Fastelavn!

For those (few :) ) of you who check this really regularly, sorry for the delay in explaining the meaning behind all the pictures of Danish and Danish-speaking children dressed up and eating green-frosted pastries. Those first photos took an unusually long time (I think we're talking days) to post, so I stopped in the middle of my big Fastelavn kick, and I am just getting back to it (Karis, you are a great motivator! Thanks for the messages and funny stories!). Hope you enjoy viewing the controlled chaos as much as I enjoyed witnessing it!

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Each year the Danes celebrate Fastelavn (FESTeuh-LOWn...'ow' like 'ow, that hurts'). The Danish School in Iringa chose last Monday to mark this old and strangely amusing holiday. Even in talking with one of the Danish volunteers, I have found it difficult to form a clear picture of its history, but perhaps the simplest way to describe it is "Halloween celebrated on or around Mardi Gras." It has to do with fertility rites from the pagan part of Danish history, and feasting on the last Sunday before the fast (faste), or Lent, from the Christian part. Love those conflations! Traditionally, townspeople would place a black cat, which was believed to embody evil, into a barrel, then beat the barrel until it broke, hoping the cat would be scared enough to run out of town, taking all evil influences with it. Today, the barrels contain candy. And apparently the yummy doughnut-like buns (fastelavnsboller) associated with the festivities are still a much-loved and important part of any Fastelavn observance. For more on this crazy holiday, click here.

And now, for the photos...