Finally, I can relax because Carnaval is over. Carnaval officially took place in Ecuador on February 23-24th. This holiday in Ecuador is nothing at all like the world-famous, boisterous, samba-tastic, musical joyousness that takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
Ecuadorian Carnaval is, in my opinion, an ATROCIOUS holiday. All variations on Carnival (Carnaval in Latin America, Carnevale in Italy, Mardi Gras in New Orleans) have their origins in the Roman Catholic tradition of intense partying and engaging in all sorts of “sinful” acts before Ash Wednesday, which kicks off the period of Lent leading up to Easter.
Officially, the two days of Carnaval always occur at the end of February. This is fine if you are in Rio, where it is sunny and warm in February. In the Andes, February is smack in the middle of rainy season. Now, rainy season this year has not been so bad since I have seen the sun a few times since January. However, it is still cold, wet, and foggy most of the time. Hardly a time where you want to be soaking wet from having water balloons thrown at you while you are simply walking to the market.
Carnaval in Ecuador (and from what I’ve heard, in Peru and Bolivia as well) consists of throwing water balloons (bombas) at people, pouring buckets of water upon unsuspecting passerby, shooting squirt guns at cars with open windows, and getting people dirty with flour, mud, and/or canned foam. Although it is mainly children throwing balloons at one another, adults are often willing accomplices. For example, the parent who drove around a carload of kids that executed a “drive-by” Super-Soaker shooting of me last weekend. You can imagine that I was furious.
The bigger cities seem to be worse than small towns such as mine, because there are taller buildings and relative anonymity, so kids can dump buckets of water on strangers and fear no consequences. Even worse, kids begin the water balloon-throwing in late January, which has been the cause of many a friend to fear venturing out into the streets for a good three weeks.
A friend of mine shared a recent exchange she had with an Ecuadorian co-worker about Carnaval. Bonito in Spanish means “pretty” or “nice.”
Ecuadorian: Do you have Carnaval in the United States?
K: No…I’ve never experienced anything like this.
Ecuadorian: Well, don’t you think it’s such a bonito holiday!
K: forces a smile [thinks to self: Sure, if you consider getting soaking wet in the middle of the day while it is pouring outside "bonito." Other wise it sucks royally.]
I find this attitude mind-boggling; most Ecuadorian adults seem to find Carnaval an absolutely enchanting holiday, probably because they themselves engaged in throwing water/foam/dirt at unsuspecting gringos when they were children. For me, this is one occasion where I have no problem being the uptight gringa – I hate Carnaval in Ecuador.
Great entry Ann
keep posting
By the way you should definitely join twitter and feed your posts to your account there! It is taking off internationally and it is a must now on the West coast!
I dunno if phone companies in Ecuador will service it but if they do! It will be great to follow Obama and others on Twitter without the need of the internet
Well is too bad you didn’t like Carnaval in Ecuador. But in certain cities there are some nice colorful parades, like in the city of Ambato.
But anyway I hope you are enjoying your stay in Ecuador because this is such a diverse and peaceful country. The weather, the colonial cities and the people are just fantastic. I would recommend you to visit the Highlands, the Jungle Forest, the Beaches and the Galapagos Islands of course.
Too bad you didn’t like Carnaval….that is what happens if you are in the city. Carnaval is at its best when you go to the beach….
I personnally don’t like St. Patricks day here in the states…why?…it’s a holiday for some to excuse themselves to get drunk and fool around on the streets.
So I rather bring the child out in me and have fun getting wet in the cities of my beautiful Ecuador. That is just me. However, I respect everyone’s opinions and the freedom that God gave us to choose our likes and dislikes..Enjoy the rest of a small but so diverse country.
Ecuador or BRAZIL??????????????????????????
é Equador.