love hate

Oh, this carnival time...

Guess what I've found yesterday, as I went to
work.. one window front was broken, but was
already fixed temporarily by the fire department.
The bad side effect of the carnival :( Luckily the
glazier came that morning and fixed it quickly.

I have to admit, I'm not a big carnival fan. Well,
it's not in my blood ;) So, I go there only if I'm
really in the mood.
I love
- the creative spirit people suddenly have,
- the music (it's not about perfection, but joy!),
- the great costumes,
but I hate
- the alcohol people drink too much during this
time (oh, how I hate that smell in the bus!!!!!),
- the vandalism,
- the junk and shards overall.

Tomorrow is the day of the big carnival procession.
I'm not sure, either I'll go there this time. But
if I think of the pros... I think, I should :)



They are the offspring carnival musicians I've
seen yesterday. Oh, how I love the sound of the
drums and the horns! I miss playing saxophone
in the marching band or in a big band (not that
I can still play the saxophone ;))!!! The school
marching band I was in is no more the same
now.

Here you can see their performance in 2008.
How static they became (hm.. maybe because
of the small place?).. We (all of the musicians
including the percussionists!) used to walk
around and show some forms, like this. That
corps used to be our hardest competitor, as the
girls were in the other girl school of Jakarta.
How silly! *lol* We could never beat them, as
far as I can remember ;)

Oh, wanna see my school uniform and a bit of
the school building? Then watch this :) It brings
me certainly back to the past...

schmotzige dunschtig

That's how people call the Thursday before
Ash Wednesday in Konstanz (and some part
of South Germany). It's a dialect, which means
'dirty Thursday'. It's the start of the street
carnival (you can read about the carnival in
Konstanz on my post of last year). So yesterday
was a busy day for my boy and me.

My boy and some other kids on his day-care
will take part on the wagon competition. They
had to finish making their costume and wagon
yesterday. I was busy making some 'mini
krapfen' (jam filled doughnuts), so that he can
take them to school for the party before they'll
be 'freed'. I've tried to make them last year,
but I failed - the dough didn't rise well and I
didn't use enough oil to fry them, so they were
not really 'well-done' inside. But it seems I've
learned from the past - this time I succeed!! :)



Filled with self-made lingonberry-raspberry jam
- a product of my creative cooking. I didn't weigh
the lingonberry before I started, so it was not
enough and I had to add what I had in the freeze
and that was raspberry ;)
Oh, BTW don't worry, that I've been posting
about food twice in a row - this blog won't turn
into a food blog ;)



I've also made my boy a felted vest last night,
as I was (and still am) afraid, that he's cold in
costume. It's very, very cold outside!! Don't
have the picture of it, but made a picture as I
just dappled the wool with soap water - it
looked like a landscape.



Now I have to look for a 'creative costume'
myself - that means: I don't have any costume,
so I have to improvise ;)

Ho Narro!

ho narro!

In Swabian and Alemannian part of Germany,
the street carnival begins on the January 6th
(the guilds start on 11/11 at 11:11 am).
It's called Fasnet or Fasnacht.
Time for all Narren (carnival revelers)
to put on their costumes.
There are parties held on many places.

The highlight is on Schmutzige Dunnstig -
the Thursday before Ash Wednesday.
It starts very early in the morning,
when the fanfares go around the blocks
to wake people up with their music.
Later on at school the children are released
by the Narren - the holiday begins.
The Narren also take over the city hall.
The Narrenbaum is set in the afternoon
(the taller the better ;-)) and there is
the Hemdglonkerumzug in the evening,
where (traditionally) kids in white nightgowns
hobbling around the blocks, making loud noices
using pans and other household instruments.

On Saturday there's a Fasnet market
in the city, where the music plays and
jokes are told on the stage, while people
can play games in the booth and
buy some foods or drinks.
We were there to hear music this time - fun!
We've seen groups of older people -
some in very creative costumes.
I was really impressed!!



The great carnival procession in Constance
is always held on Sunday.
Many participants come from other cities too -
even neighbor cities from the Switzerland
(they have carnival some days later than us).
I was not always in the mood of Fasnet,
but this time I went to the procession.

I love the music and love looking at the masks,
while kids love the candies :-)
The Narrenruf in Constance is "Ho Narro!".
So if the Narren call "Ho", we answer "Narro".
The kids learned fast, that the Narren will throw
extra candies, if they call "Ho Narro!".
Some Narren have also something for adults -
schnapps!! But some have only confetti to spend
and teenagers are often victims of their jests.
Here are some snap shots of the procession.
I must admit, my camera and I are not the best
in taking active photos :-P If you click on the photos,
you can view them bigger on Flickr and I've put
some notes on the photos too.







And as the procession was over, people were
leaving very quickly, as it was getting very cold.
Only the junk left...


But Fasnet is still not over!!
In many other cities there will be
great processions on Monday
- it's called Rosenmontag.
Here in Constance there are some
balls for children.
Well, I'll spend the Monday with packing,
since the shop where I help out sometimes
is moving to a bigger one :-)
But on Tuesday my son and I will go to
the city again to watch the Kaerellerennen
- a wagon competition for kids.
So, maybe I'll be back with some more photos :-)