Carnaval = Beach.

Uruguayos are quite the party animals when it comes to Carnaval (and yeah...Carnaval was a couple of weeks ago, so we're a bit behind...), and probably if Zachariah and I got out after 10 pm more than once or twice a month we would've experienced a bit more of it. The thing was, everytime we asked any of our friends at church (locals) or friends at the embassy (locals and non-locals), no one had any clue about the what-where-when of celebrations. "We're going to (insert name of seaside town here)" is what we'd hear.

We did catch some drumming and dancing downtown one Saturday, and since that Saturday happened to be February 2nd it was also the Festival of Iemanja (kinda pronounced ye-mon-zha), the Yoruban religion's goddess of the sea. Yoruba is a West African religion that was brought to the Americas with slaves, and has a few different offshoots throughout the New World. We saw some of her devotees laying their offerings at the feet of her statue that faces out to the river, and also on the beach. There's a really great description of it all here, towards the middle of the post. I hafta check out this blog more, this girl took some terrific pictures! We really want to go see this next year...

But, anyway, the beach seemed to be the thing, so in true Uruguayo spirit we headed for la playa! And the two days Z had off were beautiful days! We spent the morning at the beach, then the afternoon playing in the pool and backyard, or at the zoo ($1 entrance fee for the 4 of us...but don't get me started on the sad state of the animals -- still, it was a bargain and fun)!

And, more sad animal news...apparently, Iemanja likes people to sacrifice animals to her, because Z's boss (who runs on our beach) says that every year, the morning of or after her day, he's treated to the sight/smell of severed goats' heads and other delights on Playa Carrasco. We only saw a fat dead pigeon, or maybe it was a goose. Poor thing must have been rejected, otherwise they don't wash back up. Oh! And a dead chicken, but that was in the street, not on the beach. That really doesn't count. And a neon pink condom. That was just this last week, not for Carnaval, so I don't think it was for the river goddess, but still, gross...and pink?? Just wrong.

On that note, here are some beach pictures! And of course you can't tell, but despite sunscreen, Nuala's starting to get tan. Really she just looks like she rolled in dirt, though...her little elbow creases, etc. are still whiter than white. She doesn't wear a shirt in the water anymore, gets her too cold. We're waiting for her little rashguard to arrive. Of course we didn't get her a bikini top to wear with her reusable swim diaper/suit, so instead of getting used to an immodest bathing suit, she gets used to wearing nada on top. Oh the irony.


ETA: okay, I looked it up, and "Carnaval" is the Portuguese spelling. For some reason, that's the version that's been stuck in my head all season...

p.s. "ETA" means "Edited to Add." Also "Estimated Time of Arrival" of course, but that's not what I was going for above...Z thinks most people wouldn't associate ETA with Edited to Add, so if not, there ya go!