Carnaval in Veracruz!

It's no Rio, but Veracruz is one of the best places in Mexico to celebrate Carnaval. Obviously we couldn't miss out on the party, so 7 (six girls and one guy-- lucky bastard!) of us traveled to Veracruz to see how the Veracruzanos got down. Before the festivities started, we attempted to do a bit of sightseeing. Veracruz is a port city, so while there is a boardwalk along the ocean-- it's kind of ugly. Veracruz also is the home of the Mexican Naval Academy (pictured above), so there were a few sailors to be seen that weekend.
The first night we were there, we managed to get into the carnival spirit by purchasing these cheesy masks! We went to see a few performances, and of course-- started to get our drink on. The vibe in the city was pretty amazing, it was ridiculously full and everyone was there to have a good time. The best thing about people in Veracruz is that they love to dance! So, while bands are playing or parades are going on, people are getting their dance on. We partied late into the night/early morning, and woke up ready to do the same thing the next day!

The next evening, before going to see the big Carnaval parade, Katie and I decided to buy the shiniest fabric we could find and make these shirts. To add to the beauty, we also purchased some intensely fake eyelashes that made us look like drag queens. Luis got in on the fun by buying a moustache.

We were obviously looking very good that night, because we even got interviewed by a Mexican television station! The anchorman loved Katie, and she egged him on by blowing him kisses. The parade ended up being pretty awesome, lots of dancers and great floats. It was a VERY Mexican parade- it started 4 hours late. It was worth the wait, as there was entertainment while waiting for the parade. The beer Sol sponsored Carnaval so it had set up all these stages where people were competing in competitions such as dance-offs. The copious amounts of cheap beer made those competitions pretty entertaining.

Luis, Katie and I met up with the others later on (they were too lazy to come to the parade) and ended up going to a cantina where there were lots of old people dancing to salsa and banda until the wee hours of the morning.

The next two days we decided to relax on the beach. The one small problem was that we had no hotel room booked for the last night. That small problem was more like a big problem because there were absolutely no hotel rooms available. Luckily, our friend Chelsea had 2 friends in Veracruz for Carnival and they had a hotel room with 2 double beds and ample floor space. We managed to all sneak in for the night (definitely cozy). However, Chelsea's friends had a flight out at 5 a.m. the next morning and the hotel had no idea we were all crashing in their room. We figured we had at least a few hours grace period before the maids came around to clean, but they came sooner than expected. Around 8 a.m. the maid opened the door, screamed "AY, DIOS!" and slammed the door. A minute later, the phone started ringing and we all realized that our free stay had come to a hasty conclusion. We grabbed all of our stuff and headed out one at a time. Luis tried to convince the maid that the two girls had just found him on the street and brought him back to the hotel, but they weren't really buying it.

Despite the stressful awakening, we spent the rest of the day on the beach relaxing, headed back into town for a romantic seafood dinner (I ate seafood at least 2 times a day the whole time I was in Veracruz....mmm....mariscos) and caught the bus back to Mexico City, arriving 2 hours before class Monday morning!