Semestre en Sevilla: Carnaval de Cádiz

...AKA the biggest party I've ever attended! Last weekend most of our group travelled to Cádiz, another city in Andalucía located on the beach, for its annual famed festival, Los carnavales! While I found Cádiz to be beautiful, and I have several friends who have studied there in several programs and fallen in love, I must admit that I got to know the city itself very little in this weekend trip. Carnaval takes over the ENTIRE city and EVERYONE participates, so my time there was decided to immersing myself in the crowds and festivities. I definitely plan to return for the beaches, the history, and the city itself later in the semester :)

So, Carnaval. From what I understand, it was the only festival that Franco was not able to abolish during his dictatorial regime, which is a pretty strong reputation. Spain loves its festivals and its fiestas, and Carnaval is one of the biggest and the favorites. Los carnavales lasts about two weeks long and entails several singing group competitions, a great deal of political and satirical representations and humor, costumes, and drinking. The more formal competitions and such take place during the week to my understanding, but during the weekend the entire city is filled with ciudadanos and tourists alike taking to the streets in costume (picture a giant block party on Halloween...kind of?). One of the highlights of this fiesta is the chirigotas, singing groups that aren't competing but go around the city giving funny, lighthearted and satirical performances. Chirigotas have an iconic manner of singing. very animated and like telling a story, that's so enjoyable to watch! I think I can put videos on this thing...let's see.

Unless this ^ miraculously works (after telling me it failed) I suppose that I can't :( I'll post extra pictures but they won't be able to capture it!

A chirigota of high school aged guys

They kicked us off the steps we were sitting on to perform, but did a great job!

Although I didn't get to experience much of Cádiz in itself, I had the awesome opportunity to stay with a host family there and connect with them. Originally, several people in our MundoLengua group wanted to pursue staying with a host family in Cádiz because ML also has programs there, and housing (hotels, hostels, etc) was so expensive during Carnaval. Trying to save a few euros turned into touching new relationships with a beautiful family in Cádiz that made me feel welcome and as though I belonged from the moment I set foot inside their home. Encarna y Pepe hosted Devon and myself and made our stay in the city feel incredibly comfortable. Even though I was only there for two days and one night, I'm excited to go back and see them again.

As for the actual festivities, we spent the majority of our time in Cádiz on the streets in costume, soaking everything in! The city was crawling with locals, Spaniards from other cities, and foreigners alike. I had a blast meeting new people, seeing all the costumes, listening to the chirigotas and exploring the city. Probably an experience better explained in photographs...enjoy!