Carnival

Carnival
Carnival was a little over three weeks ago, which is about how long it's been since Bert or I have posted here. We went on a trip at that time, and experienced a lot of things that were quite new to us. I'd really like to share more than I think an appropriate amount to post here..

Carnival is a time when big cities like Quito are evacuated, as virtually the entire country heads to the beach.
If you are walking down the street within a few days of Carnival, people may try to throw water, paint, or shaving cream at you from the rooftops, or even from as they pass you on the street. No degree of formality in dress or swagger will spare you from the splatter of this custom.






Santo Domingo de Los Colorados
Along the bus ride to Santo Domingo, we became aware of the absurd amount of waterfalls we were passing, and then counted 44 waterfalls within about twenty minutes. Our house-mate's friend's brother (yep, that's who.) came to pick us up at the bus station. He then rode a series of buses with us back to his families house. The home was humble, and the family seemed very close.
We got to spend a lot of time with them, and their extended family, which was an honour. That evening we went swimming in a river, and then slept in their spare room. Our house-mate's friend spoke a little bit of English, but for the most part we were totally immersed in, and only communicated in Spanish. That aspect was exhausting.















Fruit Truck
The next day we rode in the back of a fruit truck with the family whose house we'd slept at, and their cousins. We also sometimes rode on top of the cover. Safety, shmafety-- is much less regulated here.


The drive to the coast (the city of Pedernales) was about four hours of stunning mountainous scenery, and quaint roadside towns. Lovely. Every so often people from the side of the road would attempt to, or succeed in drenching us.














On the coast
We swam in the pacific, Yess! We ate every meal with the family. Breakfast lunch and dinner included fried cheese, rice, and plantains (which is basically a starchy banana, and can be cooked in many different ways). There wasn't a shower, so we bathed in our swimsuits, drawing water from a big vat of water in the backyard. Usually, if anyone was bathing, about 5 other people were also dipping buckets into the vat and pouring water over their heads.












Most of the family slept under mosquito nets, but not all of them, and not us. There simply weren't enough. We got a rash of bites.







Shark
Two of the meals had some seafood as well, fished straight from the ocean. The family's net also caught a shark. It was dead by the time it was found - very sad. Below is Uncle Clever (I love his name) untangling a fish from the net.





















The Kids!
We had a lot of fun with the kids. They were more on our level of Spanish, and were also interested in things like hearing the English versions of their friends' names. Some of them were so precocious and amazing, we wished we could have hung out with them regularly.