The Craziness of Carnaval

Hola a Todos!

This past week flew by with all of the Carnaval celebrations. Although things have been happening for the past 5 or 6 weeks, this last week leading up to Carnaval was the craziest. Everyone was out and about throwing water balloons and buckets of water at any and all passersby. I stayed dry in Azogues last Saturday, although when walking around I went from awning to awning staying up against the buildings to avoid having water balloons dropped on me.  The bus ride home was hot because the bus had been waiting in the sun all day and we couldn’t open any windows for the first half hour or so because people along the side of the street were throwing buckets full of water at the buses trying to catch an open window.

Sunday was the big fiesta in Zhoray that was for all three of the “Amazonian  Parroquias” in the area. People came from all the communities of the parroquia of Zhoray, as well as many other cities and parroquias. There was a big parade into the center market with everyone dressed in elaborate costumes. All day there was a dance competition in the market with all traditional dances in traditional dress. In the afternoon there was the election of the “Carnaval Queen,” of course, and then there were live artists for dancing into the night. The fiesta went from about 9am until midnight, so I was exhausted by the end. Throughout the day, there were water and foam spray (carioca) wars, which I participated in occasionally. It’s a really fun, but also funny holiday because all the adults act like kids, playing in a giant water fight. I stayed around Suca’s store most of the day, helping with sales and enjoying the fiesta from inside. It was a great fiesta!

On Monday I went to Monay with Zoila and the huge extended family that came into town from Guayaquil. We had two cars packed full of people, and I was in the back of the pickup with several of the cousins/nieces. It was a cold, windy ride there as we were at the mercy of people staked out on the side of the road waiting to soak us with buckets of water as we passed by. We all made it alive, and had a great hike up to the waterfall. A few of us went into the freezing water and we all hung out for a while before the slippery, muddy descent back to the cars. The ride back home was even colder now that we were all wet and it was pelting rain, but it was a really fun trip. Once back at the house, we had a big cookout with even more family and fresh grilled lamb.

Tuesday was the actual day of Carnaval, but much more laid back for me. I went into Azogues and Cuenca trying to find internet to skype home, but EVERYTHING was closed. I think it might be the biggest holiday of the year here. Luckily it was a beautiful day so I just wandered around avoiding being hit by water. I went home with Zoila and had a nice dinner with Suca, Zoila and Nayeli for my birthday.

Everyone seems to be in recovery mode right now, so things are pretty quiet. As soon as they’re recovered, though, preparations begin for Zhoray’s week-long fiestas in the beginning of April. Hopefully I will be able to do some work before then, when everything shuts down again.

As far as work goes, Lucy is a proposing a big project that looks like it will go through. Right now, the president of the Junta is going to give us the room in the Junta Parroquial in the center and $10,000 to be equipment for a physical therapy/rehabilitation center for the disabled community members. There only option right now is to go for treatment in Azogues, but it isn’t possible for any of them, so Lucy and the subcentro staff is going to offer PT twice a week. If it goes through, I will also have access to the room to work with other groups and give charlas, etc. While I already have permission to use the space, if it is revamped into a rehab center, it will have more credibility and hopefully people will attend more of my meetings and charlas. I, of course, am also suggesting they get a horse for hippotherapy, but that one might take a while for them to be convinced. It sounds like a great project for the community, so hopefully it is all approved, financed, and actually started!

Living at the subcentro has been going really well and I’m very happy here. Lucy, Martha and Carmita all live here during the week now, so I’m only alone on the weekends. We split cooking days, which is working out, but I also have a lot of time to make my own food, which has been going great. This week I made pizza, veggie soup, corn salad (thanks Zoe!) and bagels. Next week there is quiche, spinach chicken, lentil burgers and cobbler on the menu. It’s fun to try all these new recipes, and to be eating healthy foods again. We hang out in the afternoons and evenings, chatting or playing games. Lucy and Martha have learned Bannanagrams and Set, both of which they love, and Phase 10 will be next thanks to Natalie! While I get to spend a lot more time with them, I’m still spending a lot of time in the town and with Suca, Zoila and Nayeli. I usually go down a few times a day to chat and see what they’re up to, and other times to collect Cora. She is in a new habit of running away if the subcentro gate is open and she isn’t tied up, but luckily I now know that she goes straight to Zoila’s terrace in search for Oscarito, the puppy who lived there for a few about a month. Oscarito has moved to Guayaquil with the family, but a new puppy, Shakira, was gifted to them today, so Cora still has a friend to run to.

The biggest news is that Internet has come to Zhoray! There is the big company here to build a dam, and they have an office set up in a house on the market with internet. They came to me the other day asking for English classes because the engineers in charge are coming from China and speak English, not Spanish. In return for giving them classes, hopefully they will share their internet and I’ll be a little bit more connected!!

That’s about it for now. Things are going well here and I’m feeling settled back in. I hope everyone had a happy Mardi Gras and that it was a little dryer and warmer than Carnaval here. Hello to all!

All my love,

Kerry