¡Viva Colonia!

Last Thursday (Jan. 31) was our last day of the intensive course, and despite the fact that I had two final exams and a final presentation back-to-back-to-back, things went pretty well. (The fact that I found out today I got an A- overall in the course didn’t hurt either :-)

Since our semester didn’t actually start until today, most of us took this weekend to see a bit of Europe. I went with four girls to Cologne, Germany to witness their world-famous celebration of Carnival. I’ll be totally honest and say that Germany wasn’t necessarily my first destination of choice, but I kept an open mind and the trip ended up being pretty amazing.

As I was boarding the plane on Friday, I heard a man behind me speaking in Punjabi on the phone. For a split second I closed my eyes and felt like I was at home, listening to Papa talking to relatives in India. My smile must have given me away, because once we were on the plane, that same man sat down in my row (there weren’t assigned seats). I told him (in Hindi) how nice it was to hear Punjabi, and he said he could tell. We began talking and I learned that he is a Pakistani Punjabi who lives in Cordoba. I told him how much I was missing Indian food, especially chai, and he told me of a couple of Indian grocery stores in Madrid.

Enjoyable as our conversation was, my mind has never had to work that hard just to talk. About half of what I wanted to say in Hindi came out in Spanish, and whenever I tried to say something in English it came out in Spanish. Over the past few weeks my mind has had enough difficulty keeping English and Spanish straight without throwing Hindi into the mix as well.

About two hours later we landed at Hahn Airport and it was snowing. Now, I’d gotten quite used to Madrid’s temperate climate, and for a second I was actually confused at the sight of snow, before remembering that it was, in fact, still the middle of winter. We ran to catch the bus to Cologne and settled in for the two-hour ride. As inconvenient as Ryan Air might be, I almost liked that we landed in the middle of nowhere, because the scenery from the bus was just amazing.

We began the drive on small streets winding through a snow-covered forest. Every branch was covered with snow, down to the smallest twig, and it was one of the most beautiful sights. It was almost as if a baker had come along and frosted the trees with icing, and then intertwined all the twigs at to resemble decorative lace.

Later we emerged from the forest and saw the quintessential European landscape of tiny villages tucked into rolling hills. We must have been getting warmer, because although the sky was still white and overcast, the snow on the ground gave way to the beautiful green German countryside. This scene reminded me of the train ride I took from Luxembourg to Paris last spring break. That time too, the sky was gray and the grass was this bright green. I remember thinking that the green of European grass is somehow different than that of American grass, but I can’t exactly say why. I thought the same thing this time, but the reason still eludes me.

Later, we emerged onto the Autobahn, and saw the ubiquitous Mercedes, BMWs and Audis racing past us and ungodly speeds. We finally crossed into Cologne and drove along the Rhine River, which divides the city. Suddenly, amid the skyline emerged the towers of Cologne’s famed cathedral, the Dom. I couldn’t help but marvel at the juxtaposition of all these modern buildings surrounding this centuries-old Gothic structure. It’s something you never see in the U.S. and it’s something that I never tire of seeing.

Once we reached Cologne’s main train station, it was time to find the hotel, which took a while seeing as we didn’t completely understand how to buy tickets for the metro and nobody knew where the street we were looking for was (and of course, none of us knew more than a word or two of German). But finally, we reached there and headed to the closest place for dinner, which turned out to be a Chinese restaurant.

After stuffing our faces at the buffet, we decided to head back and prepare to see the sights the next morning. Alas, that was not to be, as we learned the next day that everything was closed for Carnival. We went all the way to the Schokoladenmuseum or chocolate museum (!!) and to our great dismay, it was closed (T_T). Same story with the Dom and all the museums. The Dom at least was open for mass the next day from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m., but that was it. So, we decided to wander through the streets and just take in the festive atmosphere.

The city itself during Carnival was ridiculous. People were wandering all through the streets, many fully in costume. It was like Halloween on overdrive. German folk music (which consists of about four different songs played over and over again) blasted from every corner. All the German had my mind also on overdrive. Just when I had gotten used to hearing Spanish all day long, here comes yet another language to confuse me. It was funny because although there were people speaking English around, it was the few Spanish speakers we heard on the street that got us excited. Even on the bus ride over, I was trying to reconcile the English I was speaking with the Spanish the other passengers were speaking with the German the bus driver was speaking.

For lunch we finally had an authentic German meal - I had bratwurst, red cabbage and fried potatoes. Despite all the vinegar, I actually liked the cabbage, and who can ever go wrong with sausage and potatoes. Seeing as we were in Germany, I figured I’d have to try some German beer, although I don’t like beer at all. After having a couple sips, I’m sorry to say that there is absolutely nothing special about it. I’m happy with my wine and sangria thank you very much. What can I say; I guess I’m just high-class when it comes to drinks. :-P

After lunch, I finally bought myself a crazy Carnival hat. I felt like the only way to truly get into the celebratory spirit was to wear a red and white striped felt hat with things popping out the top. You know you’re in for something great when you feel out of place dressed in just jeans and a sweater.

That night when I called home, I found out that, by pure coincidence, Mamu, Susan auntie and Sara were coming to Cologne the next day. I met them at their hotel around 10:30 the next morning (It was quite entertaining trying to explain to the man at reception that I was there to meet Mamu and not to check in for him.) After they settled in, the four of us headed to the Dom to catch a glimpse of the inside during mass. Unfortunately the tower was closed so we couldn’t climb to the top, but it was still an amazing sight from the inside. Although many of these cathedrals look pretty similar, I can’t help but to be awed by them every time I see one.

Afterwards we stopped by a bakery to have some German pastries. I had a pretzel shaped pastry that was covered in almond slivers and stuffed with vanilla cream. I can’t even describe to you how sweet and creamy it was, but even if I could, I think you would kill me before you finished reading it. But, I did have a bite of a berliner, or German jelly donut, and I must say, as terrible as it sounds, I prefer the ones from Dunkin Donuts. (The German ones have crystallized sugar, but I like the American version with powdered sugar better).

After our deliciously calorie-laden breakfast, we headed out to wander the streets. All of us looked quite in place with our funny hats, but I think Mamu was best in show with his faux rainbow tie-dyed mohawk. Sara and I danced in the street to the German folk music, and we all warmed up with some glüwine, or hot spiced red wine. After wandering some more and we headed back to their hotel to relax.

While the major Carnival parade wasn’t until the next day (Monday), there was also a less extravagant (or so they say) parade on Sunday. Luckily, Sara’s room directly overlooked the parade route, so we sat comfortably by the window and watched all the costumed groups go by as the bands played their lively Carnival tunes and the children gathered the candy that the paraders were throwing out to the crowds. After watching the parade and taking a short siesta, we decided to hit the town once again for drinks and dinner. We had enchiladas at this Mexican restaurant which was soooooo what I had been craving.

The next day, the day of the big parade, it was overcast and drizzling. Mamu, Sara and I wandered the streets some more before the parade began, until we got too wet to do so. I had a crepe (which so reminded me of the crepes Supraja and I had in Paris) and a turinger (a type of sausage) for breakfast and lunch respectively.

Now, everyone had said that in order to get a good vantage point for the parade, you basically had to stake out a place at 7 a.m. We were not that hard-core and decided to take whatever we could (they had to check out of the hotel room before the parade began, so our perfect spot wasn’t going to work.) However, I’m pretty sure the weather detracted a lot of people, because we ended up finding a pretty good spot around the corner from the hotel. In front of us was this group of people that had set up a platform and were having what we later learned was a 50th birthday party for one of their friends. About 20 minutes into the parade, they invited us onto their platform, giving us front-row seats to this spectacle. And boy did it pay off. Various social groups created the floats, and the entire parade consisted of them throwing candy out to the crowds. And not just the lame "fun size" candy bars, but entire bars and boxes of chocolates, packages of cookies and flowers.

But it wasn’t just the amount of candy we collected (which was quite a bit). These native Cologners we were celebrating with used to march in the parade and they told us all about the traditions and the parade’s significance. We really couldn’t have asked for a better place to watch the parade, or better people to watch it with. Their company made us forget about the cold and the rain and just enjoy the revelry that was passing by.

After the (five hour) parade we warmed up with some sushi and noodle soup for dinner, and then, since the roads weren’t clean enough for them to head back to Luxembourg, we chilled out at a cafe. Once the roads were swept of their candy wrappers and horse crap, they dropped me back to my hotel, where I ended up getting into this very interesting theoretical religious talk with the other girls. And then it was back to Madrid on Tuesday.

Now I know that was about 10 times longer than it needed to be, but if you’re actually still reading this, well then, wow you are now my best friend ever!