Welp, now that the sardine is supposedly buried, all the pre-Lenten wild times are officially over. Let's recap this year's festivities:
FRIDAY
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| Help! There's a wolf among us! |
Carnaval was celebrated at school with bakery and costume contests. The teachers went as sheep. It was actually fun preparing last minute, because we sewed all the outfits the day before (I say we because I actually sewed one). I was disappointed that over half of the students didn't even dress up! Why would you not take advantage of being able to wear something crazy?! There were the typical costumes of soldiers and boys in drag. Three of my older students took it a step further with outrageous outfits: black tights, a pink thong over, and just an apron and mask on top. "OMG" personified. After all, Carnaval is about being unexpected, so I guess they were on track there. Afterwards we went out for the burning of the scarecrow, this year with the face of Pequeño Nicolás.
The bakery contest was a big hit with everyone. We sampled traditional freixós, a relative of the sweet crepe. I had thought they were called filloa in Galicia, but the difference is that freixós are sweet and made of just egg, flour, and sugar while filloas technically are made with pig's blood. I have yet to try a blood filloa, in that case. After all the students left, the teachers had their annual Cocido lunch. Cocido is a variety of foods boiled together. It's common in Galicia, especially during winter. There was garbanzo beans, potatoes, greens,
butelo (meat), and
chorizo. And
orejas (like elephant ears) for more dessert!
SATURDAY
I started off the night with an alternative rock concert. Mola! Except that I went in my sheep costume and...nobody there was wearing a costume. What the heck! My roommate who is a dj and thus very familiar with the night scene told me for sure people would be dressed up. Oh well, at least I was able to take it off (it was hot anyways). Then as I was outside waiting for my friends, people would pass by and say "oh, a sheep" to each other, so I bleated at them haha. Then they would chuckle and I would chuckle and everyone was merrier. At night a good number of people were dressed up, at least in the places I went. It also adds to the fun when you see cashiers and bartenders in costume. Viva Carnaval!
SUNDAY
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| Lights shaped like Cigarrón heads |
In the afternoon we headed to Verín, Ourense which is a big town in the south of Galicia, known for its Carnaval celebrations. Unfortunately, we missed the main character there called
cigarróns, and the flour fight. But there was definitely
ambiente. There were street bands that were lots of fun and had us dancing in the street in our costumes. Also it just so happened that on the street where our hotel was, there was a sheep theme so a ton of people were also dressed as sheep. I found a new flock! One guy came up to me and in all seriousness said, "Hey, the flock is going over that way, cmon" Hahaha I've been accepted!
MONDAY
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| Belle and Tink with their punky gloves |
We headed back to Lugo in the afternoon. As we were passing through Xinzo de Limia, another town in Ourense known for it's Carnaval traditions, we glimpsed the
pantallas parading/running through the streets with their instruments of pig's bladder on sticks. So the trip south was not completely lost as far as Carnaval traditions go! At night we went out as rocker Disney, which included Ariel, Belle, Pocahontas, Tinkerbell, and Minnie Mouse. I think our outfits were top notch. This night it seemed everyone was in costume, so it was a lot of fun. We met Snow White (a dude) and the 7 dwarves. They were all so cute!!
