mardi gras 2013

^ costumes everywhere!

 

^ i promise i didn't do anything embarrassing to get these beads. turns out it doesn't work that way, and so my (purely hypothetical) future senate campaign will be free of incriminating photos.

 ^remember how i said "potentially racist undertones"? that was before i went to an entire parade of hundreds of people in blackface.

 ^ decorated coconuts are the prized throw from the Zulu parade, which rolls early Mardi Gras morning

^hooded horsemen ride along St. Charles (!!!!!!!)

 ^ more friendly looking men in white hoods. These floats are on the small side, and pulled by tractors.

^ people. everywhere. also lots of garbage (which has already been cleaned up & cleared away).

^ celebrating Mardi Gras with two of my roommates & a friend

well, it's finally through. and i made it in one piece! Sarah & i woke up early yesterday to catch Zulu, one of the last parades of the season. as you can see from the pictures, it was a gray day, but it was warm and very, very humid. we saw lots of families and bbqs along the parade route, and there was lots and lots of dancing in the street. i had a bloody mary to commemorate the last day of craziness and caught some great beads. not sure if my favorite moment of yesterday was watching 100 people do the wobble or participating in the cupid shuffle in the middle of St Charles Avenue. either way, we were pooped by noon. it was a quiet mardi gras afternoon, and we spent to last of it watching les mis. 3 hours of people singing about the French Revolution and consumption seemed like the appropriate way to end a crazy week.

i woke up this morning to icy cold temperatures (55 degrees! brrr!) & pouring rain. the sirens are quiet, people are back at work, and i was finally able to move my car. spent the morning grocery shopping and doing laundry. i'm halfway through my epidemiology homework & 64 ounces of lukewarm green tea. happy ash wednesday!