…or how Westford amuses itself.

Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.

Passing through the center of town around nine o clock in the morning last Saturday proved to be a bad idea. Knowing the usual size of Westford’s town activities, I was completely flabbergasted by the number of people lining the street around the common and Abott School. It looked like every family with little kids was there, and then some more.

The actual parade I missed, but I hear it is all very flowery. It sounds like the event named ‘Karneval’ in Germany, which is about three days of festivities like that and slightly different in every town (except for the fact that there is a parade, some shooting competition and lots of drinking).

Then, Saturday evening, the highlight; fireworks and fried dough. For about  fifteen minutes bright lights exploded over the heads of the watching crowd, one bigger and more colorful than the next. For a town the size of Westford it was quite an impressive display. However, I can not understand the people still going on rides during the fireworks – their smoke inhalation rate must have been horrendous. And then there was the one thing everyone had waited for desperately for the last two weeks – fried dough. Apparently a local favorite. I could not believe the size of one serving – but then again, you had to pay five bucks for it so at least they gave you a lot. It’s probably a good thing that the carnival only happens once a year; fried dough must be one of the most unhealthy calorie-bombs ever.