Advertisement
Published: February 20th 2010
[youtube=2odWG1tI82g][youtube=nqixfZSE4S4]
Clown Band!
Andy con cabello verde“La Culmanacion del Gran Circo de Titeres”, “Mal Energia”, “La Competencia de Baile”, CARNAVAL y ‘Guerra’s de Espuma’, y Mas…
Gran Circo de Titeres - The ‘Gran Circo de Titeres’ was an outstanding success. The first night, Friday - February 12th, over 200 people came to watch the show! On the second night (Saturday), less people came (maybe 150), but the audience was more enthusiastic. And on Sunday, the final night of the performance, there were well over 100 people in the audience. Needless to say, all of us were very surprised and extremely pleased at the turnout. As well, we were equally surprised that each night, most of the children in the production showed up.
At 25 centavos for adultos and 10 centavos for children, cangel (popcorn) and dulces for sales, the BIB raked in about $217. Ansley and Andy videotaped the entire production, but don’t worry, I don’t plan on putting up the entire production on the blog. We are making a DVD for the BIB, to include a lot of stills, the parade, the production and other ending photos. We hope to make a little sneak preview trailer for you all to see and then figure
Elefante Master y Puppet Maestro
Shari with 'domador' ropa and Chris Smith out the best way to upload the entire production online. Youtube? Vimeo? Tech savvy folks out there with other ideas?
**Post Script** We just finished making the DVD and it came out quite nice. A copy will go to the BIB and we made ourselves a copy. If any of you would like a copy - we would ask that those of you still in Banos - to purchase a blank DVD (un DVD vacio) and we will gladly burn you a copy. The tienda on Calle Oriente (Joseb) has DVD vacios, with the plastic case for 60 centavos. We will still try to upload the video to the cyberworld as well…
Mal Energia - After the first night’s performance of the puppet show, one of the volunteers had a party. They live right across the street from us. Lots of folks showed up. The girls had planned on spending the night, but after Marleigh’s thumb got slammed into the window (major OW!!), she changed her mind. Ansley camped out with the other kids, but apparently she threw up around 3:30 in the morning, all over the bedding. She limped home and spent all of Saturday in
bed. I mean all day…she was hot and had severe stomach cramps. All the locals mentioned making up oregano tea (and root of onion).
I was on my way to the local tienda to buy oregano tea, when I saw my Spanish teacher (who also has a local tienda out of her house - most everyone here does have a little store out of their house). I explained to her that my daughter was sick and I was on my way to purchase something to soothe her stomache. She told me it could be ‘mal energia’ and if I would like, she could come over to the apartment to get rid of the ‘mal energia’ with a ‘huevo’ (egg) and a cigarillo (cigarette). Mande? What? But I figured that it couldn’t hurt any and it would be interesting experience…indeed…so I said. “Por favor, viene a mi casa mas tarde”…and off I went to buy an egg and a cigarette.
She came by a few hours later…she asked for a clear glass and she filled it with water. Then she took the egg (intact) and proceeded to rub it all over Ansley’s body (her head, over her eyes, her
Andy (clown band) and Jenifer
Andy and one of mi elefantes.... neck, etc.) as she chanted and prayed. She did this three times, then asked Ansley to blow forcefully on the egg three times.
Then, she cracked the egg into the water. She explained that indeed there was ‘mal energia’ as the whites of the egg were stringy and went from the egg yolk to the top of the water. Then she lit the cigarette and blew the smoke all over Ansley. She explained that the tobacco was a good complement to drive out the ‘mal energia’. When she finished, the egg whites had changed, kind of like masts and sails on a boat, and at the point where the egg white reached the water, there was a little air bubble. It was pretty interesting looking. Then she said that the egg/water had to be flushed down the toilet, but if we looked at it while it was being flushed, the ‘mal energia’ would return.
She said Ansley would sleep and when she awoke, she would be fine. Ansley slept and slept and slept and slept and slept…all day and all night. When she woke up on Sunday (Feb. 14th), she got out of bed, took a shower, and
Leon
Diego and his titere, el leon ate a bowl of cereal. She was still not ‘100%!h(MISSING)erself’ but it was almost a 180 degree change from Saturday…who knows? 24-hour bug? Food poisoning?? Or indeed ‘mal energia’??? Quien sabe….
La Competencia de Baile - On Sunday, Andy and I had yet another unforgettable experience (geez, I wonder how many unforgettable experiences one can have?). Late morning, Andy and I went out to watch festivities in the park (Parque Sebastian Acosta). Little did we know that we would become part of the festivities!
We watched local girls, in traditional dresses, dance traditional Ecuadorian dances…and then a payaso (clown) came on the stage. He spied Andy amongst the crowd and decided he was going to have some fun with a gringo.
He brought Andy up front and started talking/joking with him. Then he brought up a woman from the audience (the woman was from Ecuador) and chatted with her. Then the clown brought me up…and then the woman’s husband. And then the clown told us…and the audience that there was going to be a dance competition. He wanted to see who was the better dancers, the ‘gringo couple’, or the couple from Ecuador. So…on came
some musica and off we went, dancing in front of about 300 people. Then the payaso asked us to switch partners and Andy and I danced with the Ecuadorians.
Then we returned and the audience had to vote by applause. Andy and I received a lot of applause (maybe even more than the Ecuadorian couple!). Maybe they felt we were really good sports about it all…or perhaps we really were the better dancers! Nonetheless, both couples received a prize…DVD of Ecuadorian comedians. So, I think now Andy and I are quite famous in Banos…the ‘dancing gringo couple’.
CARNAVAL y ‘Guerra’s de Espuma’ - People keep asking us to describe Carnaval…is it like Mardi Gras? We don’t know, in that we’ve never been….but maybe so. Carnaval is celebrated throughout Ecuador. Here is a bit of information I gleaned from the internet about Carnaval:
Carnival (Carnaval in Spanish) is a popular holiday in many Roman Catholic countries. The main festivities of Carnaval begin on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday and end on “Fat Tuesday” (Mardi Gras). This four-day event is often considered a time of excess, with people masquerading or dressing up, overeating, and going on drinking binges. Bailadores
The dance competion While there is no doubt that this does sometimes occur, Carnaval is celebrated in many different ways, often with typical dances and music, family get togethers, or local cultural events.
Water Throwing - In Ecuador, Carnaval is characterized as a time of the year that people throw water and get each other wet. It is common to see small children as early as January 2 squirting water guns at passing cars and pedestrians. Hiding on rooftops or behind trees, these children may also throw water balloons and buckets of water. Tourists to Ecuador during this season should be aware, as they often become targets as well.
What they failed to mention is that the spraying of ‘Espuma’…which is this foamy, water-based, colored stuff, is also HUGE….I think that I will let the photos and videos in the blog tell the story. We enjoyed partaking in the festivities of ‘Espuma’, but on the last night (Tuesday), things got really out of hand and we couldn’t even leave the apartment. Andy and Ansley were on their way to the local tienda when Ansley got a bucket of water dumped on her. She returned, soaking wet and Andy tried to make
Mas Bailadores
And the dance competion continues... his way to the larger supermarket, several blocks away. He decided to return, as he described it much like a ‘war zone’ with buckets of water, raw eggs, dye, flour, etc. being thrown at cars, buses, and of course the innocent bystander trying to get from point A to point B. So yes, we are glad that Carnaval is over, but we are very glad we got to experience the craziness as well.
Y mas…The BIB has returned to normalcy after the puppet show. Things are quiet and Andy and I have just started teaching a basic photography course to children who come to the BIB. We are making a set of ‘Apples-to-Apples’ game in Espanol (Manzanas contra Manzanas) for the BIB, from (of course) scrap folders.
This past Monday, we took a trip to the village of Ulba. Some volunteers (I believe organized from the U.S.) are gathering folks and painting a huge jungle mural on the side of their collesium. We spent about an hour there painting....there is just so much to do, no matter where you go.
Another week has come and gone already…we don’t have too many weeks left before we move on.
Carnaval
Fun with ESPUMA We are trying desperately to pare down our belongings so we can travel lighter. One guitar down…hopefully we can find a good home for the violin…we are also planning to donate some clothing and hopefully donate at least one suitcase. It is liberating to get rid of stuff (of course we are being a bit hypocritical in that we are buying a lot of Ecuadorian crafts/wares along the way….)
Hasta la proxima vez - Con abrazos a todos,
Shari, Andy, Ansley, Marleigh
HOLD THE PRESSES -- ESPEREN A TODOS -- "THE MOVIE" -- "EL GRAN CIRCO DE TITERES" -- IS NOW FLOODING THE INTERNET -- COME ONE -- COME ALL -- TO THE GREATEST SHOW IN BANOS AGUA DE SANTOS, ECUADOR
Click on the link, grab your 'cuppa Joe' and enjoy! Warning, it runs about 40-minutes and probably takes that long to load...
When you click on the hyperlink, you then have to click on "photos by Shari", then click on "videos" under the thumbnail of the Gran Circo de Titeres movie, then you may need to click on the thumbnail one more time.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.246s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0707s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
