This past Sunday, CeCe went to her first Carnaval parade. We did too.
By pure coincidence, we arrived in Merida just as the local week-long version of Carnaval was beginning. Like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnaval in Brazil, Carnaval in Merida it is an oversized celebration that the locals take quite seriously. Given the nearby Mayan ruin Chichen Itza’s recent induction into the New Seven Wonders of the World, Carnaval’s theme in Merida this year is: The Wonders of the World.
Even though we missed it, we especially liked the concept behind Carnaval’s kick-off “The Burning of the Bad Moods,” in which a life-sized doll, representing bad moods and bad humor, is publicly burned. (And actually, it’s very reminiscent of a Colombian New Year’s tradition in which small, straw dolls representing bad feelings are burned on New Year’s Eve as a way of moving on.)
While we opted for some of the more pedestrian, family-friendly fare (parades and people watching during the day) we could hear the nocturnal music and debauchery from various parties and over 20 music stages scattered all over the city. The accompanying partying and dancing in the streets lasted into the wee hours of the night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Instead of going to all the parties, we opted to for a dip in our pool and a little dancing in the kitchen with CeCe. She has rhythm!
Speaking of Carolina, she has made many new friends here. On Sunday in the Zocolo (main plaza), thousands of people turned out for the parade that was to start at noon. In classic Mexican form, we got our first glimpse of the parade at 2:00ish, so Carolina spent the better part of the afternoon smiling, waving, babbling, and generally flirting with every man, woman and child who looked in her general direction. It seems she really shines when she knows she has an audience—and today she had her largest audience ever. Of course, we spent the better part of two hours coming up with all sorts of “fun” things to distract her: a bottle WITH a cap! A pair of sunglasses! A pinwheel purchased from a balloon lady for $2! Spoons! Sugar packets! You know, fun stuff like you have in your backpack. It was a brutal wait.
But finally the floats started to make their way around the plaza. While the parade at first appeared to be one large product placement for Coca Cola (the first four floats were Coca Cola-sponsored and gave away Coca Cola t-shirts, mugs and bottles of Coca Cola) it eventually morphed into a more wide-ranging parade with elaborate costumes, loud music, dancing, and several rather scary-looking clowns. There was also a popular “tele novela” star atop one of the floats, which caused a raucous chorus of high-pitched screams from hordes of young Mexican women in the crowd. CeCe just batted her eyes at him.
Unfortunately, we had to leave the parade early, as we were about 2 ½ hours late for Ce’s nap. So we took our pinwheel and let it spin in the breeze on our way home. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
By pure coincidence, we arrived in Merida just as the local week-long version of Carnaval was beginning. Like Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Carnaval in Brazil, Carnaval in Merida it is an oversized celebration that the locals take quite seriously. Given the nearby Mayan ruin Chichen Itza’s recent induction into the New Seven Wonders of the World, Carnaval’s theme in Merida this year is: The Wonders of the World.
Even though we missed it, we especially liked the concept behind Carnaval’s kick-off “The Burning of the Bad Moods,” in which a life-sized doll, representing bad moods and bad humor, is publicly burned. (And actually, it’s very reminiscent of a Colombian New Year’s tradition in which small, straw dolls representing bad feelings are burned on New Year’s Eve as a way of moving on.)
While we opted for some of the more pedestrian, family-friendly fare (parades and people watching during the day) we could hear the nocturnal music and debauchery from various parties and over 20 music stages scattered all over the city. The accompanying partying and dancing in the streets lasted into the wee hours of the night on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Instead of going to all the parties, we opted to for a dip in our pool and a little dancing in the kitchen with CeCe. She has rhythm!
Speaking of Carolina, she has made many new friends here. On Sunday in the Zocolo (main plaza), thousands of people turned out for the parade that was to start at noon. In classic Mexican form, we got our first glimpse of the parade at 2:00ish, so Carolina spent the better part of the afternoon smiling, waving, babbling, and generally flirting with every man, woman and child who looked in her general direction. It seems she really shines when she knows she has an audience—and today she had her largest audience ever. Of course, we spent the better part of two hours coming up with all sorts of “fun” things to distract her: a bottle WITH a cap! A pair of sunglasses! A pinwheel purchased from a balloon lady for $2! Spoons! Sugar packets! You know, fun stuff like you have in your backpack. It was a brutal wait.
But finally the floats started to make their way around the plaza. While the parade at first appeared to be one large product placement for Coca Cola (the first four floats were Coca Cola-sponsored and gave away Coca Cola t-shirts, mugs and bottles of Coca Cola) it eventually morphed into a more wide-ranging parade with elaborate costumes, loud music, dancing, and several rather scary-looking clowns. There was also a popular “tele novela” star atop one of the floats, which caused a raucous chorus of high-pitched screams from hordes of young Mexican women in the crowd. CeCe just batted her eyes at him.
Unfortunately, we had to leave the parade early, as we were about 2 ½ hours late for Ce’s nap. So we took our pinwheel and let it spin in the breeze on our way home. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
1 comment:
Sounds incredible, much more interesting than the cold, gray, MN scene! Have fun & drink it all in!
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