Viva el Capitán!

This morning if you had told me that instead of a normal co-teaching and co-planning day at my high school I would be dancing on an Ecuadorian military base I would have thought you were crazy. I had already made plans with my teachers and planned to have a meeting in the afternoon with the English Area.

At 7 this morning a teacher called me frantically and directed me to get my "Mama Negra" military uniform and get to school as soon as possible. The avid reader of this blog, mom, will remember that "La Mama Negra" is the annual festival in Latacunga held in November. I was invited to take part in the parade last year and had a uniform made to fit my Gringo-sized body. I remembered the men saying that we should keep our uniforms handy throughout the next year in case we were asked to represent the high school at some city wide function. Apparently the authorities got the call this morning, cancelled school and assembled the ranks.

I was lucky enough to be one of the 12 selected by the authorities to march/dance at the military base outside of Latacunga today. I hurriedly packed my uniform and rushed to school. There we rehearsed the march that we had done for the parade. For the parade in November we practiced for almost 3 months beforehand. Today we practiced for less than half an hour. I was a little rusty but soon got back into the swing of things.

Chiva time!

We then loaded ourselves into the "Chiva" and drove the 20 minutes to the military base. When we arrived we were told why we had been asked to come. The women of the Ecuadorian military were at the base. There were about 150 women that were in the military and maybe 50 wives of the upper echelon of the Ecuadorian military. The women were taking a tour of the base and we were there special surprise at the end. We marched in with the military band and did a few laps around the gym where the women had ended their tour. Then we went into our dance routine. Soon our ranks broke and the women mobbed us with cameras. Not to be too modest, but the women really liked the Gringo in uniform.

Can you spot the Gringo?

After half an hour of photos and dancing we loaded back up into the open-air party-mobile and headed back to campus. The women of the school awaited us at the gate and rushed us into the school and told us all to get changed ASAP. Unbeknownst to me, the authorities didn't get permission to leave the school from the district. Our whereabouts had been found out and someone had made a police report that all the authorities had left the school and were dancing at the base. Apparently driving through the center of town wearing gaudy uniforms and shouting  is not the sneakiest way to get from one place to another.



Things blew over quickly once someone from the district arrived and observed that we were all in the school where we were supposed to be. Appearance is everything. The case was also made to the district that even if we weeerrrreee at the base, we were just being patriotic.

I think she is probably in Recruiting

It seems like every time I get into a routine and start to think I know what is going on here south of the equator something  like this happens to put me back into my blissfully ignorant place. And you know what, I wouldn't like it any other way.

La Mama Negra: Why are those Gringos in the Parade?

La Mama Negra

This weekend the fiestas of Latacunga have officially drawn to a close. La Mama Negra is a festival that begins on September 23rd with the parade of the pueblo and basically continues until the 11^th of November with the celebration of the Independence Day of Latacunga. I quickly got my fill of endless fireworks.

Fresh

The festival is a blend of every culture that exists in Ecuador. Afro-Ecuadorian, Spanish and Indigenous aspects are all represented in the parade. The melting pot of culture makes it virtually impossible to understand what is going on. At one point in the parade people are giving praise to the Virgen de la Mercedes (Catholic), at another a people are being rubbed down with live guinea pigs and get alcohol spit on them to cleanse their bodies (Indigenous), and a man dressed as a woman with a painted black face rides a horse through the streets. It is all a little bit confusing. The main point, as far as I could tell, was to give thanks to the Virgin of the Mercedes for protecting us yet another year from Cotopaxi a mildly active volcano situated right outside our city.

Gettin' our march on

But where does Todd “Pepe” Hemelstrand come into the picture you might ask? 

The principal of my school was asked last year to one of the 5 principal characters in the festival. He, as the Captain, invited me and 3 other Gringos that live here to a part of his entourage. We all happily accepted. The last 2 months have been spent preparing for La Mama Negra at my school. To say that the school has been consumed by the preparations for this parade would be an understatement. Almost every day we would have either a meeting or a 2 hour practice at which times school would be invariably cancelled. I wish I could say that all that practice led to a flawless march but there were still mistakes made by the goofy Gringo…

Found this on the internet. We famous!

When the day finally arrived we met up at 6:30 in the morning. We marched to the houses of each character and the parade grew from there. By 12:30 we were ready to officially start the parade. The sun was beating and my ornate, cumbersome costume did little to keep me cool. Luckily it cooled off about an hour into the parade. 

The festival is known for the liquor that is guzzled in the streets from dawn ‘til dusk. We, as a part of the parade, were instructed to not take any drink from anyone. This had less to do with sobriety of our group and more to do with staying alive. Every year people are drugged and foreigners are at an even higher risk. 

As the parade progressed I noticed the police presence intensifying. At certain spots in the parade our security detail would have to beat back the crowds to allow us room to march. At the end of the parade we simply filtered into the crowd. At this point the national police were dressed in full swat gear apparently ready for action. I had heard from many sources that last year was “tame” because only 2 people came to enjoy their last Mama Negra…

The parade ended and we loaded buses to head to the city where my boss lives. There he threw a party for 4000 people. He hired bands of traditional Ecuadorian music and pop music alike. We danced late into the night. 

Today, the 11^th of November, is the Independence Day of Latacunga. This morning we had another parade but this was much tamer than La Mama Negra. Each high school in the city was involved and marching bands played. This holiday coincides with Memorial Day so it was nice to get to enjoy a parade. 

La Mama Negra was quite an experience. I am glad that school allowed me to be a part of something so important to them. Going from “that Gringo” to feeling like you are “one of the guys” is great. I am integrating slowly but surely. I now have a greater understanding of what it means to be from Latacunga. Even better than that though, I know what I am going to be for Halloween for the foreseeable future.

Colegio Vicente Leon

Ecuadorian Mlitary

Little Ecuas!

Eye on the Prize

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 9^th. 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. 

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.

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. 

...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. 

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…