Carnivale!

Not even a week since we got back, and I've already got pictures! Wow!

So...not much to say specifically about Carnivale, except it was a TON of fun. Most of you know I went to school in New Orleans and so I've experienced a little bit of Fat Tuesday already. And some of you know how much I disliked Mardi Gras proper in New Orleans - too crowded too many tourists, too many people spilling beer on you etc. But the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras were awesome, just the locals celebrating their favorite holiday.

Carnivale in Cape Verde is like that, the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras. The people that live here far out number the tourists, although quite a few Cape Verdeans who live abroad take this opportunity to come home and visit friends and family. We heard a bit more english than we are used to, but it wasn't overwhelming. Just like you'd expect there were dancers in the streets, music, drumming, and really awesome huge floats. But there weren't a zillion people, so you could move around, you could walk fairly easily to get some food or a drink, and people in general were pretty awesome.

We arrived late on Sunday, but in enough time to have dinner at this fabulous little Italian restaraunt - gnocci in 4 cheese sauce anyone? Plus sangria, which was delicious. Some folks made it out that night but me and Josh were zonked, so we made it an early night.

Monday was a blast - we dressed up in our Burner best and turned lots of heads (who wouldn't in a fluffy rainbow tutu?). Things were mostly happening at night, so we headed for schwarma and pizza and then to the praca to party. After the parades and dancing started to let up, we opted to hit a warehouse party out by the beach bar...and were we glad we did!! Many of you know how much Josh and I loved techno and electronic music at home, especially when we could dance our butts off til dawn, and since we've gotten here we haven't had much of an opportunity to do so (at the discos they mostly play zuke, which is repetative slow dancing and for me, not something I enjoy). So we coughed up the money, enjoyed the open bar (some of us more than others *cough* Josh *cough*) and danced til about 4am. The music was stellar, the vibe was awesome, I got down with a "naughty nun" (oh how I wish we'd had our camera) and it was just a great night over all. Then someone needed help getting home and good samaratin that I am, everyone arrived safely at their respective destinations.

Tuesday was the big day, and the parades started around 2. We were totally exhausted from the night before but made it in time. A big group of us from Santo Antao all dressed like cave people and had a fantastic time dancing in the streets (seriously, every time the drums started, we started dancing, and every time Josh started dancing, everyone stopped and watched us and joined in - it was really cool). The parades stopped around 6 or 7, and we headed home cause we were cold in our rags and loin cloths. We had planned on hitting the Hotel Mindelo for a later party, but instead we crashed. We needed it.

Wednesday was amazing. We hit the beach around 11 and spent the whole day getting fried there. The weather was awesome, there was a great breeze, the chicken at the beach bar was delicious...it completely felt like we were on vacation....that ended too soon :o(

The pics tell the story way better than I can, so without further adu...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doveandjoshua/sets/72157614760589554/

C took a bunch of video clips, so once I put all those together I'll get them on line. Enjoy!