It's already February, wow. This month has always been my favorite of the year, may sound crazy to all you summer lovers but February is the best! First of all, there's Valentines Day, Mardi Gras (the date varies), my birthday (28th), and last year my little nephew Harper was born on the 24th.
 |
| Me last Mardi Gras season |
According to the locals around here, Badajoz has the third best carnival in Spain after Tenerife (one of the Canary Islands) and Cadiz. I've decided to take advantage of my vacation days and travel to Dublin, Ireland instead of experiencing the carnival here just because I've done Mardi Gras before. I haven't always known what this crazy season is about though. Being from the North of the USA, I had "heard" of Mardi Gras but didn't really know how much tradition, history, and religious connections it has. I put together a presentation for my students this week to explain it to them.
Origins: Dating back to when Christianity arrived to Rome. The celebration was a prelude to lent and spread from Rome to France, Spain, Germany, England, and several other places.
Mardi Gras = (Fat Tuesday in French) because of the binging and excess consumption of meats and cheese before they were given up for lent
CARNIVAL comes from the Latin word, Carnelevarium "to remove meat" Carne is meat in Spanish.
The first Mardi Gras in New Orleans was in 1699 because some French settlers brough their traditions with them to Louisiana. When the Spanish settlers came in, they abolished the parties and they weren't revived until 1812 when LA became a state.
Traditions.....
King Cake! Yum, a delicious cinnamon flavored cake which sometimes has varied fillings. King cakes are decorated in purple, green, and yellow sprinkles or frosting to represent the colors of Mardi Gras. Purple represents Justice, Green represents Faith, and Gold represents Power.
 |
| There is a plastic baby within the King Cake (baby Jesus). After the cake is cut, whoever gets the slice with the baby has to bring the next King Cake to a party in the future (as tradition goes) |
In Spain, I saw similar cakes arrive after the 3 Kings Day. Christmas is celebrated all the way until January 6th, the day when the children get their presents from the "3 wise men". Their version of King Cakes are called Roscon de Reyes. The circle shape represents the routes the 3 wise men took to find Jesus.
 |
Un Roscon de Reyes
|
Beads & Parades in New Orleans
 |
| People throw beads at the floats in the parades |
 |
| The Muses Parades |
 |
| Zulu Coconuts |
 |
In addition to beads, my favorite trinkets to catch are the high heel shoes from the Muses parade and coconuts from Zulu
|
Other famous carnivals around the world are in; Brazil, Paris, Venice, Belgium..and the list goes on.
 |
| Venice |
 |
| Paris |
 |
| Brazil |
 |
| Brazil |
This year I'll be without a carnival but I'm off to Ireland instead!
No comments:
Post a Comment