Carnival!
Was everything I expected it to be. Except bigger, rainier and crazier. I´ve never been much for parties like that, and I was getting over a pretty awful cold, so to be honest, I wasn´t really digging it that much. I went with the API crowd on friday and then stayed with Amanda at her friend Miguel´s house till Monday. Miguel is a really cool guy, although we aren´t quite sure how old he is, he was very hospitable and let us stay in his apartment because its just impossible to get a hotel room in cadiz at a time like that. He is a music promoter, and has the biggest collection of alphebetized cds i´ve ever seen. Needless to say, I spent about 45 minutes just standing there and staring at all the music. Absolutely ridiculous.
We arrived in Puerto de Santa Maria on friday. It´s a cute little city, close to Cadiz (about 30 minutes away) and the food there is incredible. After walking around a bit one night, Julie, some of my other API friends and I wandered into a restaurant and I got some fried fish. Of course, it didn´t occur to me to ask what type of fish it was. As soon as I started eating it, Julie suggests that perhaps its jellyfish (keep in mind that Julie does not eat fish). After being freaked out for like a minute, I realize jellyfish would not look like the way my fish looked if it was fried. At that point i didn´t really care what it was because it was absolutely amazing. I found out later that it was just Hake. Sheesh.
Saturday night, we took the API bus into Cadiz. One of the boys on the bus thought it would be a good idea to get incredibly drunk before the ride there. He started to get really belligerent and actually threatened to sue one of the program directors for accusing him of being drunk (which he clearly was). Finally he was convinced to get off the bus. He actually fell off the bus. The next morning at breakfast, he still held his ground, contending that he was not drunk and that the API directors were at fault. People never cease to amaze me with their stupidity.
The actual party on Saturday was pretty intense. I cannot believe that people actually party for an extended period of time like that. As Juan said, (while dressed as a nun, putting on hot pink lipstick) ¨Carnival is like a marathon, not a sprint. If you sprint you will just die.¨ Incredible.
I have to say though, I´m glad I stayed and went out on sunday night as well. To make the comparison, Saturday was like a crazy drunken frat costume party except outside in the rain in the middle of a city. Sunday was like a normal party with music, political satire and more culture. Although it was still madness. Getting a cab back to Miguel´s was a nightmare, as you can probably imagine. No matter where you are, trying to hail a cab at 4am is never much fun. It´s even less fun when you´re cold and grumpy and there´s a three hour wait.
On Monday we walked around Cadiz, it was beautiful out, not quite as cold as it was during the weekend. We walked along the water, had some afternoon tapas and pizza and then took in some sun on the beach. Very nice. We took a late bus to Sevilla and then another from Sevilla to Granada. Got back to Granada at about 3am to find that the building had changed the locks on the front door. My cell phone was dead at that point and I didn´t know where to go. So I just wandered over to a friend´s house and spent the night there. What crappy luck!
I have some cute pictures and I will be uploading them as soon as I can fix my laptop.
We arrived in Puerto de Santa Maria on friday. It´s a cute little city, close to Cadiz (about 30 minutes away) and the food there is incredible. After walking around a bit one night, Julie, some of my other API friends and I wandered into a restaurant and I got some fried fish. Of course, it didn´t occur to me to ask what type of fish it was. As soon as I started eating it, Julie suggests that perhaps its jellyfish (keep in mind that Julie does not eat fish). After being freaked out for like a minute, I realize jellyfish would not look like the way my fish looked if it was fried. At that point i didn´t really care what it was because it was absolutely amazing. I found out later that it was just Hake. Sheesh.
Saturday night, we took the API bus into Cadiz. One of the boys on the bus thought it would be a good idea to get incredibly drunk before the ride there. He started to get really belligerent and actually threatened to sue one of the program directors for accusing him of being drunk (which he clearly was). Finally he was convinced to get off the bus. He actually fell off the bus. The next morning at breakfast, he still held his ground, contending that he was not drunk and that the API directors were at fault. People never cease to amaze me with their stupidity.
The actual party on Saturday was pretty intense. I cannot believe that people actually party for an extended period of time like that. As Juan said, (while dressed as a nun, putting on hot pink lipstick) ¨Carnival is like a marathon, not a sprint. If you sprint you will just die.¨ Incredible.
I have to say though, I´m glad I stayed and went out on sunday night as well. To make the comparison, Saturday was like a crazy drunken frat costume party except outside in the rain in the middle of a city. Sunday was like a normal party with music, political satire and more culture. Although it was still madness. Getting a cab back to Miguel´s was a nightmare, as you can probably imagine. No matter where you are, trying to hail a cab at 4am is never much fun. It´s even less fun when you´re cold and grumpy and there´s a three hour wait.
On Monday we walked around Cadiz, it was beautiful out, not quite as cold as it was during the weekend. We walked along the water, had some afternoon tapas and pizza and then took in some sun on the beach. Very nice. We took a late bus to Sevilla and then another from Sevilla to Granada. Got back to Granada at about 3am to find that the building had changed the locks on the front door. My cell phone was dead at that point and I didn´t know where to go. So I just wandered over to a friend´s house and spent the night there. What crappy luck!
I have some cute pictures and I will be uploading them as soon as I can fix my laptop.
posted by Jessica | 4:39 PM
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