Carnaval.

February is perhaps the most melancholic yet exciting month for me, eversince I moved to this country. I always get a little bit jittery and too anxious around this time. (what winter can do to a tropical creature who thinks having sunshine everyday is her birth right! lol) But to compensate for that, there´s the colorful carnaval to look forward to. Carnaval, as we all know, has pagan overtones but it is nevertheless a Catholic tradition.... at least, in this part of the world.

We always associate carnaval with mask and costumes, and mardi gras. In the olden days, it was actually a social statement. A reaction against the strong social division between classes. People put on a mask or costume to blur the lines between the rich and the poor. It was a day of eating and merrymaking before the fasting season of Lent. For one day, people are equal and can forget about the daily hardships and about being poor. Incidentally, the word lent or lente in Dutch means spring.

Here in the Netherlands, the tradition of Carnaval still in existence up to this day. The weekend before Ash Wednesday, is called the Carnaval weekend. As expected, there's music, parades, floats, sausages, hapjes (snacks), and beer. Tons and tons of beer. (Yeah... you gorge, feast and get horribly drunk before you fast! LOL) Likewise, it has become a family affair. So father accompanies mother, dresses up costumes from previous times but mainly as farmers. And thanks to Hollywood, some children are dressed up these days as Princesses, Spiderman, Cinderella, etc... They look really cute. :)