Carnaval 2007

So, here in Ecuador, there are a lot of Catholic people. Ergo, lots of quasi-religious festivals. One of the biggest is Carnaval, which is the same concept as Mardi Gras. It's the celebration leading up until Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of 40-day Lent, which is a period of supposed fasting and prayer leading up until Holy Week and Easter. Anyways, the long and the short of it are that in my town every year there is a big party with people coming from all over the country and even from other countries. These are pictures taken in Licto, but don't be confused, the streets fill up just once a year and then are empty the rest of the year. The jist is that for three days, even wanders around the streets, soaks whoever they can with water, foam, flour, or whatever is available...even paint. Then, in the evenings, everyone drinks and dances 'til the wee hours. For example, my bedtime for the four nights of Carnaval were 4:30 AM, 4:30 AM, 9 AM, and 3:30 AM. Considering everyone in Licto tends to go to bed around 8 PM, that's a pretty big deal. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we all enjoyed the partying.

A parade known as a comparsa goes up my street on the way to the house where that particular party was to take place, which happened to be the house across the street from my that no one lives in for 364 days out of the year.

People dancing in the street in front my house.

People getting sprayed with carioca foam by some kind of crazy wolf-like character.

View from the balcony where one of the parties was.

Me, on a rock down at the river (I took a couple of out-of-towners to the Rio Chambo, one of Licto's nicest 'tourist' attractions).

Me on another rock down by the river. This one I had to jump to.

Dancing and drinking with the neighbors up the street.

The neighbors decided to put the traditional furry chaps, poncho and hat on me and make me dance...results of the experiment are witnessed in the photo.

So, apparently, 20-something males are the same in every country of the world. This guy passed out in my house while some of my friends were over and we put hout sauce on his lips, permanent marker on his cheeks and a cigarrette in his ear (not pictured).

Some of the friends that came over to my house. We closed up shop around 9 AM.

Me, showing off some of my middle-of-the night cooking. We ended up eating like kings because I was in the mood to cook. We ate rice with pork chops, lots of popcorn, tacos, and a couple platters of scrambled eggs. My fridge was empty at the end of the night. Good times.

Well those are the hightlights from Carnaval 2007. For any of you hoping to see women on balcanies with beads around their necks...sorry, that's not how we roll down here in Ecuador.