Just as German beer is twice as good as American beer, their version of Mardi Gras, Carnival, is twice as crazy. Carnival is one of the many festivals in the western world that is focused around the start of lent. The basis of the partying is to eat, drink, and indulge in the many pleasures of life before heading into the fast of lent. The words “Carne Vale” mean goodbye meat, in Latin. The night before Ash Wednesday, the people build figurative fires that burn away all of the sins that they have committed in the past week.
Our adventure started at the AIB where we all gathered and prepared for our trip to the other side of the Rhein to experience The Women’s Day where, by tradition, women storm the city and cut the ties of men which they follow with a kiss. The parade was awesome. There were floats of all sorts throwing candy and playing music. I have never seen so much drinking and overall craziness in front of a church before… welcome to Germany. After the parade, we headed to Cologne for the real party. It reminded me of back home during Mardi Gras, but minus the beads and the bead tradition. Everyone in our group had an awesome time, some much more than others… and with scars to prove.
In more recent news, I had a care package shipped to me from my family which was refused by customs. Apparently our beef in the United States is soo good that it is against German law to allow the importation of beef jerky, lest the Germans flock to America for our beef. At least that’s what I like to think. They have threatened to destroy the package via a fax in German, which took me 2 days to properly translate. I’m still working on this issue right now with my host mom but the offices are closed due to the Carnival celebrations… go figure.
Tomorrow morning we leave to Dusseldorf to see the opposite end of Carnival. Dusseldorf and Cologne are longtime rivals but both celebrate Carnival in each their own way. I’ll be trying out my new 60L backpack this weekend that I purchased today. I’m excited to see the longest bar in the world, the Altstadt, which is in Dusseldorf. Wish us luck!
Just to keep this picture in circulation:
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