What's Fat Tuesday All About?

I can honestly say I've never once wondered about the history of Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, lent, or any of the other million holidays that seem to be intricately involved in this short span of weeks. It's not that I don't enjoy celebrating them, I guess I just assumed there wasn't a story there; it was just a party for the sake of a party.

I spent a summer in New Orleans and got to experience the parties first hand. Even though it wasn't Mardi Gras season, those people found an excuse to celebrate every single night. I was working as a children's librarian in Americorps, and had a small apartment in Uptown. I shelved books a few hours a day and had the rest of the day to wander the city. I know it's cliche to say things like "the city never slept", or "the city had a pulse", but man...NOLA never slept, and it certainly had a pulse. It was a tough adjustment moving back to Emporia, KS, a town with 4 radio stations, and a McDonald's to public library ratio of 3 to 1.

Anyway, so Mardis Gras is actually French for Fat Tuesday, which is just a silly name translated to an even sillier name. Fat Tuesday is the day where people gorge themselves before the long hibernation of vices that is Lent. I'm no morality expert but doesn't it seem like it'd cancel all the good you're doing during Lent if you cram your body full of beef and cigarettes the night before?

The most interesting thing I learned was about Carnivale. The word literally means "a farewell to meat". I think that's pretty neat- a big party without meat. I should make up shirts that say "Everyday's a Carnival When You Don't Eat Meat!".

Eating too much meat has been known to cause jaundice

So lots of countries celebrate Carnivale, mainly because it was a tradition long before the Catholics came in and co-opted it. But they all do it a little different. In England they celebrate Pancake Day where they, you guessed it, eat a bunch of pancakes. In the Netherlands the parades are filled with Zaate Hermeniekes, or "drunken marching bands", which are intentionally sub-par bands picked for their amateurish amount of talent.

My favorite is Carnival Thursday in Germany, called "Old Woman's Day", which celebrates the anniversary of an 1824 washwoman's revolt where women "stormed city hall, cut mens' ties, and kissed any man who came their way".

Happy Old Woman's Day!

PS- You know who loves Carnival? Arnold! (Probably a little too much, if you ask me)