¡Que calor! ¡Que calor!

This entry is being posted a day later than planned because our internet went out while I was writing it.

That song was played SO many times this weekend. It was practically the theme song of Carnaval. I went to Guaranda, a small town 4 or 5 hours south of Quito, with the other kids from my group. We ended up staying in a random house that this guy rents out (it was a bit dirty, but dirt cheap, so it was ok). We ate LOTS of pizza because we have three vegetarians in our group and other decent food without meat was near impossible to find. We got there around 8 or 9 Friday evening, and after putting our things in the house and eating dinner, we headed to the Coloseo to watch the Miss Guaranda pageant. This is an event that goes on for-ev-er. Seriously. It started at 8:30pm, we got there around 10-something, and people were saying it would go on till 2am! It was really interesting, there were lots of people, various musicians playing between competitions (we saw a reggeaton band, the swimsuit portion, then a move traditional Ecuadorian band that happens to be that of the brother of the teacher of some of the Pitzer kids! They´re also apparently really famous.)
The next day, we all went to Chimbo, a town about 20 minutes away, for the Carnaval parade there. We had waterballoons thrown at us before we even caught the bus! The town was incredibly crowded, tons of Carioca spray (kind of like shaving cream) was being sold, along with waterguns, tons of food, hats, etc. It was incredible. We ended up splitting up into two groups, Marijanna and Spencer were with me. We watched the parade, saw tons of cuy (guinea pig) on spinning spits, and got covered in the carioca spray. I had my first experience with being offered drinks on the street when the mother of a family standing next to me offered me a cup of beer. I felt it really rude to turn it down, so I drank it (surprisingly I´m starting to like Pilsener, an Ecuadorian beer), Then their adorable little daughter came up to me to put this white powder, very much like flour, on my face. We then wandered about looking for the others and decided to stay in the center of the park to try to see them if they walked by. We ended up meeting these guys from a nearby town and they offered us a drink (that seems to be the way to engage people in conversation during Carnaval). It was this green stuff we found out was called agua diente (it´s made with fermented sugar cane, and this kind also had mint). That area is actually known for their agua diente (yep, people make it and sell it). We ended up talking and dancing, and when my friends mentioned my dad was Puerto Rican, I got the question I always get... ¨So why don´t you speak Spanish?¨ We had a lot of fun, and eventually went back to Guaranda, knowing we´d run into the others there eventually (which of course happened at the pizza place where we ate almost every day!) That night, the teacher of the some of the kids told us about this concert at a local school being played by a Columbian band. There were tons of people, tons of dancing, and the band was amazing (and apparently also famous!) We ended up dancing next to these older people, and I ended up having my first two dances with old men, hahah! They then started offering us agua diente, I think whisky, and something else (definitely didn´t ask what we were drinking, haha). I got to dance with a couple of younger guys too, and then one really old kinda sketchy guy. He was funny, but I got tired of dealing with him after awhile. We had so much fun, and eventually the other kids´teacher joined us. She´s so cool!
The next day, we stayed in Guaranda for the parade there. We all found a spot to sit, but eventually everyone left to go to another part except Dan and me. We watched the parade, talked to the 6 kids sitting behind us (they were so adorable, none of them could have been older than 13 or 14), and got covered in carioca spray by the kids. There were five guys sitting in front of us, who I noticed kept turning around and eyeing me. Eventually one offered me a drink, which of course opened the doors for us all to start talking. They were all from Riobamba, and kept saying that we should come visit. They, of course, were also hitting on me like there was no tomorrow. It was kind of (ok really) ridiculous. One, Diego, kept saying ¨I like... do you like?¨ Trying to say he liked me, and wanting to know if I liked him, then one of his friends was like ¨He´s likes, I love!¨ It was rather awkward, but I laughed it off. Then everyone stood up and started dancing, and I danced with a few of them. Then Diego kept asking me if I could give him a kiss, and his friend said he wanted one too and was like ¨Him or me?¨ Of course I said no, and had to pull myself away from them when I saw my other friends come by. That night we went to No Bar, a discotek that Lilia (the teacher) had said was really good. The place was amazing, crazy lights, fun music, lots of people. We got some drinks (everyone gets so excited when I drink because I´m not usually into that). We finally got on the dance floor and started dancing. Dan and I moved to the top floor because the first floor looked like all couples and I felt a little out of place. Eventually after dancing by myself for awhile, I joined these other girls dancing near me. Then a guy asked me to dance, so I said yes. Unfortunately, he kept trying to make out with me! (It was gross, eventually I got away, haha). I then saw that the rest of our group had found us and we all started dancing with eachother and the girls and their friends. I danced with a few more guys who kept telling me they loved me, that I was beautiful, etc. I seriously was hit on more this weekend than the rest of my life combined (and yes, that includes pickup lines with circus folk!) Eventually these two guys offered to buy me and Caitlin drinks (I didn´t want to because I didn´t want any more, but I went with her anyway so she wasn´t alone). They got us tequila shots, something I´ve never had before. The whole salt, drink, lime thing. It wasn´t bad. (I of course insisted they drink half of them first before we would do it.) We eventually left with Dan (who was, and always is, sober, because of a mild genetic heart condition). I was really glad to have a sober person around, I definitely told him before I started drinking to keep an eye on me. We finally got back to the house and asleep by around 4am. Crazy (that club goes till 6am!)
Marijanna and I decided to go back to Quito on Monday because we were tired and she wasn´t feeling well. I was so glad we did. It was nice to get home and just relax in my nice big bed (Marijanna and I were sharing a twin for 3 nights). The next day, Tuesday, I slept in (till 9:30am when Marijanna called), it was so nice. Later I went out to a Chinese restaurant with my host fmaily (and yes, the food was actually good). I then went to hang out with Marijanna at her apartment because her family had mysteriously disappeared over the weekend, and then went home and played Monopoly in Spanish with my host family. It was so much fun! I really enjoyed the nice family time and enjoying the company of my three little brothers and host parents.
Today, I had class again, and I can´t believe it´s already Wednesday. I had community service today, and have dance class tomorrow. I also might be going to a free rock concert at La Casa de la Cultura with Marijanna tomorrow after dance class. And this weekend, Otavalo! So if you want stuff, let me know what to buy you. =)
And I leave you with two songs I heard this weekend that I thought I wouldn´t hear this semester:
Like a Prayer by Madonna (I felt like I was at Swat!)
Cotton-eyed Joe (wiat, what?! this isn´t THAT kind of South!)