Hello everyone! I was really looking forward to writing the blog this week because I am going to experience my first Carnival in the city.
In my country we have a celebration that we call Monihie 摸你黑 and it translates to English as Carnival of mud. This festival is usually held in late April or early May comes from an ancient tradition where in Wa village, they get mud, ash or paint dirty to ward off evil spirits and seek peace.
This festival is super popular in China and attracts tourists from all over the world because it is definitely something to see at least once in a lifetime. A few years ago I was able to enjoy this very important Carnival in my country with my family and now that I have come to Spain to learn Spanish in Madrid, I will be able to see how Carnival is celebrated in Europe. I am extremely excited!
This week I have been talking to my friend Ala Eddine-we all call him Ala-about how Carnival is celebrated in Madrid. He is doing an intensive Spanish course and knows the best places and tips for going out in the capital.
Do you know how I met Ala Eddine? As I have already told you, I am doing a preparation course for the Spanish university. There I have made a lot of friends, and since this program includes super fun extracurricular activities, I have met new people who are in the school doing a different Spanish course than mine.
Ala’s teacher, Sara, is very funny and always recommends the best places to go out in Madrid. To celebrate Carnival, she has told them that one of the best options is the Paradiso nightclub. I’ve been looking at pictures on Instagram of other themed parties like Halloween or Christmas and it looks super cool, I can’t wait to go!
As you’re probably seeing I’m really looking forward to it, but I still have to decide a very important point of this party: the costume. I’ve been thinking about some ideas like dressing up as David Bowie or going with some friends dressed up as the Netflix series “The Squid Game” but finally I think I’m going to dress up as Bjorn Ironside, my favorite character from the series Vikings.
My friend Luna, who is studying characterization and offered me to even put on a blonde fake beard, gave this idea to me. I have almost no beard, so it’s going to be a radical change and I can’t wait to look like this, I’m going to be a Swedish Chinese guy!
Ala doesn’t want to dress up as much as I do, he doesn’t like the idea of putting on a lot of make-up or face paint, so he has thought of wearing a funny mask. In Spain, most of the stores in town are ready for Carnival and you can buy all the costumes or accessories you need almost anywhere.
As this week we have an outing to visit the neighborhood of Lavapiés, which is in the most central area of Madrid, we are going to take the opportunity to go and buy some accessories at a costume store called Maty. It is very close to the school and is one of the oldest and most famous costume and characterization stores in Madrid.
Do you celebrate Carnival in your country? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
¡Nos vemos en el próximo post chicos!
Lucas 张
