We Survived Cádiz Carnaval
I am happy to report that Skye and I successfully stayed up all night this past Saturday to participate in the festivities of carnaval in Cádiz. This festival was certainly a once-in-a-lifetime event with satirical music groups and hilarious costumes on every street corner. However, I think we both agreed that we never feel the need to revisit Cádiz during carnaval. Once was more than enough...
Before I dive into the highlights and lowlights of the weekend, a little overview of last week. Last Monday marked the halfway point of my job in Motril and I started in with the cohort of younger students. All of class periods consisted of a "Get to Know Me" presentation and TONS of questions about my life, my family, and my hobbies. I received at least one "Are you married?" and "Do you have kids?" question per class and they truly seemed bamboozled that my answer for both was no. I suppose 22 seems ancient when you're 6.
The first through third graders are adorable and have the funniest mannerisms, but I was missing my older students by the second day. Thankfully, I still get to see my sixth graders once per week and that time really reminds me that I am not indeed crazy. This switch has given me a new appreciation for people who are able to work all day everyday with young kids.
After four days of interacting with little humans during my work day and while nannying Olivia, I was in desperate need of some normal conversations. Skye, Victoria, and I grabbed a drink Thursday night and this time together was truly recharging. We see each other almost everyday at the gym but it was lovely to take some dedicated time to talk without distraction.
This Friday was a rare rainy day in Motril so after body pump, Skye and I took advantage of the poor weather by shopping for our carnaval costumes. We came to a very last minute decision that she would be one of the heist group members from the popular show La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). I pivoted my original Men in Black costume to that of the main female investigator from the series.
I spent the rest of the day resting up and getting prepped for our trip to Cádiz! I had some lessons plans to get ready and Sophie, Lauren, and I got all cozy to watch some El Internado in the afternoon.
The next morning Skye and I hopped into a Blablacar headed to Granada looking very out of place in our costumes. The rainy weather had continued into Saturday and we were both crossing our fingers that it would stop before we got to carnaval. I was nervous for what the next 24 ish hours would bring, and was hoping everything would go smoothly.
Upon arriving in Granada we picked up a much needed (very large) bottle of water each and waited to be let on to the bus. It was so amusing and entertaining to see all of the groups of people in their costumes. And, Spanish people don't mess around when it comes to dressing up. Every group had committed fully to their costume and it was awesome to see!
We choose our seats, received our club tickets from the bus leader, and were on our way to Cádiz! I think we were the only English speakers on the bus which made for a quiet ride to the rest stop.
About two hours into the drive, the caravan of buses from Granada stopped in a random rest area to host a botellón. This word is usually reserved for gatherings of Spanish youths who buy a bottle of liquor and soda to split. However, we were given tinto de verano and "partied" in the Burger King parking lot. It doesn't get much more Spanish than this...
After our carnaval introduction, we hopped back on the bus with Cádiz as our destination. There were strikes happening all over Spain this weekend and we had to take some very windy back roads to avoid the tractor road blocks on the highway. The scenery was stunning but the many curves and torrential rain made for an interesting drive.
Right as we were arriving in Cádiz, I remembered that Skye and I had purchased glow sticks the day before with the sole intent of using them to make friends. We frantically got them bracelet-ready and gave some to our bus neighbors who were overjoyed with the gift. This purchase ended up being one of the highlights of the night: we made many a glowstick friend :)
The two of us exited the bus and went straight to meet up with our friends Clare and Sophie who are both language assistants in Málaga. This was my first time meeting the Scot of the group, Sophie, and we hit it off right away!
Our group went on the hunt for some food that would fuel our all-night adventure and we ended up with some very mediocre, but filling, sandwiches. We ate them overlooking the ocean right after the sunset and it was lovely.
After refuelling, we toured the smaller streets and crowded plazas trying to get our bearings and explore all the carnaval festivities. Some of the most memorable costumes I saw were barnacles, mops, and Elivs Presley. They really ran the whole gambit.
We wandered into the main plaza of San Antonio where they were setting up a stage for one of group concerts. The four of us met a group of Spaniards and they tried to explain what the coro (chorus) was going to be preforming that night. Unfortunately, none of our Spanish is at the level where we can understand and appreciate satirical song lyrics so the magic of the concert was lost on us. It was still very entertaining to watch a group of adults dressed as sea creatures singing their hearts out however.
Once we had our fill of the music, we headed to another plaza and on the way we bumped into a group of American students we had run into earlier. We ended up spending the next three hours chatting with them on the streets and it was a blast! It was nice to have some less intense time during our all nighter and I think that these few hours were my favorite of the night.
Our much larger group went to Plaza Minas to check out the happenings over there and some of the boys and I ended up joining in on some tarzan vine swinging. It took almost all of my arm strength to hold myself on the tree vine, but it was so fun! Another highlight for sure :)
We said goodbye to our new friends and headed to the club...at this point we still had four hours till the bus was headed back to Granada. Sophie and I were in desperate need of getting off our feet, so we sat at a vacant table in the barroom while Clare and Skye got us all a round of drinks. The club setup seemed more like a concert venue than a club but we eventually made our way to the dance floor and had a good time.
One of my favorite things from the entire experience was watching peoples reaction to Skye's mask. For a majority of the time, she would wear it on the back of her head and people kept getting the surprise of their life when she would turn around and they could see that wasn't her face. Their reactions never got old to me and we all took videos to commemorate this unplanned aspect of her costume.
At around 4:45 am we left the club to get some food before making our way (finally!) back to the bus. It felt refreshing to be outside and away from the crowds of people but I just wanted to be home at this point.
The bus ride home was thankfully not very eventful and I was able to sleep better than I was anticipating. Skye and I did have to run to catch our Blablacar home (THANK YOU Walid for waiting for us!!!) but we made it!
I spent the rest of my Sunday sleeping, getting some chores done, and Facetiming my college friends :) I have never been more relieved to be home and in my bed. Staying up all night at a Spanish festival can really put some things in perspective I guess!
I have a busy travel schedule until April so I will be posting lots of updates coming up. I am really looking forward to all these new adventures and to sharing them with all of you <3
Happy Valentines Day!
Burger King botellón >>>>>>