Carnaval 2011

So, I finally made it to Carnaval. I went to the parade here in Santo Domingo which is the final parade of the season where they invite all of the "winners" of the parades/festivals around the country. It's a much tamer version, only the winners come, it's well guarded and has lots of security, and much less butt-whipping. Butt-whipping? Yeah, the devils (the one's with the masks with the horns) carry whips and use those to slap the ground. They also carry goat bladders that and dried and hardened and they hit you in the butt with them. I had Chulin stand behind me just in case any of them decided to start hitting, but I didn't see any doing that. They where the masks and hit people to scare and hit the sin out of you before lent. Enjoy the pictures! Most of these are the traditional Carnaval characters. You'll see lots of the devils because this parade has a contest for the best devil mask as well. The video is of the devils whipping the ground.