Life as a Temporary Cuencano

Gringos on Parade!

Mark and I enjoy a good celebration. No surprise to most of you. This past month has been no exception! We started off with my birthday, moved on to Valentine’s Day and then the big one: Carnaval!

We celebrated my birthday with a great party at our friends’ house, Miriam and Fernando. It was a dance party and we were lucky enough to have lots of friends join us for dancing, conversation, and a really great chocolate cake!

We decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day by spending the night at a beautiful resort in the Cajas Mountains. It’s about a 45-minute drive, so we called a taxi to take us out. Everything was going well, until the taxi started to smell like burning rubber and steam was pouring out of the engine. So, we stopped and Mark and I hoofed it and looked for a ride along the way. We did stop and ask for a ride from two people who turned out to be drunks in a truck that wouldn’t start, and so we went back to hitchhiking. We finally did find a ride after a couple of miles and our Valentine’s day was back on track.

Mark making the fire in our room

We had a great meal in the dining room, had a wonderful room (with Jacuzzi and fireplace) and the next day we had yet another fantastic hike in the Andean Mountains. Truly, a Valentine’s Day to remember!

View from Dos Correra (two waterfalls)

Those two celebrations were terrific, but Carnaval tops them all!

All the "Carnaval Goers"

We are very fortunate because we have some friends who have included us in many Ecuadorian traditions and celebrations. The Palacios invited us to join them in their annual Carnaval celebration. Of course, we accepted right away! We invited a few other friends to join us, rented costumes, bought the foamy, spongey stuff to spray and readied ourselves for the Carnaval experience. You can see from the photos that it’s something that just doesn’t happen in the U.S. Water and the spray foam stuff is a huge part of the event. We were covered with foam several times over; all part of the fun. Unfortunately, one of our friends had an allergic reaction to the stuff and had to leave the festivities early. However, we “ partied on “ in her honor and attended a concert and danced much of the night.

Maureen, Linda and Cody bring "Cougars" to Ecuador

Ken, Fabian and Mark are ready to "Par-Tay"

Our Float

The Palacios Children

Ken and Mark marching toward a storm of foamy spray

Nati on the float

Juan D and Nati

Mark has gotten adept at “sniffing out” potential water-balloon-bombers. He can hear laughing and talking and sure enough as we walk closer a water balloon comes our way. So far, we have avoided most direct hits, but we have one more day to go!

We are famous! I was interviewed during the parade and my quote and our photo has ended up in the paper! Here’s the link. Scroll all the way down to see Mark (in top hat) Me behind him and some of our friends. My quote is in the 4th paragraph and here’s the translation.

Carnaval article, scroll to bottom for photo

Las Mujeres

“"In America we have a Carnival party,but we have no Carnival Parade. We're very happy here. Paute is the best town in Azuay (province) to celebrate. "Viva la Carnival " said Linda Armstrong of the U.S., while dancing samba with five of their compatriots who were dancing with the club UDE.”