ALAAF! Those were the words I heard early on Thursday morning as we put on wigs and prepared to hand out candy to the children of Bonn. We were going to be participating in the Women’s Karneval Day parade, historically featuring the “Washer-Woman Princess.” I didn’t realize how long the parade was and I gave out too much “kamelle” (candy) at first, so I ran out in the first 10 minutes and felt bad for the children that didn’t get any.
After that, the weekend was not dedicated Karneval, but rather studying for Genetics and getting ahead in school. I also went to an Ernst Ludwig Kirchner art exhibit at the Bundeskunsthalle art museum. I was not familiar with his work before, but I learned that it could pretty much be summarized by one theme- naked women.
On the last and biggest day of Karneval, Rosen Montag (Rose Monday), I ventured out to Cologne. We got there early to find a good spot on the parade route because we knew it was gonna be huuuugeee. Everyone was dressed up in ridiculous costumes and it was just an overall great time. Karneval in Cologne was absolutely wild; millions of people came out to celebrate, even though it was a rainy day. Generally, I’ve observed that Germans are more reserved and don’t really go too crazy in public, but it was fun to see them let loose for the weekend. My favorite part is when “The Modeste Song” (about Anthony Modeste, who plays for FC Koln) comes on and everyone goes belligerent.
By 3 pm, however, I was ready to get outta there. It was really stressful because I got separated from my group, who had my train ticket, and I only had 2 euros to my name so I couldn’t afford to buy another one. I couldn’t find my friends in the masses of people, so I decided that I would get on the train and hope that I wasn’t going to get asked for my ticket and get charged a 300 euro fine. Fortunately, right as I got to the platform, I spotted a rainbow clown afro and realized that it was more friends, so I just rode back to Bonn with them, and therefore concluded my Karneval experience.
In the end, teeth were lost and pants were ripped, but that’s Karneval, baby.
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