This ain't no Putnam Co 4-H Fair parade...

And indeed it wasn't. Now, I make reference to the beloved Putnam Co 4-H Fair parade because up until today it was, believe it or not, the biggest whoop-dee-doo parade I had ever been to. Guess that's just proving how small-town I am when we used to put our lawn chairs out the night before to reserve our spot and know they wouldn't get stolen...

Anyway, so right now, for those of whom, like me, had no idea, is the time for Carnival - think Mardi Gras, only far more tame. In fact, apparently Madrid's Carnival celebrations are really nothing spectacular. Some of my classmates went this weekend to Cadiz to check out what is supposed to be a great Carnival celebration, but believe it or not I was completely content to limit my Carnival celebrating to checking out the parade earlier this evening with Cassie, a much-needed diversion after spending a good portion of the past couple of days studying for our upcoming midterms.

There was quite a crowd of people there to watch the parade. Apparently this is the time for kids to dress up, like Halloween for us, so quite a few kids and some adults were in costume. Cassie and I had a front-row spot until right before the parade started. I lamented this for a bit, and then realized that many of the people in the parade were wearing scary masks and was no longer sad to have a row of people between me and the scary people. Turns out the theme of the parade was "Carnival of Monsters for Monstrous Times", which really explains the scary people right there. At any rate, it was quite interesting to see all of the people in the parade in their various costumes - some of which made sense, most of which didn't. The parade ended with a 20-meter-long dragon ridden by a "royal horsewoman". In all it was a fun and interesting experience, though I do not plan to expand my Carnival experience much beyond that as it would be like going out on Halloween - and frankly, I do not really wish to run into a bunch of freaky people in masks on the streets of Madrid late at night. Cassie and I may check out the Burial of the Sardine on Wednesday evening - apparently it is quite the tradition for ending Carnival. I'll be sure to blog about it if we go. And yes, when I say Burial of the Sardine, I do believe I really mean sardine. As in the fish. There's really no explaining some traditions...