Carnaval in Binche, Belgium

Okay, so sometimes I like to wait a while before I post. Not this time because what I'm going to share here was an adventure and the hassle was worth it for what I saw in Binche, Belgium to celebrate Mardi Gras.

So, since the 14th century, the small Walloon town of Binche has had a unique Carnaval celebration. In 2003 it was named a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. Not known for much else, Binche does Carnaval right and takes it very seriously. Starting at 4am or so, the Gilles -- about 1,000 or so men and boys -- begin to rouse their fellow Gilles and the town by marching around, banging drums, waving straw, ringing bells, and stomping their wooden shoes. They also start drinking around 6am.

In the morning there is a parade from the train station to the center of town -- the City Hall -- where all the Gilles wear their costume and masks that represent the sameness of everyone before God. (This is in part a religious and harvest celebration.) Once they reach the center of the city they take off their masks and mill around until 3:30pm.

At 3:30pm the parade begins. The Gilles put on these huge ostrich feather plumed hats, carry baskets full of blood oranges, and throw them into -- and at-- the crowd. The older kids, of course, throw them really hard, so many stores and homes put metal grates over their windows to protect the glass. The oranges represent wealth (gold) and are signs of good luck and prosperity for the coming spring. You *never* throw an orange back. The Gilles get testy. (And, they are carrying bundles of straw with which the could, if they wanted to channel "Black Pete" from St. Nicholas' Day, beat a person with.)

The Gilles I talked to (see picture above) told me that he'd been doing this for 40 years. He was going to do it for 10 more years so he could "retire" after 50 years and get the chance to participate as a Gilles in Carnaval with his son and grandson. The tradition is passed down on the male side of families. As for the traditions: they stomp their wooden shoes to "break winter." They wave the straw and ring the bells to tell winter to "go home" and to let the new and warm spring come in. And then the drums began to sound and he was off....

The parade lasts a long while and lots and lots of oranges are thrown and handed out. Belgians come with bags and fill them to the brim! I got a bunch myself, both on the fly and also handed to me. At one point I must have zoned out -- it's all a little overwhelming and the travel to Binche (as I'll explain in a moment) was difficult -- and was just staring at the whole thing when I realized that a young Gilles, maybe 8 or 9, was standing in front of me with an orange, saying take it. After I took it and said "merci" he just smiled and walked off to throw the rest of his oranges. Just really sweet. (Juxtaposed with the obnoxious gentleman to my right who kept yelling at people to move so he could take pictures and gather oranges from any and every Gilles he could nab.)

The festival goes on into the night with fireworks, but I and my Iranian friend (more on that in a second) had to leave around 6pm because of train issues....

So, getting there. Sadly, on Monday, there was a terrible train accident just outside of Brussels that has killed at least 18 and injured around 90 people. Train service has been really messed up all over Belgium and in France, the Netherlands, and even in Germany and England. Brussels is a major transportation hub. So, I knew today would be a little difficult.....

I got to Midi Station and got my ticket. Didn't see the train I needed posted so I asked and was told to take a train headed to the town of Charleroi and change trains in a town called Luttre. Okay, can do.

Well, I get to Luttre with a whole bunch of other people bound for Binche, including a very nice Iranian woman who speaks only Farsi and a little bit of English. At Luttre we all depart and wait. Then we're told, to get back on the Charleroi train, but not really told why. Just that we *should.* So I get on the train and happen across this Iranian woman. We'll call her MN who is having a hell of a time asking people what's going on. I manage to explain what the deal is and we end up sitting together and embark on a travel journey to Binche.

Once we get to Charleroi -- an old coal mining and metalworks town that is not on the upswing -- we are told that there are no trains -- none at all -- going to Binche or any town connecting to Binche. We have to take a bus. Fine. So MN and I and people dressed in face paint and balloon animal hats head toward the info booth for buses where they have....one person working. Yes, this is Europe. Yes this is the Latin part of Belgium. In the small info booth we hear English, French, Dutch, Farsi, Italian, Spanish, and many other languages and finally get our tram and bus ticket.

We board Tram 89 and head for the destination Andalouse. MN and I sit down and are facing this nice older couple. Hearing me speak English, the husband starts to give us the skinny on the tram ride. "It's going to take a half hour on the tram. Then we get on the bus. But all of this is worth one hour in Binche." It's obvious he and his wife have done this trip before. Now MN is zoned out, so I keep going with the conversation, especially since the husband was very proud to tell me that he learned his English 60 years ago in Lancashire and Birmingham, England. I decided to not tell him that I'm actually an American. (I'm often mistaken as being from England since I speak English and they associate English with England. I'm also told -- a lot, actually -- that I don't "look American" i.e. I'm not, um, overweight and I don't wear "American-style" clothes. Whatever that means....)

So, we take our 30 minute tram ride through the coal mountains -- literally -- of Charleroi and get off our tram and head for the bus. This ride is the least eventful of the trip and we make it to the outskirts of the center of Binche, are told "last stop" and head out, walking towards the festivity in the center of town.

The trip back was less eventful, since we now knew what we were doing, but still tiring. I was very glad ot have MN to talk to and wander around with. Between the two of us we managed to navigate the insane system the Belgian mass transit system had in this area of the country to get us to our destination.

It was also just interesting to meet someone from Iran. I know a couple of other people from Iran, but to run into someone from there in Belgium!? That's not something I wasn't expecting.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience and one that I'll remember for ever. It was worth the crazy transportation problems. Of course, I wish I could have shared with with friends or family from back home, but they'll just have to deal with a slideshow and me talking "about the time I was in Binche for Carnaval."

Less than three months to go! Argh!

(Top: Reverse of a 1939 Belgian Bank Note that shows a lace maker and the Cloth Hall and Town Hall of the town of Ypres that was destroyed in World War I. An interesting example of historical memory, in this case, dealing with World War I.)

(Middle: Front of a 1939 Belgian Bank Note that shows the profiles of King Albert I and his wife, Queen Elizabeth. Albert was known as the "Soldier King" and Elizabeth as the "Nurse Queen" during the war for their actions on the front lines during the war.)

(Bottom: The view from my seat at Café Maison du Peuple. This is Parvis St. Gilles. The church there was built in the 1860s. The café is in the old "People's House" that held meetings of the Belgian Worker's Party during the 19th and early 20th centuries.)

Well, I've been away from the blog for a bit for two reasons: I got sick and I got my butt in gear with work. First, being sick sucks and anyone who knows me knows I'm not a good patient. I was ill when I left the US and kept it in check while traveling with my friend, Paul. It came back toward the of his stay, though. I took a couple of days to fight it off, but then I made the mistake of getting a quick bite to eat at one of the dozens of Greek places near Grand Place and, well, food poisoning! Needless to say, having the bathroom three flights of stairs away doesn't exactly help matters....so I got caught up on TV shows. Then I got depressed.

Yes depressed because, I was sick and alone. Not fun. Depressed because I wasn't working and *only* had three months left so, of course, the solution is not get back to work, but mope and mope I did until about 1 February when, all of a sudden, I just felt better. Seriously.

I had a great and encouraging e-mail from an old professor friend; a great conversation with a friend from back home about what my project really is "all about;" and, of course, the patient encouragement of my girlfriend. All of that combined with just looking at my project differently meant that I came up with, well, a much stronger and engaging and focused thesis question about humanitarianism using my Belgian relief organization as a "case study." I also was able to lay out my chapters better and all of a sudden, poof! Not as hard, or crazy, or daunting as I thought it was and it was back to the archive, but this time to the library.

Honestly, sometimes the task of looking through unsorted documents in nameless, numbered files is tough. Libraries are a little more organized. So, I decided to go to the archive's library and search through their databases and lo-and-behold I found good stuff. Reports, diaries, old books from the 1910s and 1920s on topics I needed to investigate. I sat and read and took pictures.

I was back on track and still feel great about the project and am putting in full days. I'm even writing a bit now, aside from the usual grant application. It feels good to be back at it. I even changed my commute. Now I walk down a side street, through a park, to the back of the Petite Sablon and by the practice rooms of the Royal Conservatory. In the mornings its usually so quiet and the musicians are coming in. But when I leave for lunch, and return from my daily Skype call with Carly, and then when I go home at the end of the day I can hear the students practicing and it is, well, just wonderful. (It also helps that there is a Waffle Truck posted on this route that I now frequent on my way home.)

I'm also trying to spend less time just sitting at home, in my apartment. I try to get out after work a few times and read or work at Café Maison du Peuple, a short walk from my place. They have good beer, cheap food, wi-fi, and a nice active atmosphere. (See picture above.)

Yes, I still have less than three months, but I feel I can make the most of it work wise and still have some fun. Tonight it's off to an all night animated film festival with a friend. Then, on Tuesday, for Mardi Gras it's of to the town of Binche in Walloonia for what is supposed to be the most traditional and interesting Carnaval in Belgium. I've been warned to watch out for flying oranges.

So, yeah, just feeling better all around and figured I'd share. More on the films and Carnaval later in the week. And I'm also going to try to collection artifacts and such of my trip. I want to be that professor who has those cool old things on the walls of his office and say, "yeah, I got that thing when I was in such and such a place....) (See pictures of Belgian Bank Notes above.)