Carnaval

---

Last Saturday I left off with writing my blog, this Saturday I continue with a new chapter. Most of Saturday was relaxing and dull. Not too much was going on in the way of Carnaval celebrations. Shelly was in Banos and Susan was working at the Waorani artesenia booth. I went for a run, typed up a blog, and ventured into town to do some e-mail.

You could definitely tell the fiestas were in the air, however. The town was a little cleaner than normal, there were decorations up, and their seemed to be twice the normal number of people out and about. I stopped by Susan’s booth to see if they needed anything. It was Susan and Noemi setting everything up, not a Waorani in sight. Susan, I believe, was fairly disappointed, but worked like a trooper and eventually, a Waorani woman, Laura, showed up to do the sales. Noemi, Susan, David, and I then walked to the main strip to catch the end of the opening parade of Carnaval. The parade was mediocre at best and I found myself sitting on the curb, far too close to a pile of dog crap. Eventually, the smell was so bad I had to get the whole group to move to a new local.

After the parade, Sue and I came back to the apartment to do some reading and relaxing. Eventually, we wondered back into town to the Waorani store. This was a frustrating experience for Susan, because there was a lot of confusion due to the fact that they were trying to sell artesenia in 3-4 different places this weekend and nobody seemed to be taking much initiative other than Susan and Manuela (her counterpart). At some point, someone, let one of the better hotels in town, take some artesenia to sell, but failed to have them sign the contract. Manuela was upset and somehow the finger pointing ended up at Susan, who wasn’t even there when the deal went down. Sue took it personally and was very upset. Eventually, she let it go, since Manuela was more upset with another woman at the office.

We did a little internet and then headed back to the house again for dinner. Later that evening would be the election of the Queen of Carnaval and we had grand plans to check that out. We had dinner and walked back into town for what seemed like the 15th time that day. On the way back, I realized that I had left my flash drive at the internet café the last time we were in town. I was kicking myself for forgetting it and was sure that it would be long gone by now. I had a bunch of documents that I had just put on it, nothing that couldn’t be replaced, but just a loss of 4-5 hours of work. Anyhow, I stopped in just as he was closing for the night and the owner had my flash memory in his pocket - some other patron had noticed it and turned it in. I thanked him and chaulked another one up for Ecuador and its people.

As we were walking past the store, we ran into more people who worked at Sue’s office and again the issue of the artesenia being given to the hotel came up. I tuned most of it out - it didn’t directly concern me and since this is the most prestigious hotel in town (or at least it costs the most) and the owners are good people, I had little fear that they would “steal” the Waorani artesenia. That said, it is good that Manuela was upset, the Waorani have been burned before in similar circumstances - having people walk away with their stuff under the guise of selling it. Anyhow, the woman from the hotel, had signed a paper saying which stuff she took (only $200 worth) she just failed to sign a contract of any type. From mine and Sue’s perspective, there was nothing to worry about. However, again, people seemed to be mad at Sue. As though she should have telepathically told the women at the office to get a contract. This time Sue was really upset and started crying. I think she was just emotionally drained from a long week of stressful work. We ended up turning around and going home - all she wanted to do was curl up on the couch and watch her TV shows on DVD - which she did.

Sunday brought an unusually sunny and lovely day to Puyo. Sue got up early again to go set up the Waorani booth. I cleaned up around the house and did a little grocery shopping. Shelly was on her way back from Banos and I met her at the bus station. She had an excellent stay in Banos (3 nights and lots of spa treatments). She said that Banos was her favorite part of the trip so far. This made me feel great - Sue and I got unexpectedly busy the last couple of weeks and we couldn’t dedicate as much time as we would have liked to Shelly’s visit. It was nice that she got away on her own and had a great time.

As soon as she got back to our apartment, my counterpart, Andrea, called inviting us to go to the body painting contest in the town of Veracruz. We accepted her invitation (we were planning to go anyhow, but this was a free ride) and picked Katie up on the way. Veracruz was the scene of all the Carnaval festivities for the day. Unfortunately, when we got there, town was more or less dead. There was a talent contest (singing) going on, and none of the contestants were really all that good. We opted to move to the sidelines, grab a table by the park, and have a few beers while we waited for the body painting contest. Eventually, people started pouring into Veracruz and the contest began. There were 5 women being painted. Each was topless to start with a small thong on. The artists began their work as hundreds of people watched. It was interesting to say the least. I find that a person becomes overly self-aware and self-conscious in situations like this. I wanted to watch the competition, but not too closely. You know, you don’t want people to think you are a pervert gringo. I wanted to take pictures, but again the pervert issue comes up. I couldn’t just pretend the contest was not happening by ignoring it, because then I would be the weird gringo who doesn’t like topless women or art (which it is). To top it all off, I am with my wife, my cousin, my counterpart, and Katie - four women. So, I watched without staring, I let others use my camera, I took frequent breaks from watching, to play with Andrea’s son - reducing any possibility of a random pervert thought, and I laughed at some of the other gringo men who busted through the crowd to take pictures with the women and even pose behind them.

Needless-to-say, I left Veracruz with my dignity in tact and Andrea used my camera to take about 50 pictures of the women (not sure what that says about her). We made plans to have dinner at our house that night. I was going to make some lasagna.

When I got home, I cut up the veggies and started a pot of water for the noodles. About 5 minutes later, our gas tank ran out. It lasted 10 months in Puyo - not too bad for a tank about 1.5 times the size of a bbq tank. I was hoping that at 6:00pm Carnaval weekend I could find a place to exchange the tank for a new one. We have two such places within a couple blocks of us. Normally, the gas people drive around town all day honking their horns. If you need gas, you bring your tank to the curb and get a new one. It is a simple process, however, today, nobody was open. I scrapped my plans for dinner, secretely being pissed off, but it all worked out. We basically snacked and made toaster oven bread pizzas. No harm done.

At about 8:00pm, Aaron Banas, another volunteer near us called to see what we were doing. We invited him over, the first time he has ever been to our place. We chatted for a bit, and then he remembered why he came into town - to watch the Superbowl. We had a short contest to see which of the four volunteers could get a score update first. I went straight to a stateside text to my brother. He called immediately and gave me an update - the game was close and in the 4th quarter.

We decided to try and find the game at a local bar. We hopped in a cab and got to the bar. They had a big screen tv, but the game was not on. Luckily, they agreed to switch the channel and we caught the last 8 minutes - the best part. What a fantastic finish to a game. I don’t like either team, but with a finish like that, any fan of sports and football would have enjoyed watching such a spectacular end.

After the game we headed home, chatted with Katie a little more, then went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

Monday came and along with it, a ton of rain. It was cold and wet Monday morning. The coldest it has been in Puyo since we’ve been here. Susan went to the Waorani booth, but nobody showed up. She returned home and we waited to Shelly to get up. Finally, we left the house to go up to the parade. Susan went to the booth again (this time people were there). The parade was supposed to be huge - the streets were lined - we got there just as it started. Shelly wanted to see the Waorani in their traditional clothing - or lack there of. They were one of the first groups, but it was a dud because no men showed up. Oh well. The rain continued, it was so hard we had to buy another umbrella. Most of the groups chose to skip being in the parade, so the whole thing was only an hour when it was slated to be 4 hours. Not a big deal, we were headed to Ambato later in the day to see one of the biggest Carnaval parades in the country.

Shelly and I went to the Waorani booth and Shelly purchased more artesenia. I think she personally is supporting three quarters of the artesenia trade in Ecuador during her trip. She has filled up two extra bags - just with artesenia. Getting her and her stuff home to the States is going to be a challenge. She has one bag at a hostal in Quito, one bag at the Peace Corps office, one bag in our apartment, and she has two more with her. Somehow, we are going to get all them together before she goes home.

Anyhow, back to the story. We got on a bus headed to Ambato at 2:00pm. The trip was uneventful, except that we sat in the front row of the bus and this is the second worse spot after the back seat. In the front, you have to deal with people getting on and off and with people who basically stand or sit on you if there are no other seats. Shelly survived the ordeal well enough even though she had to deal with a stinky old man, and a hunched over woman for a good hour of the trip.

We got to Ambato and headed to our friend Rebecca’s place. She was having a group of volunteer’s up for the festivities and graciously agreed to host us. I think Shelly was a little overwhelmed at the sight of 8 volunteers and her. All of us sharing stories that she couldn’t relate to. So, when I said I would go out to get some wine, she agreed to go with me. We ended up purchasing 5 bottles by the time the night was over. Once the wine was in Shelly, she fit right in the group and all was well.

The city was bustling with anticipation of the big parade. People had set up chairs and benches along the parade route hours before the event - staking their claim to their space. We did no such thing and knew that finding a place to see the parade would be a challenge, however, we would deal with that challenge when the time came.

Ambato is a nice place to do Carnaval. The town outlawed the use of water balloons (a Carnaval favorite in Ecuador) so you don’t have to worry about getting soaked. Last year in Cayambe, I experienced the wrong side of a few well-aimed balloons. With that said, Ambato and Ecuador do have an infatuation with spray foam - they have no qualms about attacking anybody. It is all in good fun, though the foam will stain your clothes - another pair of pants down the tube.

The parade was to start at 7:00, so in Ecuafashion, we walked up there at 7:30. No parade, but we did find a man who had parked his flatbed truck on one of the street corners. He let us climb up - we still couldn’t see the street all that well, there were rows of people in front of us, but it was better than nothing. Some Ecuadorians asked to climb up as well, but he said no, telling them that the truck was only for his gringo friends. I don’t know how I felt about this, but I knew I wasn’t comfortable with it. After waiting for half an hour we opted to go back to the apartment to eat dinner and would return after for the parade. As we climbed out of the truck, Andrew (PC volunteer) and I noticed a burned out building on the corner with balconies. We thought that this might be our best bet a good local to watch the parade. We agreed to bring flashlights when we returned after dinner.

We had a dinner of burritos, wine, and beer then headed back to find a spot among the masses. Andrew and I remembered to take our flashlights, as did Shelly. We walked up to the street, the parade was already going on, and we saw that there really were no places to stand to see anything. We opted to sneak into the burned out building.

The building was gutted, but there was enough of a structure for us to find our way to the second floor by stepping on beams and using some Peace Corp ingenuity. Finally, we reached a room that had a balcony over-looking the street. I must say, we had one of the best spots to watch the parade - high enough to see it all with no threat of being foamed by anyone. We caught the last hour of the parade then headed back to Becca´s to hang out.

The hanging out, managed to turn into a 9 person dance party. It was all good fun. Somehow, whenever Susan drinks with friends she always wants to turn it into a dance party - usually she succeeds.

The next morning, we all got up and had some awesome chocolate and banana pancakes. Sue and Shelly went out with a couple of the other gals to explore Ambato post-parade. They returned within the hour. I guess most everything was closed, the air had the smell of urine and puke, and there were drunks passed out everywhere.

Eventually after having lunch in Ambato we headed to the bus station. Shelly was headed to Quito to try and secure her travel arrangements to Peru and Sue and I were headed back to Puyo.

All and all, things went well the past week. I am happy to report that Shelly made her plans and is in Peru as I type. The volcano in Baños is erupting, but again, Sue and I are safe in Puyo. The road is closed though in Baños which means that the price of goods will be rising in Puyo. Even if the road closes for an hour, people raise prices…..because they can. Oh well, what are you going to do?

It was a short week of work for us, which was nice. I started to work on a PL-480 grant which gets funded by USAID. The grant will take days, if not weeks to write and it is hopefully going to help out the local paneleros (sugar producers). My chances of getting the grant are probably pretty good, I am just unsure if the effort will be worth the small amount of funding we will receive.

One of my Peace Corps bosses, Pablo, came down to Puyo on Thursday to do some site development for a new volunteer that will be essentially taking over Katie´s position when she leaves. We went out to dinner with him at El Jardín and had a splendid time chatting about Peace Corps and our work.

Friday night, last night, we went to Andrea´s for dinner. We have gotten into a group of friends/co-workers who like to do dinner together once every 2-3 weeks. Andrea, Pablo (from my office), his wife Jessica, Karina, Yadira, Susan, and I are the regular group. Katie came this time, as did Carolina Mancheno from Fundación Natura. She is a good friend of Andrea´s and was in town for the meeting with Pablo from Peace Corps.

Anyhow, Andrea busted out her rocklette again and I made pizzas. It was rather humorous, because earlier in the day, everyone at the office was asking me to make pizza dough, as though I was some expert. I have not made one from scratch in a long time. So….I looked up a recipe and through it together. The dough was good enough, my Ecuadorians friends thought it was the best - they all want me to teach them.

I also made brownies with the Hersey´s Cocoa powder that Sue´s parents sent us last week. My first good batch of brownies from scratch. Martha Stewart watch out!!!

Until next time….

---

Photos

The Puyo Band
The band playing in the kickoff to Carnaval parade. I especially like the midget cymbols player. He is a nice guy and a hallmark of the band.

Queen candidates for Carnaval
These are the candidates for Queen for Puyo´s carnaval celebrations.

Body Painting
Veracruz is known for its body painting. I did NOT take any of these fotos you are about to see.

Foam Wars
Andrea´s son Paulo battles with another kid from Puyo.

Katie after a battle
Katie shows that she can play too.

body painting - last one
This is the last foto that I will post on body painting.

Float in Carnaval Parade Ambato
This is one of the many floats in the Carnaval Parade in Ambato. Note our bird´s eye vantage point.

Carnaval in Ambato
View of the street below during the parade.

Secret Entrance
Andrew by the secret door to our burned-out Carnaval viewing balcony.

Comments

[JTGomer]

Greetings!
Jeremy it's good to finally get to your blog, i apologize for not posting soon enough. Hope everything's going well, just wondering where are the body painting photos of Susan?