Carnaval, Uruguayan style

After eight straight days of rain and cloudy skies, I was beginning to wonder if the sun would ever shine again in Uruguay. I felt deceived to tell you the truth, as if the country’s own flag, which boasts a cheerful-looking sun in the upper left-hand corner, had lied to me. I suggested to my host family—a good-natured, infinitely patient group of people—that a rain cloud might replace their current national ensign.

Finally, then, on Friday, just as my mood was beginning to reflect the weather pattern, the clouds finally parted and the sun shone for the first time since my arrival. My host family and I decided unanimously that there was only one way to spend a gorgeous evening in early March: ¡carnival!

Forget Rio de Janeiro and its tawdry parade through the streets; most Uruguayans are proud to remind anyone who will listen that theirs is the longest celebration in the world—nearly 40 days—and that it is based on a series of open-air theater performances, not ruckus in the streets.

Normally all carnival celebrations would’ve wrapped up by now, but since the rain put a damper on all festivities, they resumed on Friday. We attended one of the more unique and typically Uruguayan carnival events: the murgas performance.

The term “murgas” was first used in Spain to refer to any popular street music performed during town festivals and other public celebrations. The modern, South American version has been commonly attributed to a group of Spanish minstrels who made Montevideo their home in 1906 and who fused the art form with the spirit of carnival.

A traditional Uruguayan murga consists of an all-male choir of 13-17 participants. They greet the crowd with an introductory song which quickly adopts a satiric tone, poking fun at politicians and other public figures, and retracing the year’s more salient events.

Curtidores de hongos, a tribute to the rugged Uruguayan culture of the interior (as the rest of the country is known), sang about everything from the unwavering ineptitude of Uruguayan bureaucrats to the “shut-up” heard round the Spanish-speaking world. They are slated to win as this year’s best act.