Yes, in America, we have Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), but Italy's celebration of Carnevale exceeds and surpasses our version of the last day before Lent. If you are in New Orleans, maybe it is similar to how the Italians celebrate Carnevale, but I have never been to New Orleans so I can't make that call.
A lot of the festivities actually started on Sunday. I asked many people and for them they ate the traditional Carnevale meal on Sunday instead of today. The traditional meal is eating a lot of meat, especially lasagna and meatballs. This past Sunday, we went to Ipolita's aunt's house where we ate lasagna and meatballs. It was there that we discussed the legend of Carnevale. It is still undetermined whether or not it is solely a legend from Acerra or someplace else. The legend is called "Vincenzo Carnevale." Apparently, years ago, there was a man named Vincenzo who died while eating a meatball on Carnevale. So every man named Vincenzo gets teased this time of year and people urge them not to eat a meatball on Carnevale! There are even reenactments every year but not with real people of course! Today, we drove through town and saw in a portone, Vincenzo laying on a table dead from a meatball. There was even a funeral at 16:00 today but unfortunately we couldn't attend the service.
This past weekend, yesterday and today, children started to wear their costumes and throw confetti everywhere! The confetti is minor compared to the teenagers admitting to me that they like to throw eggs at people, cars, and homes. Fortunately, I escaped and never saw an egg being thrown.
Today, we ate for lunch pasta with sauce and ricotta, meatballs (in honor of the holiday), salad, and desserts. The desserts were typical for Carnevale. There were Chiacchiere, migliaccio, and some other dessert. Of course, I had to try all of them since they were special for Carnevale! :)
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| Take note to the size of the meatball. No wonder they have a legend that a man died from eating a meatball! |
I had to go to work in the afternoon but after I finished my lesson, Ipolita picked me up and we all went to a town nearby to see the floats. I was told to beware that I may get full of confetti, the stringy stuff, and who knows what else. I was prepared. And fully embraced the confetti :) We arrived at one area of town and saw a float so we started to walk in that direction. While we were walking I noticed the various costumes. There were some that were very original, some classical, and only a few that were scary (unlike Halloween).
As we approached the float, I noticed there was music. Of course, dance music :) And, surprisingly enough, everyone was dancing! After a little bit, we continued walking down the street passing many people and vendors (like a true carnival). We even saw carnival rides! But, not long down the street we came across another float and even more music. It passed and we continued walking, and stopped when we got to another float. And, of course there was even more music and dancing. I loved it! In America, the people stand off to the side and wait for the floats to come to them. Instead today, we walked towards the float and then we were able to participate and dance with the float instead of standing, sitting, or just watching the parade. It was wonderful.
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Confetti on the ground- there was so much it
looked like snow! |
I was trying to capture all the confetti in my pictures. Of course, it was a difficult task because it flies away so fast that the camera can't capture it fast enough. But, thank goodness for Ipolita, she told or motioned to one of the float attendants that I wanted confetti. And I got it! A whole bag for myself! I saw it coming at me but I was laughing at the previous confetti experience that I wasn't able to shut my mouth fast enough. Let's just say I think I had a view pieces of paper for dinner tonight. :) The pictures will show you.
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| It is hard to see but this is when the person throw an entire bag of confetti at me! |
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| Completely covered! |
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| IT'S EVERYWHERE! |
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| As you can see, confetti in my mouth! |
I continued laughing and picking paper confetti out of my mouth the entire duration until the next float. And what did we see....A float that I can't remember but a stand off on the sidewalk that was giving out free wine!!! Vino? Yes please! I grabbed the glass as fast as I could! :) They were giving out crackers too but we were in a rush to get out of the way. It was nice to get free beverages :)
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| I guess this was the float... |
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| Free wine! |
We continued along and saw more and more floats and never stopped dancing. We finally made our way towards the beginning again. We stopped for a sandwich before we headed home. After the sandwich and after we were on our way back to the car, we passed a couple of guys. They said, "OH" and banged me on the head with a plastic club. I'm not sure if they were sporting a Bamm Bamm outfit or not. Then we continued walking and all of a sudden our group stopped. Apparently, someone sprayed us with the silly string. I told Ipolita that I had thought, great I made it the whole time without the string and now walking back to the car I get hit with it. Oh well, it comes off easily. :)
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| the sausage picture is for my family...you know who you are! |
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| kebab, porchetta (roasted pork), and sausage... |
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| the different toppings for the sandwich: french fries, eggplant with tomatoes, grilled eggplant, grilled zucchini, grilled peppers, another form of eggplant, or mushrooms. |
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| My porchetta sandwich with eggplant and tomatoes |
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| random guy |
So, overall, I was able to dance for a few hours and partake in a huge street dance party, get covered in confetti, get free wine, get hit on the head, get silly string on me and enjoy myself completely at my first Carnevale!!! :)
Also, I got my Italian Voter's Card on Carnevale, too!
As we approached the float, I noticed there was music. Of course, dance music :) And, surprisingly enough, everyone was dancing! After a little bit, we continued walking down the street passing many people and vendors (like a true carnival). We even saw carnival rides! But, not long down the street we came across another float and even more music. It passed and we continued walking, and stopped when we got to another float. And, of course there was even more music and dancing. I loved it! In America, the people stand off to the side and wait for the floats to come to them. Instead today, we walked towards the float and then we were able to participate and dance with the float instead of standing, sitting, or just watching the parade. It was wonderful. 
