Long time no talk. Sorry I went on vacation..from my vacation. Or something like that. Maastricht, the city where I'm studying, is famous for its Carnaval celebration. The entire town shuts down and then goes crazy. Oh and hoards of tourists come into town and everyone dresses up crazy. Sort of like Halloween, except for a thousand times cooler. They have a parade and families build their little "floats" or carts or something, and then dress up to match the theme. 

One important aspect of these carts is to hold the food and alcohol for the day. This guy, for instance, is filling his mug with beer straight out of the tap built in to the side of his SWAT tank. Oh and the speakers, they can't do without the speakers. 

Then families, from the 90-year-old grandmas to newborn babies all dress up crazy and march around the streets and into all the pubs. 

 Some sumo-wrestling chickens? You know, just another day in Maastricht. 

Clever little Dutch theme. Delft china and tulips. They literally spend the whole year coming up with these outfits. 

A man in a baby stroller. Why not? 

Look closely and see the people in the windows of the building. Best seats in the house. Where do I make friends with these people? 

There's even hippies at Carnaval! Polka-listening hippies!

And cute little children who look like porcelain dolls (and who think I'm a creep for taking pictures of them)

Even President Obama and Michelle made an appearance.

 Random note: Dutch people exclaim "Yes, We Can!" all the time to Americans. Even in the most awkward of circumstances. "Excuse me, Man from the Waffle store, can we get powder sugar on those waffles?" He responds, "Yes We Can!" (followed by a chuckle and a "do you get it?" look) Yes, I get it, Waffle Man. And don't think you are that clever. Kebab and Frites Man and Bus Driver Man have already said it five times...each.  

The little tourist children. You can tell they are tourists from their coats covering their costumes. Come on, people, if you want to fit in with the real Maastrictonians, you are going to need to cowboy up.

These are like the Carnaval council. On the highest stand was the prince of Carnaval. A big honor in these parts. 

This was actually a couple days before Carnaval in the Vritof, which is one of the city centers. The "after" photo would show lots of broken glass and trash from the entire square being filled with people. 

My friend Julia from high school came into town. She is studying in London. So we dressed up. This is not nearly my whole ensemble by the way. I'm wearing a very glittery dress, and the wig is actually mine. Along with some huge sunglasses and some crazy accessories. It changed every day for the three days we were here. 

Overall, it was quite the experience. And I wasn't even here for the craziest part. We left early Monday morning for Switzerland, so we headed in early Sunday night (probably the craziest night) and then Monday and Tuesday are almost as crazy. 

Im going to do a seperate entry for Switzerland. Partially, so it's more readable. But mostly because then I'll get credit for TWO blog posts. 

With Love (and the official Carnaval song stuck in my head..the one in the video),

Tay