Mazatlan goes all out for Carnaval, and we’ve been looking forward to it for months. We were here for it a couple of years back, then had to miss it last year for Ali’s sister’s wedding. In February. In Minnesota. No, Katy, I’m not mad any more.
This year we made it, and we were down on the malecón many hours early, along with a hundred thousand or so friends.
The day before the parade people start blocking off their spaces on the sidewalks and in the median. Families set up fifty chairs and circle the whole thing with rope. Then on parade day they show up en masse with their coolers, set for a big party.
Pink and blue—one for each kid.
We blew the budget for the month on confetti.
For the record, the mustache started out as a bit of a family joke. I was wearing a t-shirt with Zapata on it. Emiliano Zapata is a Revolutionary hero here and is famous also for his killer mustache—that of the long winding variety. So when I shaved that night I left the ‘stache for them. Now I think I’ll just go for the full Zapata.
The first parade floats to come through were the big brands throwing as much advertising into the crowd as they could. That was over quickly enough, and we all got excited then for the main attraction.
We found a wall to sit on. And we waited.
And we waited.
And we waited some more.
And probably about the time the main parade was marching our way, the kids asked us, “Can we go home?”
They were beat. Our kids are not night owls. It wasn’t even seven o’clock.
Fortunately, Mazatlan knows it’s hard for kids to stay out late, so two days later they do the whole parade again, this time starting before dark. Better yet, they do the whole thing in reverse, so it would be starting at our end of town.
So off we went for home. Carnaval celebration concluded.
10 Comments on “Carnaval”
That looked like a ton of fun! Who doesn’t like to people watch?
Miss you guys!
People watching at its finest. Though we were being watched as much as we were doing the watching. Poor Lowe, with his white hair. One guy ran his fingers through his hair and asked us if it was real. ??? Like we might dye our 4-year-olds hair. He’s pretty good about it though. He even smiles when the old ladies rub his head. I guess he figures, like us, that there’s no way to stop it.
Ok, so the Corona booth selling Pacifico says “10x 80.00.” What is that coming out to per beer in American dollars?
Well, the exchange rate went to 19:1 today, so that’s about .42 cents a beer. And that’s at a major event! Even the main tents along the middle of the parade were only charging 10 pesos.
Great colours and a fun party. Shelagh is white blonde and gets a lot of stares too.
We paid 10 pesos a bag for confetti on the Baja. What did they get for it in Mazatlan?
Same.
Laughing to myself, I wonder what the monthly budget for confetti is?
We try to keep it under $100.
Love the VW food truck!