Where are all the other pictures? - on the way!
In fact this is the reason for this entry being written so late. Although I had the time to write some news about Mardi Gras I decided to wait untill we get the "tons of pictures" we were assured of. Last Monday Bandleader Barry told us that we will get them within the next days. I'll post them as soon as the next days are over, for now you'll have to content with text + a few pics.
So - what's Mardi Gras about? To make it simple, it's just Carnival - but New Orleans people take it serious when it comes to celebrating anything. In Austria a handful of people celebrate and most just attend Carnival. Take it exactly in the opposite order and you may be able to imagine what is happening here. Within the vast majority celebrating Mardi Gras two groups can be identified: Amateurs and the real Pro's.
Mardi Gras - The Professional Way
The professionals don't wait for Mardi Gras, they create Mardi Gras. By the way, that's a good moment to explain some things: Although the city as a whole is in a state of craziness there is an official and central element of Mardi Gras: The parades takin' place from Friday 'till so called Fat Tuesday (some people prefer to say Shrove Tuesday but Fat Tuesday hits the nail on the head). Organization is not centralized but managed by so called Krewes, voluntary groups that organize "their" parade. They are the ones to stay for weeks in their garages building the floats, they are the ones to do all that administrative stuff and of course they are the ones to throw the beads at the parades. All that just for doing it - they don't even get a Penny for it. As there are only 5 days but more than 30 Krewes running Parades, time and spare place on the streets are rare goods. Most of the parade-routes start uptown, run through Garden district and end in the French Quarter which normally sums up to 6 to 8 miles or 5 to 7 hours. Every parade has a specific leader and style which derives from the Krewe's character. Our four parades were lead by Kings, a Zulu Queen, Olympus and a Great Dictator.having attended 4 parades in the Marching Band also means that there was only one day left for watching parades. Out of three opportunities I missed two and so attended just one of the smaller parades. However, some of the pictures taken at this small parades may give you a little impression of what happens at the big parades:
But back to structure. We had the Pro's so it's time to talk about the others:
Mardi Gras: The Visitors
To sum it up there isn't much to say. They're not as professional in it but they do the same thing as all the N'Orleans people: Goin' crazy for Mardi Gras. It's a little bit like prejustice about our German friends and their bath towels in holiday clubs. When I came home Saturday at 6 a.m. the first ones had already taken the best places along St. Charles Ave. However, some people just have some refreshment drinks with them, most of them come there prepared with equipment for a whole weekend chillin' on the street: Coals and grills, drinks and burgers, power-generators and refridgerators. Some groups suffer from the allmighty ubiquitous toilet problem, some have their private toilet on the street but the real professional visitors have their own toilet-truck: A chemical toilet mounted on a Pick-Up.
Last not least some words about the kids: People really take care of them. Not only everybody on the streets is very cautious, it's also a matter of course that they get the best places around.
I think that's all the general information that had to be provided about Mardi Gras. As stated above there's a little problem with providing the tons of pictures I will get from Tulane Marching Band. But as my roommates took some pictures on their own it's at least possible to give a little preview of my own impressions. Have a lot of fun! (thx, Chaotix)
Lukas and all the others who can see the problem: No word about it! It took me 10 minutes just to take the publish/no-publish decision.
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