Flour, water, foam, eggs, beer, and cake

March 23, 2011

One might ask what do these things all have in common. To which I reply, covering me from head to toe and basically just all over this past month. The reason for this is pretty simple as well; it was March, meaning Carnival and my 25th birthday.

For those of you who have been to New Orleans and think you have really experienced the true meaning of Carnival I have just one thing to say to you; you haven’t. The South American countries know the true meaning of Carnival which entails at least a full week of all play and no work as well as an “optional” month of work leading up to that full week.

So what do you do for a month of no real work? That’s easy. You go to beaches, play in any body of water that is close to where you live, have constant water wars even if the people involved in the water war don’t want to take part, shoot foam at any kid that looks at you the wrong way or even slightly looks like he or she might be causing trouble, and put flour all over people’s faces and heads at every party. But above all else, stay up until at least the sun comes up or you pass out from the constant consumption of Pilsner, box wine, or homemade liquor. Or at least that is what everyone did in my little town here in Ecuador.

As for me, I decided to take part in Carnival this year and went to Guaranda in the Sierra, which is known for their Carnival activities and parades. Here in Ecuador it is common for people from the Sierra to come to the Coast and vice-a-versa for Carnival. However, Guaranda is one of the main cities known for the overall Carnival experience. And it just so happens that one of the PCVs from my omnibus lives in Guaranda as well as some World Teach volunteers, so it just made logical sense.

All in all Guaranda was a really fun experience but not one that I will rush back to once again. Between World Teach and Peace Corps there were about 35 or so gringos coming and going from all of the Carnival Activities. Where I stayed we had 12 people between two rooms one night and then 16 people between three rooms the next night with one shared bathroom for all. We became very close really quickly.

In all honestly, it was a lot of fun which included a lot of water wars, foam wars, water balloons, flour, group meals, parades, concerts, and of course Pilsner. Not liking beer made it a little harder for me to enjoy as it was everywhere but little else was found for consumption. I made it work somehow though. And I should mention as well, that buses really do make prime targets for water in the hopes that maybe someone has a window open.

A basic Carnival day consisted of waking up, at the grand hour of nine or ten, and having a group breakfast of eggs, cheese, and tomatoes with bread. Then we would all head off to the daily parade (I swear there was a different parade everyday). The parade would last for at least three hours which would consists of consistent consumption of Pilsner, with water wars and foam wars mixed in between with the random flour being thrown. Once you’ve had your fill of that you continue on to your late lunch or dinner depending on the time and then head out to one of the many concerts that took place around the town. The concerts would go on throughout the night which would be mixed with more foam wars and the water being sprayed turning into beer being sprayed.

Now if you were one of the lucky ones who had someone who really liked you at Carnival you also got an egg smashed on your head at some point throughout the day. Lucky for me, I did not. Then you would retire once the sun came up or you decided that you couldn’t take anymore for that day and needed to go to bed so you could get up and do it all over again the following day.

Like I said, it was a lot of fun but I am glad that experience in my life is over as well. I definitely got my share of water poured down my back as well as foam sprayed all over my body and flour in my hair. And I have got to say, water balloons from more than three stories high should just not be allowed because that feels like a rock being thrown at you. Not to mention that it doesn’t even break on the person that it hits because of the velocity!

All there is left to say for Carnival is the simply Carnival song which you will hear at least fifty times each day: Chicha quiero chichi quiero, trago no trago no. Guapos quiero guapos quiero viejos no viejos no. Que bonito es Canaval!

After the activities of Carnival my 25th birthday was right around the corner. And thankfully for me, the only present I got from Ecuador this year was to not have electricity in the morning on my birthday. But I will take that over Dengue any year!

For my birthday I went out to Chilies with my closest PCV for Happy Hour. Yes that is right ladies and gentlemen, there is an actual Chilies in Machala Ecuador! I am still not really sure why they opened up one here or how successful it will be, as it only opened that week of my birthday, but I guess time will tell on that one.

So we had two for one margaritas and enjoyed some free tortilla chips. A couple of my friends came and joined, Ecuadorean and American, and we had pizza afterwards as the food in Chilies was above our budgets. From there we went over to my Ecuadorean friend’s house in Machala where she had gathered our other friends and there were all there waiting to surprise me. They had completely decorated her apartment with Saint Patrick Day’s and birthday stuff. It was really nice.

Now the tradition in Ecuador for birthdays is to get your face shoved in the cake after you blow out the candles and before the cake is divided up. And sadly for me, I could not escape the tradition. This would be where cake ended up all over my face and maybe even a little up the nose. Thank you Ecuador!

It was a really fun night and ended up with us going out to a dance bar for a little while before returning back to my friend’s apartment and having one more drink as well as some micro waved popcorn and some good conversation before bed. I have to say that my 25th birthday was definitely much more fun than my 24th. Crazy to think that I am now 25! It’s like I should have my life figured out by now or something…ha!

Other than being covered in baking goods and water, I have actually done some work this past month as well. We finished up our summer camps with English and self-esteem. They were both really big hits with the kids and even if they didn’t managed to really learn any of the material I know that those classes will stick with them just because they enjoyed them. They also really loved the album that they each ended up with at the end of the camp. It was more work than I thought it would be, but definitely worth it to see how appreciative they were for all of it.

Now I am in a little lull with camps having ended and waiting for school to start on April 4th. Once school starts up again I will be teaching self-esteem classes as well as after school English help classes with 7th, 8th, and 9th once a week respectively. Not to mention INFA after school Math and Language will start up again as well. Basically I am just going to continue with all of my projects from last school year as they were all successful and I had a relatively full schedule with them all.

Working with my INFA counterpart we have also started up a community bank…or maybe I should really say are in the process of. We have had a couple of meetings but are struggling on really getting people committed as is the way with pretty much everything here in Ecuador. And with a community bank the people need to be committed completely before we start. I really do have faith though that it will work out and it will be a great project to finish with so to say.

So in the next couple of weeks I plan on visiting the Sierra El Oro of Zaruma, where there is a PCV, and doing some hikes while relaxing some in the cool Sierra climate escaping this thing called heat which we have a lot of. Hopefully I will also make my way to Cuenca at some point to shop at some of the artesian shops and maybe get in some hiking. Unfortunately, the PCV that wants to go with me to Cuenca works pretty much every day I don’t and vice-a-versa. So those plans are still up in the air for now. Either way, these next couple of weeks I plan on making some small two or three day trips here and there.

On the 17th of April I have a 15k that I am going to run in Cuenca which I hope will not kill me…I mean, 15k itself is a lot…then add 2530 meters to it! Shortly thereafter Sarah and I have our Manchu Picchu trip the last week of April into the first couple of days in May which is all paid for and set besides hostels. And then we have our COS (close of service) conference that first full week in May up in Quito. Crazy to think that time is so close and yet not hard to believe is some ways as well!

My daily life at the moment consists of running every morning followed by studying GRE words. I am pretty sure that I want to go into teaching when I get back to the States which means that I need to take some tests, apply to some programs, and all that fun jazz to get ready to be teaching by 2012 or 2013. Wow…that is crazy to think about!

All in all, it is really hard to sum up everything that has happened over the past two years or the ways that this experience will stick with me for life. I guess all I really can say is that I am and always will be very grateful for what the Peace Corps has given me and yet I will be content to leave the Peace Corps as well when the time comes. The hardest thing of this experience really has nothing to do with the experience itself, a third world country, a first world country, the time period or anything like that. It is simply change which would have happened if I had joined the PC or not. However, the difference is that change in Peace Corps is magnified with the experience.