Carnaval 2012

Millions of costumed people in the streets.  Dancing, running, drinking (mucho), wandering, eating...just about anything you can imagine, good and bad.  Welcome to Cádiz, home of Carnaval 2012.  What was everyone celebrating every night for a week?  

um. . . .

LIFE!!! Or something.  I asked around, and no one was really sure.  Hey, who needs a reason in the middle of February to dress up, drink a lot, and swarm the streets of a beach town?  

My costume summary:

Name: GLITTER!!

Theme: Obnoxious

Dress: Supahcheap by Blanco

Accessories: Gold mask, giant gold earrings, 

                           purple tights

Makeup: Excessive. With sparkly gold eyelashes.

Conveniently enough, I lost the cap to my gold glitter.  Obviously I couldn't store it, so I was forced to douse myself with a bottle of gold glitter.  Effect: AWESOME.

Here we have Kitty Cat, GLITTER!!,
Britney Spears/Davey Crockett combo, and Harajuku girl

The ladies and I boarded our bus at 8:30pm.  That was a party in itself, with everyone in costume and ready to go.  We arrived in Cádiz around 10, and the night's festivities were well underway already.  We followed the hordes.  It was just like a scene from Zombieland...Everyone looked crazy, everyone really was crazy, and the mob mentality that kept us walking towards the party center would have been eerie had it not been so much fun.

Madness.

The next 7 hours were spent walking around the packed streets.  People made fun of our accents, pictures were taken with a very attractive cowboy, we followed someone around because of his University of Sevilla backpack ("hey! we might know him!"), the eyelashes were left on a step somewhere, we devoured churros con chocolate, were separated, then reunited....

The night was absolutely insane.

By 4:30 in the morning, I was ready to get to my nice warm bed.  However, we still had two more hours before the bus was ready to board and take off for Sevilla.  We huddled for warmth until the glorious arrival of Number 10 was met with many tired cheers.

No matter how much fun the night was, I think my favorite part was the bus ride back.  

Silence.

Tattered costumes sprawled in bus seats.  The hour and a half ride back felt like five minutes, and it was dead calm except for my incessant cough.  "Sorry guys..."

To the right you see the world's worst photo.  At the risk of sacrificing my many manly admirers, I have stolen it from facebook and reposted it because it truly sums up my morning.  

We returned at 8am.  After a brisk walk home and a bowl of cereal, my bed welcomed me with open covers.  I slept until 2.

Success?  No question.