Carnaval 1

These are the pictures of the first official day in Carnaval. Ruyman and I were both coming directly from work, so our costumes were not as elaborate as some might have wished. We both grabbed hand-me-downs from Carmen's big bag o'costumes, so Ruy ended up as some sort of were-bear thing and I had the same costume as 2/3 of everyone else at Carnaval: a flamenco dancer. The only thing was, half of the flamenco dancers were men dressed in drag and the other half were little girls under five. I was the one that got a lot of odd looks.

I didn't even wear makeup. But I guess Ruyman's eyebrows had enough for both of us.

Murga costumes

We watched the parade under the shadow of a church. I couldn't help finding irony in watching extremely dressed, extremely devout Catholics genuflecting as they walked by. The Nazis, in particular, were very pious.

An adult Murga

They also had different dance troops of all ages performing in the parades.

More adult Murgas

For some reason, this one reminds me of Michael Jackson.

Noelia and her friend Maria with Elders Lopez and Hilton. For the record, the girls are the only ones wearing costumes.

This particular drag queen approached me, gestured to Ruyman, and asked, "Is this guy bothering you?"

I think the teeth are fake. I think.