Cadiz hosts the second or third largest Carnival celebration in the world, after Rio in Brazil. Carnival is a celebration that occurs right before lent and usually involves parades or parties. It is pretty similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans but there is regrettably no nudity involved.

On Friday, we decided to spontaneously buy round trip tickets to Granda from Cadiz. Our bus left at 12 p.m. from Granada, arriving at about 6 p.m. in Cadiz. Our return was scheduled to leave from Cadiz at 8 a.m. Sunday. There would be no sleeping involved. After buying tickets, we went to a local costume shop to buy simple costumes for our excursion. Little did we know how the extravagance of the costumes we would encounter.

We arrived at the bus stop at about 12 p.m. to a crowd of about 300 people waiting for the same busses, all dressed in crazy costumes. We boarded the bus and were surrounded by already inebriated, costume-clad Spaniards. In front of us sat a man in a Rambo costume, another man in a dress (Lady in Red?), and others which we could not quite figure out. Even though we were not allowed to bring any beverages on board, Rambo walked up and down the isle of the bus, pouring Sangria for random strangers. We decided this was a bad idea, as we had a six-hour bus ride without a bathroom.

After a quick stop, we arrived in Cadiz at about 6 p.m. and were led to the center of the city by Lady in Red and Rambo. The streets were filled with people in matching costumes. For instance, we saw groups of honey bees, Baywatch lifeguards, firefighters, sandwiches, and even mierda (uh, feces) with attached flies.

Local laws are put aside for Carnival. Drinking in the streets is actually legal during the fiesta and bars sell beer in the streets. A place where it is legal to drink outside in Spain is called a botellon. In Granada, our botellon is a large cement park on the edge of the city, behind a large department store. This would never happen in the United States, especially not in Lewisburg.

In Cadiz, the largest botellon area was on the steps of a very old cathedral. I was amazing to see thousands of people drinking on the foot of a 500-year-old religious building. While this is all going on, there were groups of performers, in costumes, singing little ditties about politics or other funny things. We met many interesting people, including a woman dressed like an elf with a loaf of bread who called herself Peter Pan. It took me a minute to realize that Pan is Spanish for bread. (Aren't those Spanish so witty?)

We enjoyed the nightlife till about 4 or 5 a.m. when things began dying down. To kill some time before our bus we went to on a walk along the Atlantic Ocean. It was really cool to be so close to my home ocean. I threw an American penny in and made a wish. I figure it couldn't hurt. I guess that is the closest I have been home in about seven weeks. Weird.

Anyway, we made it to the bus at 8 a.m. after watching the sun rise on the Atlantic, tired but well-fed on food that was sold along the streets. I fell asleep instantly and slept most of the way home. (Granada is now home. Very strange.) I then proceeded to sleep most of the day, too. It was a great experience and one of the most spontaneous things I've ever done.

These pictures were taken from Trina. Notice the wreckage. I also have these pictures set to pop-up so please turn off your pop-up blocker if you have problems.

To catch everyone else up on our lives, Thursday we went to a Flamenco performance in the Gypsy caves. As you will be able to see in the photos, the dancers danced right in front of us. Flamenco is really fun to watch. I have posted a video of a real Flamenco dancer as well as Andy Logan getting his Flamenco on.

On Friday, we hiked up a huge hill to an abbey in the Gypsy area of Granada, close to where we were the night before. I think we saw an abbey, at least. Our tour guide droned on and on and no one paid much attention. She has a habit of liking to laugh at her own jokes as well as hearing her own voice, a deadly combination in a Spanish-speaking tour guide. An hour into our excursion, I asked my fellow students where we were. No one knew. I still don't know.

On Sunday, we had an excursion that involved a hike and a spa treatment at the end. I missed the hike but was able to enjoy the spa. It was great having Bucknell pay for two hours of relaxation. I really recommend that The Plan for Bucknell be amended to include a spa. I may submit a tactit. (Relaxed students become relaxed alumni. Relaxed alumni tend to donate more to the endowment.) We also received 15-minute massages. Massages here are a bit less private than those in the United States. I don't want to talk about it.

Also, there is a Rodin exhibit in Granada in one of the plazas. His works will be sitting in the plaza till March. Rodin is the sculpture of the "Thinker." Below is a picture. Enjoy the week!