Well, it’s that time of year again. The time of year that most Gringos living in Ecuador that I know dread. It’s Carnival time.
I mentioned it briefly earlier this year. It was in a post on New Year’s Day customs observed here in Ecuador. (Link at bottom of this post in case you’re interested.) Since Carnival is now in full swing, I thought it was time to bring you all up to speed. “Carnaval” as celebrated here has its origins with an early indigenous people. They celebrated the second moon of the year with the throwing of flour, flowers, and water as part of the festivities. The celebration has since become a part of the Roman Catholic “Carnaval” celebration which occurs in the weeks preceding Ash Wednesday.
Nowadays the only place I know of that still practices the throwing of flowers and flour is the city of Ambato, located about forty five minutes from where we live in Riobamba. The last practice, the throwing of water during the celebration, has survived nicely, thank you very much.
Each year the throwing of water seems to start earlier. As early as the first days of February we saw children roaming the streets, exchanging barrages of water balloons. Now that we’re getting closer to the official celebration, the arms race is on. More and bigger balloons. People hiding behind corners with pails of full of water. Carloads of people armed with “Super Soaker’s” claiming pedestrian victims in “H2O drive by’s.” What’s astonishing about the whole thing is, no one seems to mind that much when they get hit. It’s just part of the season and people expect to get wet.
In practical terms, if you’re a Gringo living in Ecuador, you don’t want to go outside during carnival unless you’re packing an umbrella and a wetsuit. We’re just such fun targets. If you do go out, you have to watch every movement. After living here for five years our ability to pick out who in a group was packing water became almost Jedi-like. “I sense a disturbance . . .” We had a pretty good track record. In five “Carnavals” Donna got soaked twice and I got hit once. Now that we’re back, it looks like we’ll have to start honing those powers of perception once again.
Just today, walking back home from the bank, I noticed a family standing in a doorway looking just a little too happy. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the youngest, a little boy, palming a water balloon. I looked him in the eye and said, “Go ahead, punk. Make my day.” No . . . not really. But I did give him a big smile and a little shake of the finger. His parents were nice enough to not let him throw it. Like I said, you have to watch every movement.
Most of our Gringo friends just stay in during the height of “Carnaval,” which is the last week before Ash Wednesday. Fortunately for us, we had a few loose ends left to tie up in the States. So we’ll be there during the carnage of ruined hairdo’s, wet clothes, running makeup, and the exploded remains of water balloons that is the last week of “Carnaval” here in Ecuador. Yes, we’re going into self-imposed exile.
Like I said before, our track record at avoiding getting soaked has been pretty good. There have been a few close calls and even some H2O induced trauma. Next post I’ll share a few stories with you . . .
Until the next post,
Mike
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