Carnevale

I'll give you three guesses as to what the image above is all about.
No, it's not Halloween.
It's also not a toga party.
And no, this is not how Italians dress every day...
This is Carnevale. Or what we like to call it in the States, Mardi Gras. However, unlike in the States, Carnevale season is the entire month of February. A whole month dedicated to nonsense. Most people have probably heard of Carnevale in Venice. There are also some less touristy in other smaller cities. I chose to celebrate Carnevale in good old Bologna. Above we have all the residents and friends of Zamboni 18. As a group, we decided to dress as Roman gods and goddesses (we are in Italy after all). I'm standing third from the right with a gold helmet on. Since Americans are clearly wise and have a tendency for warfare, I went dressed as Athena.
We have almost everyone. Except for Zeus. Zamboni 18 runs more like free people's commune than a dictatorship. He didn't really seem to fit in.
We also have the pope. He's there to bring Christianity to the pagans.
Costumes and masks have a long history in Carnevale. Much longer than dressing up for Halloween. The concept of using a mask to create a equal social and economic plan, to break down class barriers and to escape reality has been discussed by poets, semioticians, and play-writers etc... And it all centers around this one holiday.
Celebrating Carnevale with other Italians was just another reminder of how open everyone here is. If you forget to "cheers" before you take a sip of your drink. You're considered strange and anti-social. Everyone dresses up. And there are no lame costumes like "nudist on strike". Last night, I talked with an aborigine, four songs, and some pasta. People get creative.
I also never tire of the "where are you from?" game. They can hear my accent but never can quite place it. I had people thinking I was from the UK, France, Canada, and South Africa. Though when I finally stated that I was from "gli Stati Uniti" everyone gets excited. With all the American students that I know are studying in this city, I am still shocked by the reaction of genuine excitement and intrigue when I say where I'm from.
Another great thing about all of this is that I understood what people were saying to me! I wrote a blog near the beginning of the year about a different party in which I really struggled with the language barrier.
Well guess what! I'm fluent! Hahahaha, no not really....
But, I am very content that I understood better when people spoke in Italian than in their broken, thickly accented English. Who wants to speak English at a party anyway. Italian is so much more lively!
I'd like to dedicate this post to my roommate Laura, whose idea it was to go as the entire company of Mount Olympus. Zamboni 18 won the costume contest thanks to this one: