Carnival and Ash Wednesday

I can't believe we are already in March! Time is flying by here. Last weekend we went on an amazing trip to Veracruz, but first I wanted to write about some of what was going on in my life in Puebla before that.

Two weeks ago, on Saturday the 17th, we had a party to celebrate carnival. There were no parties on the schedule for this semester, but after the success of the halloween and Alica in Wonderland parties, we all wanted to have more this semester. Patricia actually came up with the idea for a Carnival party. It was perfect because we got another opportunity to wear costumes. Carnival is a big deal here is some of the coastal cities like Veracruz; there are parades and concerts and lots of drinking. Drunken crowds aren't really my thing, so I was very happy to celebrate at Patricia's house.

I was in charge of decorations, so I got to have a lot of fun picking out pretty paper and sparkly things, creating giant masks and stringing up lights. I also had a blast making my costume. I was inspired by the green sequins I still have left over from my luchador costume, and decided to go as a garden. I went shopping with my friends Abby and Arianna, and they helped me pick out some sparkly green fabric. I also got some giant pink flowers for inspiration. I went over to Abby's house friday night, and she worked some real magic with safety pins and designed the cutest shirt for me. The next day before the party, my host mom got really into it and helped my sew parts of my costume together. As you can see, the end result was pretty fabulous!

The party went extremely well in my opinion. Everyone did a really good job of inviting their mexican friends so there were tons of people there! The music was going all night and everyone was dancing. The only not so hot part was the fact that the beer ran out around midnight, and Patricia refused to buy more since we had already consumed a whole lot, so people started trickling off after that. But while it lasted, it was excellent.

So of course, after carnival comes ash wednesday. I went to a service at the local church and it was quite an experience. I first realized it would be a little different as I approached the church and there were vendors with cotton candy and tacos and bubbles all waiting outside. One set of doors had a giant sign that said SALIDA (exit) and the other ENTRADA (entrance). I went over to the entrance side, and waited with the crowd. It felt kind of like I was waiting for the haunted mansion at Disneyland. After five minutes or so, they opened the doors and we filtered in while the other group exited out the other doors. The priest then said a quick, five minute service, and the people started getting up and moving to the front of the church. I was a little confused because there was no one to distribute ashes. Then I realized people were putting the ashes on themselves with a stamp! There was a cross shaped stamp that you dipped in the ashes and then stamped on your forehead. The whole thing was pretty devoid of any spirituality. I felt a little like I was in Brave New World, or some other futuristic scene where religion had become totally institutionalized. It made me very nostalgic for the meaningful noon-time ash wednesday services at smith!