know I say this every month, but this month was absolutely full non-stop! If this month had only contained Carnaval it would already have been one of the best months yet, considering it just started with it.
So, Carnaval, where to start. This is a five day celebration, celebrating the start of the 40 days of fasting before Easter. It changes not only by region but by town, each town that participates having its own special versions and costumes. As I was Malmedy I got to witness the Haguettes and the Ardennaises, something you will see in no other Carnaval in the world. The Haguettes are dressed entirely in silk with old fashioned admiral’s hats with enormous multicoloured plumes sprouting out the top. They carry long wooden pincer thingamadoodles that they use to make sounds grab people’s ankles. If they happen to snag your ankle you have to go down on one knee and ask forgiveness. The Ardennaises is anyone who dresses up as an Ardennais can participate. The Ardennais costume being that of white pants, a blue tunic (with embroidery if traditional as mine was), a bandana around the neck held in place by a box of matches. I participated in this particular one, and it was fantastic. The enormous procession of Ardennaises is lead by the town marching band, and as they go around the town the Ardennaises cannot simply walk. They have to link arms, forming lines, and run/skip side to side throughout the entire procession. You also have to try and get as close as possible to the band, so there is a lot of cutting in front of other lines, and a lot of stepping on feet. This is then repeated later in the evening with the burning of the Haguette. A monstrous fire is set alight, as high as the surround buildings, so hot that ten metres away you feel its heat. When the fire has started to calm down the Ardennais are set loose to run around it in their linked arm lines. So Carnaval starts on the Saturday, though there is a midnight opening celebration the Friday night, the Saturday is when the may gives the opening speech, in Walloon, the regional traditional dialect. There is then a little parade, with tons of confetti and plenty of audience participation. The Sunday is the full parade with the huge floats and dance groups, also the masses dressed in traditional gear. As there are several different I will describe two. One is the long noses. They essentially have an Ardennais costume, but with a mask with a Pinocchioesque nose and a little pipe, also a little white red striped tuque. They walk around in groups of six to a dozen. They walk in lines with their hands behind their backs. They then choose someone to follow. If they follow you it becomes a sort of follow the leader, they have to do everything you do exactly how you do it. If they succeed in imitating you, you then must pay the entire group a round of beer. Thus why you have to be at least eighteen to participate in these groups. Another costume is the pig bakers. Costume consists of traditional baker garb with fake pig nose and cheeks, as well a long oven paddle. This paddle is used to smack inattentive bottoms. As you can tell you need a very good sense of humour, and a very full wallet to truly enjoy this wonderful celebration. Monday is the scenes, so all the big mistakes and humorous blunders made by known people in the town are re-enacted in Walloon. The Tuesday is the Ardennais and the burning of the Haguette, with symbolizes the end of winter.
The week after this amazing experience I had a rather unfortunate one. Ten minutes into a soccer game I went to a bad tackle and had my knee almost dislocated, at least that’s what it felt and seemed like, as I felt it move out and back in. So I went to the hospital and nothing was broken or torn, just a bad hit. At the time no biggie, the day after when I could barely walk and it had swollen so much you could see it through my jeans I started to worry a little, as I knew the next day I was supposed to be leaving to Berlin with my school. So I stayed home and rested it as much as I could before going off to Berlin. Berlin is a beautiful city, where you can see almost anything and everything architecturally speaking, though this does mean a lot of it was under construction. We then went to a concentration camp, an interesting and humbling experience.
I then got ready for the next big thing, my last family. This family I have known the whole year, and have stayed several nights throughout the year with them, so as a transition it was quite different. Only sad because it made me realize how it’s almost all over, and how little I want to leave.
Well enough ruminating the inevitable, because today I leave for a week in Greece!
