Fasching Fun

Today Chuck and I braved going to Mainz for Fasching. We layered up for the cold and snowy sunshine (that's right, there was a bit of sun sporadically today!) and he put on his Indian headress and I did up my face with crazy make-up and mismatching clothes and we boarded the train. It was a bit full, but no worries, we didn't have to stand, though others were. On the train I did his face paint with black sparkly eye shadow we borrowed. At 10:30 people were already drinking and many were carrying not quite modest supplies of alcohol.

As the train pushed on to Bad Munster am Stein, more and more Fasching celebrators jumped on, making the train quite full. Once we got to our connecting station we jumped off and raced to the next train so we could use the wc b/c it was obvious everyone else was going our way. Sadly the other train was already packed. We decided to stand in the door area and I squeezed past into the bathroom as we got going, and then it was impossible to move anywhere. I think I now understand how a sardine feels. It was 45 minutes of standing next to drinking, smoking and slightly smelly people in costumes. Oh, and of course there was yelling, chanting, singing and poundly loudly on the ceiling, walls, whatever they could reach. Both train rides were like that. It was so full, too, that as we hit stops, we opened the door for fresh air but couldn't let anyone on. As we neared Mainz, trying to breath through the nasty smoke, we hit a few sharp turns and everyone slammed to one side then the next and back again, some falling and all smashing even harder into each other. Of course, people got louder and louder as we approached. It was madness, and we weren't even off the train yet!!!

We slowly crept through the train station and then I got a glimpse of outside and thought about turning right around. Pure insanity. What were we thinking? I'm not a crowd person. But we made it out, followed people to the parade, got a glimpse while searching for a bathroom and food which took awhile, lots of lines and pushing through people. Somewhere I lost my scarf that Chuck gave me for my birthday, so we searched for that as well but to no avail. That was depressing. I guess it was a worthy sacrifice to the Fasching Gods. We then attemped to find the Dom (cool old church) but the roads were blocked off. We walked and walked through hordes of people and got shoved around, smelled too much pot and saw drunk people lying on the ground, couldn't get to the Dom and decided we had had enough of Carnevale after just three hours. So we hopped the next train home, which meant standing again, but not so full this time. I mean, we could move, so that was a plus.

And while I think it would have been nicer to have stayed in K-Town and see the little parade here, I think this was a sort of cultural experience, the kind you do once, then never do again b/c why on earth would you want to deal with all that madness? Kind of like the Oktoberfest, and I figured since I tend to not go to those things, this would be a sort of karma equivalent.

All in all (as I read soooooo often in my kids' essays) I am glad we went and it was neat to see and I don't think I'll do it again. But for all of you who thought the Germans couldn't get crazy and party, don't be fooled. I mean, of course they are still organized and together, but they can through a mean Fasching's celebration.