Clashing Festivities

It's Carnival in Barcelona! This week I finally got a chance at celebrating the Halloween I missed out on last year and although the Catalanes don't seem to be as enthusiastic about it as I was hoping, I managed to gather a few good people and celebrate. In all honesty, it has no comparison to what I imagine Brazil's Carnival would be like or even a Halloween in San Francisco, but I still got to be an imaginary characeter for a few hours, laugh at the simple extravegance of others, witness a Chinese New Year's mini parade with firecrackers and dancing dragons right next to my house and host a friend of a friend from Brazil that currently lives in Portugal. In the end it was yet another fun filled weekend and this time with a mixture of culture, languages, and adventures in a city that always has room for one more.

On Friday, Jordi and I attacked the packed costume stores of Barcelona, trying to look for the perfect costume. We started off wanting to go as Little Red Riding Hood, Jordi would have been the wolf and his friend Albert the grandmother. Since we didn't come up with the idea until 7pm that evening, when everything was already sold out, we opted for a Flapper's dress for me, a Venetian mask for Jordi, and a Sexy Cow for Albert. I have to admit we were the winning team that night. Jordi knew of a shop that sold masks, magic tricks, and much more in the heart of El Gotico. We were the last ones trying on costume and even after the doors had closed the woman in charge sat in a chair and helped tailor Jordi's mask. We went home thrilled to have something and ready to go out and about decked out in character.

Unfortunately, people didn't seem to be as prepared on Friday and we were some of the few that were dressed up, but it didn't matter because we managed to have an amazing time...to the point where we considered ourselves as the three musketeers. Albert ended up being the winner of the night, women loving his courage to dress up as a sexy cow and the men impressed with his "packaging". Albert managed to take his costume to full character which is exactly what you should do on Carnival.

The following night, Jordi and I decided to have a small cocktail/costume party at our house. When we went down to get what we would need to last through the night, we ran into the magic of our neighborhood, Chinese New Year. Next door there is a fancy Chinese restaurant that put on a small parade with firecrackers, dancing dragons, and drums in celebration of the year of the Golden pig. I loved the fact that we had a little piece of another culture right next door to us and both Jordi and I agreed that we happen to live in one of the best neighborhoods. Only on Buenos Aires can you witness a Chinese New Year parade on your way home from the market. There is no better way to spend a weekend dressing up for Carnival as you celebrate the beginning of a new year, all in February...It was Halloween and New years for the second time in a span of 4 months...

talk about globalization.

On Sunday, I invited a friend visiting from Portugal to go watch Barca play against Valencia with Alex and some of his friends. Sadly enough, Barca played a pathetic game, but that gave us enough reason to go find some food and chat. We found a Mexican restaurant not too far from our house and I realized that suddenly I was sitting in an International setting. On the table you could hear Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, English and if Alexandre would've wanted to talk in German, German while eating Mexican food. After I was done with my enchiladas, I got a phone call from San Francisco...none other than Alex and Eugenia to add a little more spice to the cultural event. I was thrilled and realized that I am not only fortunate enough to be surrounded by amazing people, but people that make up the world and open enough to make it come together. Although we all have different identities and backgrounds, if we leave our stereotypes and fear of differences behind, we can get along and have a great time. Just the way Barcelona can host a mini carnival and chinese new year all on one block, where the only thing that clashes are the cymbals of the Chinese woman leading the parade. Happy New Years! and may you have an infinite amount of fortune this year...