Ok, this is somewhat disjointed but stick with me.
Well school is in full swing. Teachers and students are
settling into normal schedules and the Gringo is still trying to figure it all
out. A weaker person would have given up trying to understand everything and
just go with the flow. Wait, did I say weaker? I meant wiser. However, I do
enjoy getting surprised on a daily basis so life is good.
This year my high school has been given the honor to march
in a parade as the Captain and his entourage. The parade is called the Mama
Negra and consists of 6 main characters, the Captain being one of them. The
principle of my school will be the Captain and I was asked to march behind him.
The Mama Negra is a very popular festival here in Ecuador and apparently known
around the world. I am not sure how true that is but have been told it over and
over again. I will say that all the photos I have seen of the festival include
ample of amounts of foreigners. I am anxious to see their reaction as they see
a white guy walking in a very traditional parade.
My costume is rather elegant, complete with a sword and
handmade shoes. I have to learn the choreography for the march and the men at
my school are very serious about this. So serious in fact that we have cancelled
classes 3 times already so that we can work on our moves with many more
practices to follow. (I really don’t want to stab anyone around me so this
might be a necessary evil.)
The festival “officially” begins November 9th. I
put officially in quotation marks
because the party has already started. The Mama Negra of the pueblo started
last week and I have been told that each neighborhood holds their own
mini-Negras from now until November. It is not uncommon to hear fireworks at
night here but now that the festival season is upon us I hear them constantly.
No rooster to wake me at 6 am, just flying fireworks.
I recently attended a fiesta at my high school that the
whole city was invited to. I was told to wear a poncho and a hat. I only had a
hat that was from the coast and did not have a poncho. My host friend told me I
could wear his. He had a dark one and a bright one. Which did I pick? Of course
the yellow and orange one! My coworkers wore dark ponchos at the beginning of
the fiesta but then shed them to make dancing easier. I, on the other hand,
wore mine all night. I stood out like a sore thumb as I danced in my bright
attire but had a great time.
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| I blend in right? |
After a recent training in Quito a few friends and I decided
to go camping in a nearby national park. The place we camped was called Boliche.
This is a campsite and recreational area in Cotopaxi National Park. We took a
bus and were dropped off in basically they middle of nowhere and began our hike
into the park. A 45 minute hike through the woods brought us to the entrance.
We paid a small fee for our tents and then we ushered into the park by an
overzealous park ranger. Maybe overzealous isn’t the word. EXTREMELY happy to
see tourists come to his park is maybe a better description. He explained many
things about the park and how great it was. After we paid our way in he asked to
take a photo with us. We obliged and then hoped to be on our way. He then took
a photo with a friend’s large backpack and even took an action shot as he slung
my friend’s backpack on his shoulder. All of this was highly entertaining if
not a bit strange.
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| Our Campsite |
I cannot say nice enough things about Boliche. This park was
small enough to day hike and had beautiful views of the surrounding snowcapped
volcanoes, especially Cotopaxi. The park staff was professional and courteous.
The campsite was clean and accommodating. We had a great time there. I might
have also just missed camping. One thing
I will say is I was glad I brought plenty of clothing. The weather became
rather frigid after the sun went down. We had a campfire but being at such a
high elevation in the Andes always lends itself to very low temperatures.
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| ...And Boliche Had Llamas! |
I am currently preparing myself to climb Cotopaxi, the enormous
mountain outside my city. It promises to be very difficult and the guides in
town recommend training before attempting it. I do not feel that I am out of
shape but I am working really hard at preparing myself physically for the
upcoming challenge. Just today some friends and I climbed a nearby mountain.
Putzalahua has great views of Latacunga and other surrounding cities. The
weather cleared nicely as we neared the top and afforded a nice panoramic view
of the place we call home.
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| Cotopaxi |
On the way back to Latacunga this afternoon I had yet another
very awkward moment. I had to stand as we caught a bus on the Pan-American Highway.
After 10 minutes of standing I noticed a small baby sitting on her mother’s
lap. The chubby little kid smiled up at me and I did my best to keep her
attention and smiled back at her. After a good 10 seconds of staring at the kid
I realized that the mother was looking at me as well. Her face seemed to say, “Like
the show?” As it turned out, the mother had been breastfeeding when the baby
turned and looked up at me. What I affectionately call, “the milk show”, had just
been interrupted and I seemed to be staring directly at the… uh… the woman,
though in reality I was just looking at the kid. The woman smiled and I tried
to act as though I saw nothing, though the opposite is true. Luckily it was
only a short 5 minutes more until we reached the terminal where I hurried off
the bus and avoided eye contact.
Word to the wise, keep your eyes forward and don’t look at
the babies on the bus, they might be eating…
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