KARNEVAL

I had the wondedful opportunity to expierence a german Karneval. This is for those who do not know germanys take on Mardi Gras. Essentially, it is a big party and parade in the street. I attended Karneval in Mainz. It is one of the most famous celebrations in Germany. 

Since halloween is not really a thing here, Karneval is that one time a year people in Germany dress up as crazy things. I saw ghost busters, The Simpsons, Fuzzy Animal Onesies, and many "mexicans". I even saw "uncle sam". 

As we would usually celebrate "Fat Tuesday" here they celebrate it on Monday. So this was when the big crazy parade would be. 

The Mainz tradition is to yell "HAYLOEEE" to the people passing out candy in the parade. You yell this while doing a backwards salute. This is pretty crazy but it is meant to be F-*&! You.  Children, grandparents, Parents and teenagers are all screaming HAYLOEE and doing the backwards salute. And unless you do this you will not get candy.