Carnaval

This is a rather important Spanish holiday which actually is celebrated in many other places around the world, so I wanted to make a short post outlining the important stuff.

Carnaval, also known as Mardi Gras, has a religious history, taking place during the week leading up to Lent. Although it does not always imply the same connotations nowadays, it is widely celebrated with a diverse set of customs.

Here in Madrid, what is typical to celebrate is to go out with some friends maybe to a discoteca or a bar dressed up. People, if they are going out, usually dress up like during Halloween.

I, unfortunately, was not able to celebrate Carnaval with my new Spanish friends in my town of Tres Cantos. The weekend of Carnaval, which also happened to coincide with the weekend of the Super Bowl and Chinese New Year, I had an obligatory orientation in Galapagar, a little bit north of my town.

To make up for the fact that we had to miss the celebrations, they threw us a mini party and we all dressed up as hippies. Although it was sad to miss out on the fun in Tres Cantos, I got to meet some other exchange students from Greenland, Thailand, China, the Philippines, Denmark, and tons of other cool places.