In Germany Fasching is the equivalent of Carneval or Mardi Gras. During Fasching everyone dresses up in incredible costumes. There is a lot of partying, drinking and celebrating that takes place. It starts on January 6th officially, and people can and do start celebrating then, but the biggest celebration of all for Fasching takes place on Shrove Tuesday right before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent in the Catholic Church.
In Munich, in the beginning of January, there is a Fasching prince and princess who are crowned, huge parades, and a large gathering of people in Viktualienmarkt on Shrove Tuesday. These people are gathered to watch the "Dance of the Market Women." Viktualienmarkt is a great little food market right in the middle of Munich and the women who usually run the booths in the food market dress up and perform dances on a stage for everyone to see.
Unfortunately there were so many people that it was a bit hard for my friend and I to see all of the dances, but we moved around a bit and what we were able to see was really fun. It was also just really fun to be able to see all of the costumes that people had dressed up in, and the mood was wonderful as well. People start drinking at 9 am and will be drinking the rest of the day (kind of like at Oktoberfest). One last hurrah right before Lent begins.
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| Cow costumes |
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| Huge crowd |
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| Many crazy costumes |
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| Market Women dancing on stage |
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| My friend eating a Krapfen which is a type of doughnut filled with jam or creme that is especially popular during Fasching. |
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| My friend and I enjoying the festivities |
I have heard there are a lot of great Fasching parties that take place in smaller villages in Germany. Sadly, however, I did not have the time to go to any of those. In other news, I just finished dog sitting/house sitting for a family in Munich which was a lot of fun. For animal people it's hard going away to college or studying abroad where you don't get to regularly interact with your pet. So it was really nice to be able to dog sit for them, and the dog was incredibly well behaved which is always a plus.
That's also a nice thing about LC is that you will often see people from the neighborhood walking their dogs through campus. We also have a dog day where people bring their dogs to campus for all of the students to hang out with. To get your little fix! Some Area Directors also have dogs so - no need to fear - if you love dogs there will always be a way to hang out with some on the LC campus.
Anyways, if you have any questions, as always email me at drussosavage@lclark.edu
Until next time,
Delia
