Carnaval de Cádiz (el 5 de marzo)

Early Saturday morning, I wake up to my alarm at 8:20am and begin getting dressed. But it’s not any ordinary clothing I put on, but COSTUMES! Why? Because March 5 is the beginning of the one week-long famous annual Carnaval de Cádiz where political statements, crazy outfits, and drunken locura (craziness) occurs. After make-up, bocadillo (sandwich) making, and gathering together our huge group we head over to the bus pickup around 9:30am. At 11am we finally are allowed to board the bus, but during the interim we were able to see all of the other crazy costumes coming with us to Cádiz.

At 4pm we arrive at Cádiz, starved, having to pee, and with no idea where to go. After playing follow the leader with the Spaniards who had done this before, we made our way past the main plaza and through the beyond crowded and colorful streets to the supermarket to stock up on…beverages. ;p

We wandered around gawking and laughing and being gawked at, hanging near the beach. At 8pm we headed back to the bus to enjoy some shots and and regroup and partake in group insanity. This was the beginning of the turning point for me, not being a big drinker or partier, and as the night went on the streets became slick with alcohol, pee (not solely out of laziness, but because there are barely any public bathrooms in Spanish cities to begin with, and only a few port-a-potties set up here and there), and who-knows-what-else. Most every person in the city was past the point of drunk, there was no room to move and the crowd and noise simply overwhelmed me. I was forced to escape for a bit and then when I met back up with my friends we squeezed through to find food (baked potatos full of corn, black olives, cheese, shredded carrots, olive oil) and retreat to the bus and wait for the first departure.

Though at the bus we had to wait an hour, huddled up together from the wind and cool temperatures on the cold pavement. Only to discover after banging on the bus, that the driver had been sleeping in there the entire time…sigh. But we finally found warmth, soft seats, and the first bus back to Granada.

(Oddly enough once back in Granada, cleaned up and disposed of all disgusting clothing, I stayed up for the entire day, with a simple hour or two long nap in the afternoon. And I had no problem in getting back on with my life.)