Carnival Festivities (Part 2)

The parade:

I went to the biggest, most famous parade in all of Athens. This was a culturally fascinating experience. First of all, parades are quite different than their American counterparts. American parades are typically centered around floats. Although this Athenian parade lasted about three hours, there were only 3 "floats" throughout the entire thing. They were all pulled by worn-out pickups from the 80s, covered by tarps to conceal their ugliness. The floats themselves were...I'm trying to think of a word that doesn't put a value judgement on it...well, they were not the scale and complexity that American floats are. One was a bull, another a castle, the third a platform for Miss Athens to stand on and wave from.

You must be asking yourself, "If there were only three floats, what else was in the parade?"

Well, there were people...dressed up in silly costumes...dancing with no sense of shame.

Basically, groups of people dressed up as other "ethnicities" and danced down the street while throwing confetti and spraying foam from cans. The costumes were completely stereotypical and reminded me of costumes-in-a-bag that you can pick up at grocery stores back home. Some examples of "ethnicities" participating were: Chinese (including a dragon), Japanese, Mexican, Spanish, Viking, Egyptian, Arabian, Brazilian, Cowboy, and Indian (Native American). It was interesting to see different stereotypical impressions from the perspective of another culture. For example, it was VERY difficult for me to watch these people parade around as "Indians," closely followed by the cowboys. At one point, the "Indians" started dancing around their "Chief." They were apparently raising him from the dead by circling him with their spears and making the "Indian" noise by hitting their mouths repeatedly with their hands. Every inch of me cringed. Greeks are not known for their political correctness, so this obvious public display of stereotypes was relatively not surprising.

What I found endearing was the fact that all ages joined in the madness. Middle-aged adults were shaking their groove thing just as much as the pre-teens. All were enjoying themselves, and no one took themself seriously. That would never happen in the States.

The whole construction of the parade itself was typically Greek: tons of people, LOUD music, with little sense of personal space. The music was not Greek. Instead, it was a strange collection of Ricky Martin techno remixes, and everyone seemed to know the words. Shakira was another popular song selection and I recall singing along in English to the Greek version of "I Will Survive."