Remember, Remember...

Ah, Bonfire Night.  Also known as Guy Fawkes Night.  You know, the guy wearing the V for Vendetta mask who tried to blow up Parliament.  Or something like that.  Most Americans have a very stylized understanding of who Guy Fawkes was and what this whole holiday is really about.  So…are we supporting Guy Fawkes?  Or are we celebrating his demise?  Probably the later since people like to burn effigies of him on Bonfire Night.  Or does that really happen?  Honestly, the holiday is a bit confusing and the origins weren’t really explained to me.  But you know what, that didn’t stop me from taking my Saturday night off to enjoy the Bonfire Night carnival at Midsummer Commons.

With a large group of fellow Johnians at my side, I stepped out into the drizzly night (an improvement from last year’s Bonfire Downpour).  Terribly excited to go to an actual carnival (I kind of have the impression that Cambridge is stuck in the 19^th century, so modern inventions like roller coasters and bumper cars have yet to be invented), I couldn’t stop talking about all the fantastic carnival food I was going to eat.  My number one need: a burger.  With lots of ketchup and mayo.  *drools* 

My burger dreams were delayed because I suddenly was dragged on a handful of rides, each more nauseating than the one before.  When I did get such a weak stomach?  At that point the thought of a burger made me want to barf.  Thankfully we were able to take a break when the fireworks started.  

While nothing compared to Milwaukee’s Fourth of July bonanza of aerial explosions, I must say it was lovely watching their display.  Bundled up in my St. John’s scarf, chatting with an Australian about celebrating Christmas in the summer, it struck me how crazy cool my life is: I was in Cambridge. Watching fireworks. Cambridge. England. I was with people from India, Ireland, Australia, Switzerland, America, and England.  And we were all just having a good time at a carnival in Cambridge.  Sorry for the rant, but sometimes the awesomeness of my life just hits me at weird moments. 

Anyway, after that I thought I was done for rides, but I go pulled into a bumper car fight which was quite hilarious. Want to know something weird?  Most of the rides made us pay once we’d been seated.  So we’re spinning around and around on these crazy machines and this guy pops up next to us asking for our money.  Um, sir, I’m trying to keep from vomiting.  Could you wait like two minutes?  And there aren’t really lines so when the ride stops, everyone just bolts onto the ride trying to get seats.  Which I guess then becomes a game in and of itself.  Do I knock over this eight-year-old girl to get a bumper car?  Yes.  Yes, I do.

After that I was dragged—yes, literally—onto a terrifying ride known as Oblivion that had a random sign with a half-naked guy and girl embracing.  Um…okay?  The ride was actually the most fun out of all the ones I went on.  Here’s a picture of it:

Scary, no?  Super scary!  But also scary fun.  I must admit I probably would have gone on it again if it hadn’t been £5. 

Finally, FINALLY, I got my burger at the end of the night, but alas, it wasn’t what I was hoping for.  Still, I ate most of it, and the rest was gobbled up by these two Australian garbage disposals.

Yes, it was the night of the never-ending bowl for the two of them.  I think they must have sampled at least one bite of everyone’s food.  

Poor Devyani only ate three bites of her own candy apple.  (Okay, I'm not going to lie, I had at least three bites of that candy apple myself...)

What a good night.  Hung out with people I hadn't seen in a while; made new friends.  It felt good to step outside the academic confines of Cambridge, where even hanging out at a pub or club ends up including some sort of scholarly debate on plasma or American politics or pure vs. applied mathematics.  *sigh*  

But Bonfire Night was blissfully all about eating crappy food; and not wanting to go on rides that we eventually went on and (sort of) enjoyed; and being incredibly thankfully that Guy Fawkes didn’t blow up Parliament and unleash anarchy upon dear old England. 

PS: Most of these photos were taken by Chris or Devyani.  My camera is afraid of the dark and won’t take pictures if there isn’t sufficient lighting, but thankfully these trigger-happy photographs did the job for me.  Thanks, guys!