Carnaval Weekend

Sorry for the slight delay, here is an update on our Carnaval long weekend:

In the spirit of Carnaval we let our Adult English students out a little early last Saturday so they could catch some of the parades that were happening around the valley. We are lucky enough to live right next to the Sangolqui parade route, which means that on holidays (which happen pretty often here) our bus route is interrupted and we have to walk part of the way home from the centro. I had no idea what I was in for when I got off the bus alone and started walking the last 10 or so blocks to the Manna house. There were people everywhere, spraying foam, throwing water and eggs, and covering each other with colored powder. I was defenseless, and my blonde hair doesn’t exactly allow me to blend in with the crowd. By the time I reached the monument near our house and saw the friendly face of our neighbor Caesar, I was drenched.

Rachel had arrived home about a half hour before me, and under similar circumstances. We decided to change our clothes, buy some foam off the street, and take revenge! We found Caesar, who was more than happy to walk around with us and show us how to play Carnaval. After an hour I was exhausted, rainbow colored, and soaking wet. I retired to take a shower and Nicole joined in the fun. The two of them went on to experience other Carnival parades (or as they described them, wars) in the Valley while the rest of us headed to the coast for the long weekend.

Carnaval on the beach was much more tranquilo than it had been in Sangolqui, though that isn’t to say that we didn’t get hit with plenty of dirty water. The majority of taxis on the coast are these small carts pulled by motorcycles, which are open on all sides. While riding from the bus station to our hostal we passed a group of kids armed with buckets of water. They were thrilled when our cab slowed down to make a turn, and took advantage of the opportunity to drench us and our backpacks… it was a lovely welcome to Atacames. Luckily we were sweating from the steamy coastal climate and didn’t mind too much. Even though we made easy targets, we managed to make it through the holiday, running, screaming, and occasionally fighting back.