Mexico 10/11!: Carnaval de San Pedro Cholula

I've become a big fan of Carnavales, and here is another installment in the Adventures of Questionable Safety series.

This Carnaval was in San Pedro Cholula, a town right near my house. As you can see, there are the "huey-hueys", or guys who dress up like Turks, French, Arabs, Spanish, Hungarians, etc. and fire huge antique rifles every 2 minutes. It's completely different than the Carnavales in Rio de Janeiro or in France, more casual and party-oriented affairs, with strong undercurrents of debauchery; this Carnaval always has a slight implication of danger and craziness, along with the usual wild partying. So, with my two faithful traveling companions, Lourenço Ledo and Marcelo Carneiro of Brasil, I headed on down at about 12 to see what the deal was.

When we arrived, it was pretty tranquil, so we walked around and drank some tasty micheladas, wandered through the folks and bought some knick-knacks. We stayed at one booth for a while solving metal visual puzzles, called "rompecabezas de alambre", translated literally as "wire things that break your head", which, apart from having an incredibly accurate name, will definitely take up space in my suitcase on the way home. Marcelo is pretty good at them, but they are still quite tough to get. The idea is that you have to separate two or three parts from each other. Look up alambrijes on YouTube to get an idea. I tried explaining to him that I had gotten a high score on the SAT, that I get good grades, but it's a classic example of test- and school-based knowledge meaning nothing in situations of problem-solving and imagination.

After that, the parade started. The huey-hueys dancing and shooting, the marching bands making a huge noise, women dancing and carrying signs, basically an group decision to make as much mess, noise, and craziness as possible. A great idea, according to me. The parade was announced by the ever-present sounds of rifles, and we got right into the action, sometimes dancing with the guys, dancing on the curb, inviting the girls to dance with us, in general making a scene, a talent which I have always developed and treasured.