Tuesday evening marked the end of the week long celebration of Carnaval in Mérida. Carnaval is somewhat similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, just not quite as crazy. There are parades and concerts, and a lot of beer is usually involved (not for me). Mérida's Carnaval is in the top 5 carnavals in Mexico, and in the top 12 carnaval in Central and South America. It was pretty amazing to see such a huge event. This morning the newspaper said over 650,000 people participated in Carnaval in Mérida! Ay! I believe it, because when I went down to the Paseo, the main street where Carnval was happening, the 6 lane road was packed from side to side with people.
All along the Paseo (a few miles) there were stages with music and dancers, vendors, and lots of Sol stands-the most popular Mexican beer. Young teens were walking around with cans of Sol, as were the little old ladies. Everyone was pushing and prodding, and I finally had to elbow my way through the crowd. Erin and I were trying to find some other friends, which never happened. It was just way too busy. I did enjoying seeing the sites and feeling like I was part of the celebration. Now I can always say that I went to one of the best Carnavals in the world. However, I don't quite have the desire to go back- it was a little too crowded for me!
The interesting part was the the city basically shut down on Monday and Tuesday. Schools were closed, heck, everything was closed. We still had class, except for our evening class, but that was rare! The roads by our house were packed by the time the evening parade started, even though we're probably a mile or so from the action. It was interesting to see how the festival affected the city.
Today's Ash Wednesday, which means those who partied last night are likely in church preparing for 40 days of Lent. Mexico is very Catholic, and I'm sure the churches are busy today! Adios Carnaval!
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