Yesterday a big group of us headed on the train to Mainz, a small city a little over an hour away, for Fasching/Karneval/Carnival! The celebration isn't as big down in our region, but it's huge up in Rheinland and we wanted to experience some crazy German traditions. So we all got dressed up (I was a "sexy strawberry"), got our alcohol to bring along the way (I actually only found out on Friday that Germany has no open container laws so everyone just drinks on the street or on the bus or on the train...that's definitely going to be a treat when it gets warm and we can actually stay outside!)
Okay, so train. What an event! It was pretty crowded when we first got on so we were all clumped together looking ridiculous in our costumes, and then there was this sketchy German guy who was doped up on some kind of drug just like talking at all of us, but he was so messed up that I couldn't understand a word he was saying. So this guy just kept going on and on and on and finally another man on the train yelled at him basically saying to shutup because he was bothering everyone and then the doped up guy was yelling back and then another man started shouting, saying he was going to throw him off the train if he didn't shutup and then they got in a fight! And the third guy was legit about to throw this guy off the train, but the second guy told him to stop, and then everyone on the train piped in telling him to just be quiet, but the doped up guy kept saying how it was a free country and blah blah. Now I really didn't understand any of what the Germans were saying, but I got the gist of it from a few words, but at the next stop, we switched cars to exit that awkward situation. And remember...I am still in my strawberry costume.
So onto a different car, and Becca, Dan, and I sat in a group of seats that had just one other guy there. We were talking about all that had just happened, and then the guy we were sitting with started talking to us, and his English was great so we just spoke English with him the rest of the train ride. He was really nice and had gotten on the wrong train trying to get back to Mainz so ended up having to spend an extra two hours or so on the train so he had bought a 6-pack and gave us some beers! And then he told us all about Fasching in Mainz and such.
Finally arrival at Mainz. Got off the train right in time to catch the parade which was a lot of fun to see. So many marching bands and people in costume and just the works. Afterwards we headed toward the city center which was like a giant fair grounds with rides and food and drink booths and confetti and people in costume everywhere. It was great just to experience all of it, but after a couple hours it got reallllyyy cold and none of us were dressed that well since we were in costume, so we headed back to the train station and got back to Heidelberg around 8:30.
Overall, Fasching was a lot of fun and I'm glad it all worked out that we got there safely and everything. I was expecting it to be a bit crazier, but Saturday is the day more for the kids and apparently Monday is the realllly crazy day, but alas, we've got class on Monday.
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