the girlies! the cameras!

they came! they conquered! their time here was incredible. look at those ladies, how could it not be? the female clan together again. their weekend visit was straight out of a dream-- train rides through the country, surprise first class, anthropologie hotel rooms, orange blossom scents. paseos through the city, walks along the coast, meeting friends and drinking wine. tucked away in our little rooms, laughing like we never parted. those were two faces that i needed to see, voices i needed to hear, a weekend that i needed to have. two worlds collide. it was incredible. and their view of the city? their new perspective? their open eyes and vocal thoughts? their glimpse into the life that thrives here? well, it made me fall in love all over again. what a great, great visit lonnie and loulou. 

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carnaval festivities have begun here in cádiz! it's the biggest carnaval in europe-- hundreds of thousands of people will make their way to this charming little city in a few weeks for a.....celebration? an excuse? to get dressed up in costumes, to sing in the streets, to drink all the live long day, stay out all night, to remind yourself that you are young and alive? exactly. eso. and the preparations have begun. the city government took down the christmas lights and put up the carnaval lights: clowns and masks and witches lining the streets. it is fabulous. 

and here is where it gets interesting. one of the main reasons for carnaval is the singing. they love them some carnaval music. groups are formed (some are chorus groups, some are more of a theater production, some are serious, most are fun), and music is written pertaining to today (to cádiz, to traditional carnaval, to the crisis--aka the root of all evil, to spanish culture). they dress in costume, elaborate costumes, insane costumes, and -boyohboy- do they take this stuff seriously. so for the entire month of february there is a competition between the most professional singing groups. groups perform every night in front of judges, and at the end of the 'concurso' (at the beginning of carnaval in the streets!) a winner is announced. now these groups sing all over the city, and come from all over the country. during the week of celebration they will sing in the streets, of course they will. but for now. for this month. this is what they do.

they sing in this incredible theater here in cádiz. it is gorgeous, old, historical. a cathedral of a theater. called "el teatro falla." this place is the only real venue here in the city, and normally hosts shows and concerts and acts. but during february? it is carnaval central station. and, again, they take this month very seriously. people waited in line all night for these tickets. to sit in the nosebleed seats? around 40 euros. to sit in a balcony? 80 euros. but that's when you buy them from the ticket office. to sit in a private balcony once the seats are sold out? well, folks. tickets sometimes go for as high as 500 euros. 5. 0. 0. euros. unbelievable. carnaval is serious. 

and two nights ago, erin and i went. to carnaval! to carnaval en el falla! we had no plans of going, never even crossed our minds. we don't have 40 euros. 80 euros. 500 euros. no way. but we do have this friend. he's a journalist, and spends every night at el falla-- every night reporting on the groups that sing, writing up reviews, diving right in. man, he loves this stuff. and somehow, somewhere, in some dream of life here in cádiz, he got us into the newspaper's private balcony. we're talking prime seats. we're talking ground floor, perfect view, best view. we're talking out of the blue. unreal. it was amazing. but it doesn't stop there. he's a journalist, yes? well. with his word of mouth, erin and i soon became the spectacle of the evening. he told all of his journalist and newscaster friends that two american girls were sitting in the balcony. "two american girls watching carnaval in el falla? that is curious. very very curious." before we knew it we had our picture taken. and another. and then a man with a video camera came up to us. and a bright spotlight. and a microphone. oh! live television! and then another microphone. oh! a radio show! and another camera. and another microphone. and there we are. two girls in el falla. sitting in glory. sitting in shock. in the midst of it all. 

we were on tv. we were broadcast on two radio shows. we were published in two newspapers. 

carnaval has begun.