CARNIVALE

Mahlon, Kari, Shana, Trish, Heather and I all enjoyed a night out in Acireale this week for Carnivale! Carnivale is celebrated all over Italy, and is a special time for fun and indulgence before Ash Wednesday and Lent! It's like Mardi Gras, only without the drinking. Carnivale is a family event and there are lots of kids in costumes...little princesses, kings, super-heroes and fairies running around in the streets. Vendors line the streets selling food, candy, toys, masks and hats. A lot of Italians were wearing big, crazy hats...and many of them were American hats featuring stars & stripes!

Besides the parade, the greatest thing about Carnivale is the mess. All the kids and teens (and some of the adults, including us) carried around bags of confetti and cans of silly string, and would sneak up behind people they didn't know to attack them with it! We got really into it, and were actually in an all-out war with some of the kids and teen groups. Despite the language barrier we were all playing together with them and laughing like crazy. It was so much fun!