I am currently in class on Monday morning as I write this entry. This was quite the interesting weekend. Cadiz and Carnival were definitely almost exactly what I imagined- it was fun for the first few hours but at around 3am I was ready to go home and get into my bed. But our train didn't leave the Cadiz train station until 5:10am. Worst of all, we couldn't wait inside the train station because they didn't open up until 4:10. It sucked! But on a more positive note- I am glad I went. It was crazy and there were thousands of people in the plazas, streets, and cafes (and really anywhere else they could fit). But let me start from the beginning.
It was really fun getting ready- we were all dressed pretty crazily. I wore a red wig and fake eyelashes and a crazy dress. I would show you pictures but I'll explain that part when I get to it. We were running late because we're a house of five women. Someone said it would be really quick to walk to the train station from our house- only about 20 minutes. It took about 35 minutes to walk, quickly, and we had people whistling at us on the way. We finally get there and the station is crowded. We were told by everyone (including our professors) that the train is free if you are dressed up... they were wrong. On the line to the tracks they begin checking bags for alcohol. Me, the most sly of us all, had a bottle of alcohol in my bag. The second they check my bag and ask me to hand over my bottle. I try to be quick and show them my water bottle. Then they ask for more and I say, "OK, I have some- Here take it!" - I was scared of these Spanish speaking police officers! I felt bad but my roommates said it was okay- the situation sucked but apparently I could have just put it back under my jacket and they would have let me go. Oh well, probably not worth it to get in trouble in SPAIN!
So we finally make it onto the train and find seats. About five minutes after I sit down, a cracked-out man (literally) starts asking me for hash. Whenever I don't want to speak to someone, I just say "no comprendo" and look away. He stops bothering me for a while. The train is insane, everyone is screaming and making loud noises with strange instruments, laughing, smoking, smoking pot, and eventually smoking crack under jackets- on the train! It was disgusting and nauseating and we were not very excited for this new adventure called Carnivale.
So we get into the train station after 2.5 hours on the train and make our way to the exit. From what I could tell Cadiz looks like a beautiful city. It is on the water, has a port full of cruise ships, and architecture that resembles Sevilla. All the restaurants and cafes are opened with outdoor bars where they have bocadillos, beers, and hard liqueur. It isn't very crowded when we first arrive but with each hour, new hundreds of people make their ways into the plaza. The main plaza is very similar to the big plaza in Sevilla- with the cathedral and shops, and even the same sandwich place: 100 mondaditos.
We met Spaniards, Americans, French, Irish- people from all over. It was fun until it wasn't and we wanted to get home. I would love to post pictures from this crazy excursion but on the trip home I accidently deleted my memory card. I freaked out but I only lost the pictures from this night and my birthday night. It's not the end of the world. I'll try to find someone else with pictures. We got back to our house, after struggling to find a cab, at around 8am. I was not a happy camper at this point and I was probably miserable to be around. My conclusion after this experience- I'm glad I went but I would NEVER do it again.
The end.
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