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| This pretty much sums up what this post is about... |
So we are going to take a little trip back to the middle of February...again...I know...I'm terrible at this whole blogging thing but within the next few days, I promise to bring you guys up to speed.
So I don't know how many of you are familiar with "Carnival" in Brazil, but I just learned this year that it is not the only country to celebrate Carnival - and I also learned that it isn't just one big party (well it is but...), but that there is actually a reason behind it. I, however, am still not entirely sure what that reason is but as far as I understand it has something to do with the Catholic religion?! Don't quote me....
Anyways, regardless of the reason behind Carnival (known as Fasnacht in the German-speaking länder), it is probably one of the craziest things I have ever experienced...and believe me, I have experienced a lot of crazy things over the past 18 years of my life slash more importantly these past 8 months...
You're probably sitting there asking yourself, "What in the world is Fasnacht anyways....?!". Well I wish I could give you an answer. All I can really say is that it involves a bijiillloon people dressed up in costumes, confetti, confetti, and more confetti, lots of loud loud loud music, unbelievable amounts of drunk people (not us, don't worry...we're good exchange students), some more confetti, parades with costumed people and more loud music and basically just a big huge party.
I was lucky enough to have experienced Fasnacht for almost 2 weeks straight - which means no sleep and confetti in every crevice of everything you own. It was probably 2 of the best weeks I have had here in Switzerland so far and although I got really sick afterwards, I wouldn't exchange the experience for the world.
I managed to travel all over the country to experience many different Fasnacht celebrations and although they are all for the same (unknown) reason, they are all so different. I have over 3000 photos from Fasnacht, so I've sorted through them to find the best pictures to share with you guys!
Enjoy!
Luzern Fasnacht - February 18, 2012
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| We found a Canadian inspired Parade Float |
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| Of course the Canadian girls dressed up as Canadians...duh! |
We all dressed up in our Canadian gear to show the world just how much pride we have!
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| Just a glimpse of the costumes! |
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| Even the youngins' come in style! |
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| A pirate float |
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| Kim, Ana and Carly |
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| Mark and Carlyyyy <3 |
Olten Fasnacht - February 19, 2012
I visited the Fasnacht in Olten with 2 other exchange students and a few of their Swiss friends. The day we went was the day of a Parade. It had over 50 different groups in the Parade and it was really cool!
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| A bunch of happy faces just makes you smile! |
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| That my friends, is wagons full of confetti... |
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| Lorenzo and his confetti |
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| Morgan <3 |
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| My two lovelies |
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| I wasn't lying when I said there was confetti...and the Parade isn't even halfway finished! |
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| Oooooppps. |
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| One of the coolest costumes! |
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| And it's over...have fun cleaning! |
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| And then I got thrown into a pool of confetti... |
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Morgan and Adriana and confetti!
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Luzern Fasnacht Umzug - February 20, 2012
I took the afternoon off school and headed back down to Luzern for the Umzug (Parade). There were so many people there, it was absolutely incredible...I have never seen so many people in one place at the same time. It was also freeeeeeeeziinggg cold that day, so I was surprised there were still so many people.
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| Eduardo as a big gummy bear |
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| CANADA |
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| Who remembers Paddington Bear? |
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| So trippy... |
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| TITANIC's 100 Year Anniversary |
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| Row, Row, Row your boat... |
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They were dressed up as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt and the 6000 children...
So much love <3 |
Solothurn Fasnacht & Umzug - February 21, 2012
We had Tuesday afternoon off school because of Fasnacht, so my class entire class dressed up and went to watch the parade together. We hung out the entire day and listened to the bands play Guggä Musik. We ended up staying until well after midnight at the Fasnacht celebrations and unluckily for us, we had to wake up for school in the morning...solid. We were all zombies the next day, but it was definitely worth it and sooo much fun!
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| Getting ready for the Festivities! |
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| My class! |
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| Andrea the Painter |
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| Jonas the Monkey |
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| Nadine the Hippie and Elena the Carrot |
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| Fabu |
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| The Harry Potter Float |
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| "Ei" in German is egg...such a punny thing! |
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| I was a Genie! |
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| Confettttiiii everywhere... |
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| Andrea and Jasmine |
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| Amy and Me |
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| Jasmine, Nadine and Aline! |
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| Zuen-Phai and Jasmine |
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| And the night goes on! |
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| and on... |
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| and on... |
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| The millions of peoplllee! |
At midnight, all of the bands gathered on the steps of the Cathedral and played music well into the night. One guy even stopped everything and asked his girlfriend to marry him in front of everyone...luckily for him, she said yes!
Bern Fasnacht - February 24, 2012
I had a much needed break from all of the Fasnacht festivities for a few days! On Friday I headed to Bern with Adriana, Morgan and Morgan's friend Catherine who is on exchange in Belgium but came to visit us for a few days!
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| Canadian Kitty Cats |
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| Don't mind the faces...we were enjoying ourselves |
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| <3 |
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| Apparently my joy was just radiating... |
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| Confetti in the mouth... |
Niederbipp Umzug - February 25, 2012
After sleeping in late due to the festivities of the previous night, my host parents and I headed to the main street in our village to watch our Fasnacht Parade. It was a lot smaller than the other one's I had already been to, but we also live in a village of 4000 people, so it's pretty self-explanatory! It was castle-themed, so there were a lot of princes, princesses, kings, queens and jokers walking about!
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| Ohh, and a few Smurfs! |
Basel Fasnacht - February 27, 2012
I took another day off school - with permission of course - to attend the Fasnacht celebrations in Basel with my host parents and a few of my exchange student friends. Basel Fasnacht is the most traditional Fasnacht in Switzerland and one of the oldest, longest running festivals - this year they celebrated 65 years! One of the really cool things about Basel Fasnacht is that it starts at 4am sharp when all of the lights - every single one of them - in the entire city are turned off and the parade begins. The paraders (is that what they're called?) wear lanterns on their heads the floats are made of big huge lanterns and they play music and it is incredible!
A friend of mine slept over at my house the night before and at 2am, my host parents and the two of us drove to Basel to watch the "Morgenstraich". After the parade, we met up with my host dad's cousin and his son and enjoyed a bowl of Mehlsuppe - some flour-based soup that is a Fasnacht staple - before we headed back to Niederbipp for some much needed rest!
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| SO MANY PEOPLE |
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| Harry Potter Lantern |
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| How cool does it get?! |
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| The Paraders with their head lanterns |
So after taking a little cat nap, Rocio and I headed back to Basel on the train to enjoy the festivities, meet up with some of our friends and watch the afternoon parade together! There were so many people, it was honestly ridiculous. I've never really been claustrophobic, but ever since Fasnacht, I have started to hate large groups of people. I see them and I try to avoid at all costs.
Anyways, the afternoon Umzug was absolutely beautiful and I heard somewhere that there were over 30,000 people involved in the Parade and then who knows how many watching...such a big event! It was also very traditional and there were many masks in the parade. When compared to the other Fasnachts that I attended, I found Basel to be one of the most beautiful and I would definitely love to come back here one day and share the experience with friends and family from home!
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| Confetti on the ground during the Parade |
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| Some of the traditional Basel masks |
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| 65 Years of Basel Fasnacht |
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| Rocio and I at the Parade with our friend Confetti |
Oh, just another thing about Basel Fasncaht, all of the masks that you seen here are handmade...can you imagine? I know I can't! They are so fabulously made it is incredible!
So to explain the title of this post...
Swiss people are generally very well composed, polite, conservative people and now I understand why. At Fasnacht I'm not sure you could find the stereotypical Swiss person anywhere...everyone is dressed up in costume, partying and just having a fantastic time. That being said, in order to party as hard as they do during the 2 weeks of Fasnacht, I now understand how they do it...by being so Swiss the rest of the year! Haha, I hope that makes sense and I hope you enjoyed my Fasnacht adventures as much as I did!
I also apologize for posting this
months after the actual event, but I guess it's better late than never! Keep your eye on my youtube account (
http://www.youtube.com/user/canadatoswitzerland) over the next couple of weeks to watch videos from Fasnacht!
And also keep an eye on my blog to see what else I've been up to over the past few months!
Lots of love from Switzerland,
Madi
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