#9: Carnival

This was one of my coolest experiences so far in Luxembourg. For those of you who haven't heard of Carnival, and I hadn't before I got here, it's kind of like Halloween meets Mardi Gras. If you aren't already excited, you might have something wrong with you.

So I was sitting in my room in my apartment, bored, surfing the web, everyone in my building is studying except me...no fun. Suddenly I heard really loud music on the street. I wasn't going to pass up that opportunity. I put on a coat and went out. As I was walking out the door, a small group of clowns walked passed me. Maybe I had missed a parade? Either way, it was kind of cool to see.

I headed down to the shopping street and found a few booths set up playing loud German music, even if you can't understand German this kind of music is so high energy and fun that you get into it just like the locals. A bunch of people were walking around in costumes and eating and drinking. While I was there I found out that I hadn't missed the parade and it would start around 2:30. So I wandered around and waited for the parade to start. Everyone began lining up along the sides of the streets at 2:30 and waited for the parade. But I have this feeling that time in Luxembourg is just a suggestion, because the parade didn't start until 3:45.

Parades back home are very different than here. Back home parades have a calmer energy. There are marching bands and Dairy Queens waving, fire trucks, and tons of candy being thrown. Here the floats are huge and blasting party music, there were many percussion only marching bands, and there were many groups of people dancing their way down the street. The sides of the road also weren't blocked off, so each big float had people walking along side it telling people to stay back. Also, there aren't really any big trucks around here to pull floats, so they were mostly pulled by tractors.

The only criticism I have for the Esch parade was that it didn't throw nearly as much candy as I had hoped, but it did have it's pluses. There is so much confetti thrown at people, its hilarious and so high energy! Everyone was laughing as they scooped up balls of confetti like snow balls and threw it at their neighbors. Floats would pass by and throw candy and confetti, they even had confetti blasters that would launch tons of confetti at the expecting watchers.  Also, as floats passed they threw a few pieces of candy to the children and gave beer to the adults! I was handed a can of beer and it blew me away! It was so crazy because that would never happen back home! I drank it with a big smile on my face! As floats passed, children were running up to them begging for candy, adults wanting to grab a beer from them, or running up to people walking and dancing with them. Such an intimate experience! I didn't end up getting much candy because they focus on giving it to kids, but I got a few free beers and a couple bags of chips, you won't hear me complaining!

After the parade was over I headed to the main square where there was a party. While I was there I bought my first German brat, it was amazing! So good. Then I headed into the party where they were singing and dancing to crazy Carnival music. Everyone (besides me) knew the words and the little dances that went with them, and it was a really fun time. Jaeger was sponsoring the event so they were giving out pins and bottle openers that look like dog tags, needless to say I got some!

It was a great time! Any future students who are coming to Luxembourg, think about bringing a costume with you so you can dress up for Carnival. Even a simple mask will work! It's definitely something you must experience while you are here! I would also suggest trying to go to Germany to celebrate Carnival, I didn't make it, but the parties there are even bigger.