Carnaval

Tuesday February 21, 2012

Choosing to live in the dormitories, has been one of the best decisions I have made thus far.  In our residence hall, there are eighteen American students; six guys and twelve girls with many Spanish students.  All of the Spanish students are very friendly and try to include us in their activities whether it be playing basketball or soccer or going to a Spanish club with them.  One activity we chose to accompany the Spanish students was Carnaval in Sitges.  Carnaval is equivalent to Fat Tuesday in New Orleans for Mardi Gras in the United States.  There is a parade during Carnaval but we missed most of it because the bus with the Spanish students did not get us to Sitges until about 11:30 P.M.    The majority of people attending are aged 18-25, so it was definitely a younger crowd.  Almost all the people who attended Sitges wore a costume.

As you can see below this is a picture of some of the American students who attended Sitges from the dormitory.

Here is a picture of a float during the parade, I really wish we would have arrived earlier to see the parade.  The part of the parade we did get to see was amazing!

More pictures from the end of the parade....

A picture with the American students near the beach during Sitges.

A picture during the night of the beautiful town of Sitges.

Sitges was absoultely packed with people, definitely one of my favorite experiences in Spain thus far.

Below is another picture of what the streets of Sitges looked like during Carnaval.

Overall, Sitges was a great experience and I am really glad I participated in Carnaval even though I had a midterm the next day.  Sitges was definitely one of my favorite experience so far since being in Europe.  I have never been to New Orleans for Fat Tuesday during Mardi Gras, so I had no idea of what to expect...safe to say we had a great time at Sitges!