Karneval craziness!

I really needed this Karneval break. After the past couple of weeks that I've had, I have needed a break desperately. The AIB parade was a lot of fun. It was interesting being in the parade. That's something that I've never done before. In San Antonio we have Fiesta, which is similar to Karneval except nobody really dresses up in costumes. They usually just get dressed up in flower crowns, flowing white blouses, cowboy boots with tight jeans, spurs gear everywhere, and lots and lots of beer. A common theme between Fiesta and Karneval is the huge amounts of beer! Before I talk about the Rosen Montag parade in Cologne, I gotta mention the little trip that we took to Belgium.

We went to Brussels first, then Bruges, and then back to Brussels. I gotta say, Brussels and Bruges were not my favorite places so far. Brussels was not all that magnificent compared to Rome, Vienna, and Cologne. And it seemed very dirty and a little unsafe. That being said, I still enjoyed my time there and the people were very nice and helpful. Bruges was very very beautiful, although there wasn't much to do there for people who are on a budget. Sure there's tons to do, but only if your pocket is deep enough. I still had a nice time, and it was interesting seeing how life in Belgium is like. I couldn't get a real feel for the culture, but from what I could see was that it was a huge melting pot of cultures. There didn't seem to be a unified body of culture. It was quite the experience. Especially because I had no idea what language to learn in order to better help me speak with people. There were signs with several different languages on it, so it was difficult to see what language dominated. It seemed like French was a big one, though I'm honestly not sure if that's true. It was a fairly relaxing trip, there were no real mishaps going on. It was just a little scary going around the city at night. Lots of interesting characters seemed to come out.

Now for Rosen Montag. It was a great albeit crazy experience. Throughout the entire parade I was getting pelted with candy, rained on, yelling kamela, and dancing a good bit. All my friends were drinking and after a certain point I realized that I needed to stop drinking in case things got a little out of hand. Sure enough they did. This was the first time I've seen people drunk and in public. It was quite the sight. Eventually we needed to go home and I had to literally drag 3 fairly tipsy people all the way to the train station. It was interesting, and honestly very exciting. Although it was strange how I was taking care of people older than me. Nevertheless it was fun, and I'm glad they got to enjoy themselves to the fullest extent. We all got home safe, and it was all good. I felt pretty good about everything after I took a nap. It was definitely one of my best memories. Probably one of the most funny memories from this trip so far.