Karneval!

4 days at Karneval in Cologne put 4 years of college partying to shame. 

Actually we celebrated Karneval for 5 days, but as a group decided that Sunday was a day for Holy (shit we need to recover) rest.

Before I get to the picture filled description, allow me to shed some light on the history of this ridiculous tradition.

Karneval can be mostly equated to the celebration of Mardi Gras in the US, but if you think Mardi Gras is a debauchery, then don't even bother coming to Europe. Karneval is celebrated traditionally throughout the catholic states and countries in Europe, and traditions vary by location, but generally speaking Karneval marks the week before Lent where people dress up like crazy lunatics, drink themselves silly and make it all official by having a parade.

In Cologne, the season of Karnval begins at 11:11 on the 11th of November, and except for a small blip in costumed madness to make room for mulled wine drinking at christmas time, the Köllners party right on up until 11:11am on the Thursday before lent, where the party immediately crescendos into absolute chaos and culminates in a big parade on "Rose Monday".

This Thursday before lent is also called "old woman's day"which commemorates the day in 1824 when washer women stormed the City Hall, cut off all the men's ties, and were able to kiss any man that passed by. Traditionally people are supposed to wear old women's costumes on this day, but I wore a cowboy outfit and refrained from cutting anyone's ties. Also, I think the rule of being able to kiss anyone that passes by applies to ALL of the days of Karneval... which is a whole 'nother story.

So without further ado: the documentation. (PS- note to any possible future employer: this is merely part of the scholarly process of the Fulbright program... my decision to partake in to-be-mentioned activities is more or less mandatory to my cultural education.)

This is what the main streets looked like at 11:11. See what I mean by chaos?

Half of the fulbright group at "AltMarkt" which is right in front of the Rathouse for 11:11 on "old women's day" Please take note of the crazy people dressed in outfits such as "green-swirly-suit". This is standard attire for the week.

After ceremonious confetti was thrown and typical Cologne songs were sung at 11:11 we set off for a day of adventures. We stopped for a while to listen/dance to traditional Karnevals songs played by the band "jød Jék" on this street corner. It was around 11:30, we started drinking around 7:30am and little did we know, this was just the beginning.

Yes, the party continued into the afternoon... (this is Zülpischer Straße where all the bars are... note the seriousness of people's costumes. They do NOT kid around here...)

And deep into the night. I saved this image as "Karneval summed up on one shot". Yup. That's about right.

We did take a break to recover and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL spring weather on Friday (notice Marie looking fully functional in the blue)

But the party started up again promptly around 5:00. This time with a costume change. In this picture Marie is sporting an impressively self-made "Kinder schoko bon-bon" costume, Morgan is a baby who needs help with her bib, Soufian--marie's roommate--is being decorated as a clown by Surin Lee (a lady bug) who made the trek all the way from the U. S of A to take part in these shenanigans. Well done, Surin. I was the  swedish ski jumper taking the photo.

This pattern of Drink, sleep (ish), eat and recover, drink, party continued all the way until the Rosen Montag parade where we summoned up all of our remaining energy to wake up early (6:30 am) hydrate ourselves with some Kölle Wasser (beer), stake out a place in front of the Dom in Cologne, and wait for massive amounts of chocolate and roses to be thrown in our direction. I'd show you pictures, but they are on Marie's camera. MARIE--IF YOU ARE READING THIS PUT YOUR PICTURES UP SO I CAN SHARE THEM!

And that's about it for Karneval. I came home on Tuesday and had to prepare for several lessons, apply to several jobs, and be a real person again. I pushed right through that too, and now I'm sitting on my couch completely defeated by a cold. Go figure. It's not like I wasn't utterly disrespectful of my body for the last week or anything...

Happy Lenten season!

Love,

Meredith