Party In The G.D.A

(GDA=Guaranda, this is how it is shortened for t-shirts ect.)

So I put my hands up, they're playin' my song

The butterflies fly away

I'm noddin' my head like "Yeah!"

Movin' my hips like "Yeah!"

Got my hands up, they're playin' my song

And now I'm gonna be okay

Yeah! It's a party in the GDA!

Yeah! It's a party in the GDA!

Well my friends… the content of this post, in general, is going to be the same as my last post. Carnaval. That is all that has been going on here in Ecuador and the last week, as been the craziest. It is going to be hard to put it all into one post, but I will do my best. This is going to be more of a list fashion to get you guys more of an idea of the general craziness.

Karioka (spelling???)- This is canned spray foam that was almost constantly covering my body during the past week. You could buy a can for a couple of dollars from anybody on the street and then you could have the joy of covering your friends, family, or random strangers in its white wonderfulness. It was mostly just condensed water that had some other chemicals added to it, if you left it alone for about 10 mins after you were sprayed it would disappear, unless you were unfortunate enough be sprayed with the bubble gum scented or colored stuff. Along with Karioka you could be covered in everything from eggs to buckets of water to baby powder. Before Carnaval I didn’t understand why everybody bought rain jackets, but I never took mine off. Every time I left the house I was wearing it and for good reason too. If not I would have been changing clothes more than a potty training two year old.

Food- As with all holidays here (and in the states); food is a huge part of Carnaval. You would go to a family members house and have a huge lunch than wait a couple of hours and head to another house to eat some more. We never stopped eating. (Given that I was a not allowed to run because there were so many drunk people this has resulted in… well… a little Carnaval tummy.) Fritada was a very common food eaten during Carnaval, this is pork fried in a lot of oil. Also street fair like foods were very common as they were available at every parade and we had parades every day. Some times twice a day, if you made it to one of the near by cities for their parade as well.

Dancing- this was a large part of my Carnaval celebration in many ways. Almost every family gathering had a radio playing that people would start dancing to. And me being the gringa was often pulled in by drunken Uncles to dance with them. But don’t think SHS home coming dancing, think salsa. And let me tell you, even the very drunk uncles out shined me in this department. One time my host cousin took pity on me and taught me the basics so I wasn’t quite as much of a fish out of water, but I was still quite the site. I think my host family enjoyed that quite a lot. The other kind of dancing I did was quite different then salsa. I spend 3 ½ hours dancing down the street in a parade with my school. But the best part is yet to come, I was dressed as ***drum roll please*** a sexy fire woman. I donned a short red dress, kids fire cap that was quite too small for me, black boots, and (my personal favorite) fish net stockings. Yes, it was quite the site. I will try to get some pictures of this up soon so you guys can see me in all my glory.

People- my small town of 30,000 was suddenly akin the Jersey Shore. People came flooding in from all over the country and all over the world. We had people from Colombia, people visiting family members from the states and Europe and many other countries were represented as well. I was always a little confused by the crazy number of hotels that this small, not touristy town had. But I realized that they all open for this week and this week only to hold the crazy flux of people. I saw more gringos this week then I have seen all year combined, they came by the dozens. This was quite a strange site in my very tranquil little mountain town.

I could write for hours about Carnaval but this gives you a taste of the crazy week that I have had. (I have to save some stories for when I get home.) ;)

The one other very notable thing that has happened to Guaranda in this past week was the addition of a new grocery store. I know what you are saying, big deal, but my friends the gringos in town are rejoicing. This grocery store has everything from Kraft mac and cheese to pita bread to real (not iceberg) lettuce. This store happens to be about 3 blocks from my house. It is a happy day for all…

Livin’ life on the loose.