Today we went to Binche for Mardi Gras, or Carnival as they call it here. It was another ISA excursion but a few of the Bentley kids were there as well, Angela, Christine and Mike, plus Jackson who's just on his own (he's from Alabama). Regina, Rachel and Kreesta also tagged along and Becky's mom and sister who are visiting her. We found a novelty store right away and a few people bought plastic tiaras and those tinfoil-y wigs. Then we went to the bar. It was strange to be in a bar at 2 in the afternoon, but it was Carnival. I had no desire to spend my dwindling funds on beer so Christine gave me one of her alcohol supplies from Brussles, a water bottle filled with wine, a smaller one folks, not a nalgene or anything like that. Normally, this would be a sign that someone has a problem, but when it's Carnival, it's all good. The ground was covered in confetti when we started waiting outside for the parade. The parade was supposed to start at 3 but didn't get to us until maybe 4:30. They where these traditional costumes with these giant feather hats (for reference, check my manneken pis photos for the traditional small-town Belgium costume). The big thing in Binche is throwing oranges into the crowd. I didn't catch any but I picked up 5. The pattern was fairly repetetive, costumed folk throwing oranges closely followed by a band playing flugel horns, valve trombones, e-flat clarinets (I think, they looked smaller than normal ones), snare drums with huge sticks and a two-person bass drum operation (one person carried the drum on their back, another hit it). We had separated very early so it was Allison, Jackson, Mike, Christine, Angela, Maren and me. After a while, Jackson and Mike had to leave and the rest of us were ready to eat. We had pizza, I've had a lot of Italian, I don't think I need much more. Anyways, after that we headed home. A fairly uneventful Carnival, but more than I've ever done to celebrate, and it was fun. However, I've accomplished no homework tonight...ooohhh well, c'est la vie.
-Lauren :)
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