on I will be closer to 22. This is actually an upsetting reality and I am truly not enjoying the feeling. Can we start college over please? Today is also the start of Lent and I have decided to give up America. Makes sense right? What doesn't make sense is that I'm also giving up clean laundry, clean sheets, a clean body and toilet paper... Vicki is teaching us what it is like to go camping while living in an apartment. So sweet...

Tomorrow is my last exam and then we leave for Madrid for the weekend and I'm really excited! There is actually a good sized group of us going from school and we leave tomorrow at 4 which means we have to take our suitcases to school and go straight to the bus stop. Therefore, we need to start packing tonight and as of right now, none of us have done so... I'm sure I'll have some interesting posts to come though! Love you all!


I thought I would leave you with this image in hopes that if you were ever feeling too jealous of my time here in Spain remember that I experienced this in person and you might count your blessings. You're welcome.