Carnaval in Spain is similar to Halloween in the United States, with a little bit of County Fair mixed in as well. Carnaval doesn't really have any religious or racial practices, but I googled it to make sure (of course). According to good old Wikipedia, it used to be the time that villages got rid of all their rich foods and party attitudes before lent started. Makes sense.
Each city has its own Carnaval, and they are not all at the same time. This works out really well cause then you can go to multiple Carnavales and party for a good week or two! For example, we went out for Carnaval twice in Portugal, and then came back and celebrated it in Oviedo the next weekend. In this sense it is kind of like a fair. There are also people in the streets with handmade "booths" set up selling toys, stuffed animals, balloons, confetti, etc. However, unlike the fair, everyone dresses up. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone-this event is not limited to children. In this way it's better than Halloween, believe it or not. There is no judgement if you have on a full, ridiculous costume and you are in your 60s. In fact, it's almost expected. For caring so much about appearance, it amazed me that these people got so into it! They all looked ridiculous, and the more ridiculous the better! I loved it! It also wasn't all about being slutty for the girls-I'm talking LEGIT costumes. Also, everyone is in a great mood and you can't help but laugh along with them since it's so contagious.
The parade for Carnaval in Oviedo started right up the street from my house, which was amazingly awesome since nothing ever happens close to my house haha. I walked up to the top and met Laura, Chloe, Megan, and Laura's new Spanish friend, Nacho. We watched the parade and took pictures, and it was SUCH a beautiful day :) We then followed the parade to the cathedral plaza, where there was a stage and fireworks set up. By this time we were getting tired of standing around, so we went to a nearby cafe and learned some slang and cuss words from Nacho, then taught him some of only the most useful phrases in English (hehe). Nacho went home cause he's from a neighboring city, and then Megan, Laura, and I went out for a bit.
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| Pairs of animals following Noah's Ark |
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| Pairs of animals following Noah's Ark |
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| More animals following Noah's Ark. These ones are full on adults haha. |
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| Noah's Ark! This with all its animals was my favorite-so cute :) |
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| Smurfs (my apartment building is the tan one on the left) |
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| Turtles. On skateboards. |
:)
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