This past Friday was Ambato's independence day, so the city celebrated by canceling classes and having a parade that all the high school students marched in. A interesting custom in Ecuador is that they frequently name streets and places after important dates in the country's history. For instance, the main public park in Ambato is called "12 de Noviembre" in honor of the day Ambato gained its independence. It's actually pretty convenient because I am reminded of upcoming holidays every time I walk through the center of Ambato or Quito.
The parade started at 9:00am, but one of my friend's students suggested they head over at 7:20 to make sure they got a good spot. I ignored the suggestion to arrive early and rolled in at 9:50 to be greeted by mobs of people and packed streets. Luckily for me, at 5'9'' I estimate that I stand ~2 inches comfortably above the national average height of Ecuador, so I was able to see over the seven rows of people in front of me.
The parade was just all the different high schools in Ambato marching while playing drums and the occasional brass instrument, so it wasn't very interesting. My host father asked me afterward if I saw the fights, and he explained to me that after the parade the boys and girls from the different high schools usually fight each other in the street. I guess I missed it because I think I would have remembered high school girls pulling hair and hitting each other with glockenspiel mallets.
I haven't seen a camouflaged officer this inappropriately deployed since that one episode of "To Catch a Predator".
Another highlight of the parade came from my friend Caitlin, who delivered this winner while talking to me after seeing soldiers carrying bayonet-equipped rifles:
- Man, it must suck being shot by a gun with a bayonet.
- Yeah I guess, but it sucks getting shot with any gun.
- I know, but it must be especially awful getting shot with that knife. Look how big they are?
- ... Caitlin, do you think guns with bayonets shoot knives at people?
- Well what are the knives for if the guns don't shoot them?
Caitlin then got a lesson on how bayonets are used for close range combat, not projectile-knife warfare.
Llapingachos
One of Ecuador's specialty dishes is potato tortillas, or llapingachos. They are potato pancakes with cheese, and they usually come with eggs and sausage. If I'm not mistaken, Ambato is known for its llapingachos, so the day of the parade I got lunch in the center to try them out since I hadn't tried them here yet. My plate of llapingachos cost $1.50, yet another reminder that if any of my family or friends want to come visit me in Ecuador the plane ticket will be the only real expense you have.
Chiva
On Saturday, I ventured out to Quito for my WorldTeach director's birthday party. The party took place on a Chiva, which is the Ecuadorian take on a party bus. People pack onto the bus (with seats removed) where music is blasted and alcohol is served, all while it cruises around the city. I won't say it is a good idea to have 45 inebriated people dancing on a bus driving around the city, but it was a ton of fun. I'm sure our bus full of gringos screaming American music confused and terrified a good number of people we passed that night.
Breaking and Entering
My host family here in Ambato has a bad habit of forgetting that I live in their house and locking me out. One time I had to call my host brother at 2am to wake him up because my family locked the front door from the inside and my key couldn't open it.
Today I came back from Quito and was relieved to see that they didn't lock the front door from the inside. I was then very irritated to find out that they had locked every single door inside the house so I had no way to get any further than the dining room. I tried using my keys to open the doors but they didn't fit, and my family had taken a trip somewhere so they were far away and wouldn't return for hours.
Then I remembered seeing people in movies open doors by swiping a credit card in between the door and the frame, so I half jokingly tried it and, to my complete surprise, it actually worked. The last time I tried to do something I saw in a movie was when I was six years old and jumped off the top of my bunk bed holding a plastic bag over my head hoping I would float down. It didn't work; I just ate it really hard.
At the time I opened the door I was relieved to be able to get to my room, but now I'm a little bit concerned that the doors in my house can be unlocked with a credit card. You would think that after the first movie that depicted someone unlocking a door with a credit card that lock makers would address the problem. I guess most people just don't try things they see in the movies as much as I do, and the world is apparently a much safer place because of it.
That's so funny! I did that a few times myself after forgetting my house keys.
ReplyDeleteI lived in the Bronx at the time and since a college student living with a single father = no credit card in my wallet (only a metro card too bendy for lock-picking), I knocked on my neigbour's door and asked for something of a equivalent to a credit card to break into my apartment. They were a nice Latino family =), and my lock-picking skills rocked. Boom the movies really did teach me a thing or two.
I tried doing the same in that apartment in Staten Island however that door wasn't budging, and I sat at my back yard waiting for Marcos to come home...