Today is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras in French.

In my younger days this was one of those highlight days of the year. I'd usually invite some friends over, I'd make a gumbo, we'd either drink plenty of Caribbean rum drinks or Dixie beer, and just make it tough to go to work or school on Wednesday.

Fat Tuesday is claimed to have its origins in the Catholic Church, with Fat Tuesday the last day to have fun prior to the 40 days of lent.

Some believe Fat Tuesday even pre-dates Lent, with the idea that the time around Fat Tuesday was where the days that were added when converting from the lunar calendar to the solar calendar.

Fat Tuesday also goes by the Latin name carne vale, "Farewell to the flesh." Other cultures also call it Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday and fetter Dienstag.

While Mardi Gras is usually associated with N'Awlins, Caribbean Islands once run by the French, and Portuguese Brazil, many Latin America countries also celebrate in preparation for Lent.

Mardi Gras celebrations are big events in Mexico in cities such as Cozumel, Mazatlán and Veracruz.

While the N'Awlins holiday builds toward Fat Tuesday, the Mexican celebration of Mardi Gras runs for five days leading up to Fat Tuesday, but most of the big celebrations happen on the weekend, with most partiers partied out by Tuesday.

Posted March 3, 2003