Music, Masks, and Mayhem

Carnevale......
Wow what a ride. Carnevale can be considered the Mardi Gras of Europe. It is a celebration of life the week before Lent, people dress up, wear masks and generally let anything go. For the most part everyone from the Villa stayed in the area for Carnevale, there was a very cheap deal that allowed us to ride the trains and get into the festivities for about 15 CHF. The main party area was in Bellinzona, about 30 minutes away. It started on Thursday with a parade, each town has its own way of starting off. The parade in Riva was small but fun, all the school kids from middle and elementary school in the town, dressed up in costumes that they made themselves walked through the street to the main piazza. There was a band and lots of people. It was actually kind of weird, because even after living here for a month we hardly ever saw that many people, let alone that many children. We threw so much confetti, it got everywhere. In fact I don't think that it ever really got cleaned up. The festival continued every night for that weekend. Bellinzona shut down the downtown in order to accomodate the celebration. They set up tents in different piazze, each set up as a bar and also disco-tech. The lights and noise were exciting. People from all around convereged on the town at night. I was able to go Friday and Saturday night and the parade on Sunday. Saturday was by far the wilder and more intense party; every one was revved up from the night before. The train to Bellinzona was standing room only and it seemed like the only way to move was to crowd surf. It was rowdy, and almost every one was drunk or high, or on their way to that point. It wasn't entirely comfortable, but by the end of the ride, breathing in second hand pot fumes, and the energy of the crowd, had made it seem a little more fun. In order to get into Downtown we had to walk through a gate, just to make sure we paid, and then we could do almost anything. The main tent was usually full of the teens, and younger adults, music blasted out from huge speakers, and the only way to move was with the crowd, or conga line. It was a fun night.... We left early, around 1, the celebration went on through the night, but we had a train to catch. On Sunday there was a parade to close the festivities. I think that the parade was my favorite event of the whole weekend. It was full of floats, each with a theme or issue. A lot was about the enviornment, some I couldn't really figure out, some where just funny. Each city and town in the area also had a band in the parade. They were all amazing, the themes of each band was either a play on words with their names, or a issue that they wanted to draw attention to. Their costumes were elaborate, with bright colors, masks, or face paint. Confetti was the over reaching prop of the parade. The crowd threw confetti at the people in the parade, while the floats and bands sprayed confetti over the crowd. The kids seemed to take some vicious delight in getting it in the faces of the people marching past. I had lots of fun, I was able to make friend with a little bee that was standing in front of me. We formed a kind of alliance were I would gather some confetti, and she would throw it at some one, or more often than not throw it back at me. She made it that much more fun.
Before the parade I was able to go to mass at the local church. It was an interesting experience. I couldn't understand everything that was being said, because it was in Italian, and I wasn't comfortable actually taking communion, but it was good to be there. I could pick out some words, but for the most part it was just me meditating on God's work in my life up to that point. It was really relaxing, and refreshing. Next weekend is Venice, and then the Italian trip, so I don't know when I'll be able to go again. It will be an adventure as always.