Saturday February 2/Sunday February 3

Just to give an idea of the kind of crowds that were there.
Group shot.
'Nother group shot.

Went costume-shopping Saturday with Beth and Sarah. This city has a bunch of costume shops, where you can buy damn near any costume you could ever want, many of which are not politically correct. A small sampling of some of the options (and I'm talking whole pre-sewn costumes which come with masks and endless accessories): cat, Tinkerbell, cow, fairy, witch, flapper girl, Renaissance people, princess, cowboy, bullfighter, pirate...and then there are the less politically correct choices such as "Thai girl" and "Chinese girl". Oh, Spain. I opted for a pink/green feathery mask, gold necklaces and belt, a green feather boa and black tunic and purple leggings. I think I was the G-rated spirit of Mardi Gras.


We got to Cadiz just before midnight and things were in full swing. Never - NEVER - have I seen an entire city party together, but that's exactly what happens in Cadiz. The whole town parties together for a whole week (only at night, of course, but "night" in Cadiz means like 11 pm until 7 am). Aside from being a phenomenon in that it's a party which a whole town (plus tons of other Spaniards) attends, Carnaval de Cadiz was just so uninhibited. It was amazing. Georgetown on Halloween is fun and all, but most girls dress up as a sleazy something - sleazy nurse, sleazy student, whatever. Not at Cadiz. The girls there want to party just like the guys - for example a ton of girls were chickens in Cadiz. Nothing sexy going on with the chickens. Just a good time. Also, TONS of guys at Cadiz were dressed in drag. Hm. There were fireworks, crowds everywhere, people climbing trees and light poles, etc. Things really hadn't calmed down at all when we left at 5 am. Such a memorable night. I'd love to go back to Cadiz to go to the beach when the weather gets warmer.

We got back just after 7 am Sunday morning, and then commenced the roughest walk home of my life. All I wanted to do was sleep. I got home and fell asleep before 8, and I didn't wake up until 5:30 pm Sunday. Yikes. My host brothers heard my bedroom door open and all looked at me like I was crazy, because they thought I was still gone, because who sleeps until 5:30? Me, I guess.