Last weekend of Carnaval

The last weekend of Carnaval, the 24th and all of 25th (Saturday and Sunday)


The last weekend of Carnaval and I attended it in full force. Saturday night I went back with a program called Discover Sevilla to go to the night festivities. I will admit I was with a bunch of Americans so I expected the night to be really different, but not like it was. The streets of Cadiz were not filled, there was a stage with a group singing for a concert when we showed up at 12:30 but I think there was around 200 people, including us. I was pretty disappointed. The streets still had people in costumes, the botellons, and the groups pounding on drums with crowds watching intently- but it just wasn’t the same.

I met a lot of people still and, more then last time, I would actually think about hanging out with them again. It was toward the end of the night that I met a lot more groups of interesting people and this was when I was with a girl that I met under bad circumstances. One girl that is from my program had her 21st birthday that night so she was ready to party. It was around 2 am that we got the call that she was in one of the infirmary huts they had set up around the city for people who got way too drunk. There was a bunch of us that went to check on her but they wouldn’t let anyone in with her. There was another group of students who’d a friend get drunk as well but she was so bad they had to send her to the hospital, mine only needed a bed to sleep on and some pills.

I met a girl while waiting outside the hut and both of us deciding there wasn’t much else we could do for our friends we began to walk back down the streets to dance to the drums. It was this point of the night that the evening got interesting We went to a plaza where there was a big stage and a bunch of drunk males dressed as skanky nurses. We were standing there talking to the directors of Discover Sevilla when one man, I would say around 32 years old, walked over and without missing a step he kissed me on the cheek and continued to the other side of the plaza- I was stunned and impressed he did it that smoothly and so were all the people around me. I would later learn that he was really drunk and would get even more aggressive later- he actually had the audacity to tell me that I was a dumb American and that his slurred English was better then my Spanish- I’d had to make him tell me this in Spanish because I couldn’t understand him in English. It wasn’t until both my friend and I had each pushed him off of us at least once each that we got away from him.

We walked through the crowd and came to a side street where we could relax for a moment and met our next group of guys. They were from Sevilla and one was very knowledgeable about the US. They really wanted to go to California and get a camper and drive to New York- far fetched I know but if they succeeded what a story they would have to tell.

Through the night we kept meeting a group of guys that were really nice and fun to talk to, I am telling you there was barely any one there. The last time we ran into them we were on our way back to find the bus and were worried we would miss the bus. They kindly gave us directions and their number so if we did miss our ride we could go with them, which was really nice of them!

We made it back to Sevilla (with a bus load of drunk people- but thankfully very little puking) around 6 I was in bed by 6:30 and then up at 9:00 to a ringing phone and a phone call from Mario.

SUNDAY 25th

I got ready in 10 minutes and was out the door to go to Cadiz again with Mario, his mom, his brother- Danny, and his sister Mercedes (Merci). Needless to say, I slept in the car on the way down.

I loved this day because it involved more of the people and the traditional singing for Carnaval. With Mario his mom and sister we walked around the plazas filled with people and watched these floats pulled by tractors pulled around the city. The choral groups (mostly men because their voices are deeper and the type of songs they sing are accapella except for a guitar- depending on the group and a couple baritones are there just to help with the sound). They were all dressed in costumes for a theme and always happy and go lucky. There songs were amazing and Mario told me that they practice all year for these few days of full singing.

We had a hard time finding a place to eat so when we did stop (and his mom and sister weren’t wining that it was too packed or the food didn’t look sanitary) we ate at a bar that served mainly seafood and together shared two tapas: calamari and some type of fish pieces called huvos (I think) well to say we shared is a lie- we agreed they were gross and allowed the waiter to rip us off on them. Later Mario’s mom told her son, Danny what happened and he bought from one of the street vendors two bocadillos for us to share and two fantas. (this was a very stressful time - and hard to be a visitor with this family when tensions are high like this). The night ended well though because we found Danny’s float and listened to his group sing songs to their brother group of Cadiz. Danny’s group, (all the members are from Sevilla so they are called the Sevilla group) sang on foot and the Cadiz group sang from a float. It was a heartwarming scene for all the spectators. I was standing squished in between a couple people and next to the Sevilla group so it was expecially neat for me. The Sevilla group ended up singing songs about brotherhood and about Cadiz to the other group and by the end the Cadiz group was wiping away tears. The Cadiz group was doing it back and at the end of most of their songs they said “la Guerra de Cadi” which I think they were referring to the war all andalucians face together. Danny even had a solo in one of the songs and I was really impressed how well he did- I guess he is pretty famous in Andalucia and does flamenco too!

I should explain some more about these groups now. There were two different types of groups that perform for spectators. The first is the groups like Danny’s that has over 20 people that practice all year long and get on floats and stop at intersections where there is a lot of people to perform a compilation of songs they bought individuals who write the songs just for Carnaval. I think they perform new songs every year. Also they all dress up in a theme and when I say dress up they go all out.

The other type of performers I had a hard time getting pictures of because they don’t ride floats are usually 4-7 people. They sing accapella or have some members that carry drums. They sing but they sings songs that are more funny and colloquial and relate to their costumes. I watched a group perform on a stage before the floats started wandering the streets that were dressed up in military paraphernalia and sang about homosexuals and Franco and the military. I understood what they were saying just because Mario stood next to me and whispered the theme of each song and defined words I didn’t know.

Two other smaller groups I watched was a group of Indians that when I first saw them I really thought they only had loincloths on and feathers and drums. Their costumes were really neat and I wish I had been able to get a picture- oh well. The last group was a group of four ladies that made fun of women’s role in society. They were dressed in furs, and makeup, and short blonde wigs, jewelry and gave the impression of a rich snob. They sang about making men do what they want without making it obvious they had control. I understood their songs a lot better then any of the other groups- I think it was because there was less of them and they didn’t use colloquial Andalu vocabulary.

We drove back to Sevilla a little cold because the sun had set but content. Mercedi and I listened to songs on each other’s IPODs and we passed an accident on the way back that slowed traffic but not a lot really happened. I was pretty tired and ended up getting back to my piso and falling asleep immediately- well after a talk with Anne of course :)