Vacation in Ecuador pt. 3 Noche Buena

Hello again,
So this is going to be an abrupt continuation to the last blog. There are no pictures of a trip or anything. No bones, just meat. I am so sorry that it has taken so long to post this. I was terribly busy when I was finishing my semester in Ecuador and since have not really thought much about doing the blog. I figured I would just post this one without the spanish translation. David and Geovanny, perdonen si algo no esta claro, te puedo explicar cualquier cosa. Some of what I say is now dated but in the next blog I will catch everyone up on my current activities and life.

First, I am fine. I am still not sick. I have fallen in love with Chocolate covered orange peels. I am very busy. I have seven classes this semester. I have Latinamerican Philosophy, Latinamerican Boom (literature), Andinous Anthropology, Literature and Cinema in Latinamerica, French and German. I am reading the equivalent of about 3 books a week, not everything I read are books and sometimes the books have many pages. I finish two full books a week. It's a lot of work. In two more weeks I will have a vacation called "Carnival" and will likely be traveling with Geovanny and David again. Anyway, here goes the blog:

The last time I left you it was the day after our trip to Las Lajas. It was Monday the 22nd of December. The following few pictures are of Tuesday. I brought my camera to Davids house this day but almost entirely forgot to use it. When I first arrived at their house we went "Chancho" (pig) hunting. We didn't literal hunt them but David, Geovanny, Jeffereson, and I hopped in Jorge's truck, David's dad, and went up the mountain behind their house. There are many back roads which you will see in the next blog and there are entire communities in the mountains. We went to see who had the biggest chancho so that they could cook it for Christmas Eve. Anyway, we went searching for a long time. Some people had little pigs, some had medium sized pigs but no one had giant pigs. One lady had a big pig but she was pregnant so we couldn't kill her the next day. Anyway, we ended up arriving at one place and the lady tried to sell us a medium sized pig and a small one for, I think $150. It wasn't worth it for Jorge because he has little pigs at the house. She also showed us a saddle called a Galapagos which is a very traditional saddle from Ecuador. She wanted $200 for that. Anyway, at this moment none of these things interested Jorge so we went back to the house. On the way back to the house we passed Salomé, David and Geovanny's mom. She was carrying a sack on her back and was with another lady doing the same. I didn't hear what Jorge and she said because they were talking mostly in Quichua, but I found out later what she had with her. We got back before the ladies. A truck ended up coming by the house with Chancho and I think Jorge ended up buying it from them.
When Solomé arrived with the lady and their two bags I heard the bags squeal a little bit. Then by hearing the conversations I heard that they were carrying 20 cuyes, which are Guinea pigs. I had no idea that it was in the plan to eat cuy but it is very traditional in parties, especially in indigenous communities.

This is a picture of the two bags.

These are the cuyes in the blue bag. I will later show the whole preparation process, or at least the last third. The middle part I didn't see but only heard about it.

After all of that movement I went back to the hotel to study. I was reading John Locke's Second Treatise on Government over the internet with my friends Emery and Evan, and I wanted to get a head start. I could only find a copy in Spanish to that's what I read. I was also reading Juan Moreira which is a book about an Argentenian Gaucho. The gauchos are crimals with reputations for their legendary personalities and general attitudes, much like our legends from the Wild West. As I was reading one or the other of those books and drinking coffee on the third floor of the hostel I suddenly heared someone enter downstairs. It sounded like English, and very soon I heard the difficulty. Salomé doesn't know how to speak English and that night she was working in the hostel. Anyway, the man who entered also had no idea how to speak Spanish, so I was hearing him say, "Do you have an interpreter" a few times, and also "Do you have a translator" and her saying "No entiendo" or "I don't understand." I decided that the right thing to do was to go downstairs and translate and so I did. She wanted to know when he wanted breakfast, he chose the earliest time which was 7:00. After that he came upstairs and instead of reading we talked a while. He told me that he his name is Peter he is Canadian and he had just gotten back from Japan not long ago and that his son is living there and teaching English. He also said that he had been to the Galapagos and had traveled a bit on horseback a little bit north of Quito. He had no idea how to speak even the littlest bit of Spanish. He was looking for business opportunities in Ecuador and possibly a place to settle down. He wanted property which had space for horses and a view of the mountains and the city of Cotacachi. Anyway, I ended up translating quite a bit for him later, which I will explain when I get to the pictures. During the conversation he began to fall asleep, he decided to go to bed and I decided to go on a walk. The above and following pictures were taken on that walk.



To the right in the main church. It is Catholic. It is not the church that David's family goes to. To the left is one of the little houses o buildings that is clearly old and was left beside the newer larger buildings that have since been built. The first picture showed the manger scene that was there, but at this time of night the people have been removed so they don't get robbed.
The next morning I had breakfast with Peter, the Canadian gentleman. He showed me literally thousands of pictures he had taken of Ecuador and talked to be a little about his business ventures from the day before. I gave him tips on how to keep himself from getting ripped off in business deals. I told the night before that Jorge sells condominiums and that he could probably take a look at them if he were interested. We make a plan to meet with Jorge over breakfast on Friday the 27th of December. After breakfast on the 24th I decided to go for a walk around the city again. The following pictures were taken during that walk.

This is the government palace the flag is the Ecuadorian flag.

This is Simon Bolivar. He led the independence movement from Peru until Columbia. He is quite famous and has been in some ways converted into an icon for the new so called "Citizen's Revolution" of Ecuador. It is very similar to the way we might think of George Washington and Lincoln, more symbols than people.

This is the plaque which says "Liberator Simon Bolivar. In 1824 he elevated Cotacachi to the category of canton (Local Government municipality Year 2000)" (Cantons are political divisions of countries, it is like giving Cotacachi it's own territory. Linked to the word is a description in Wikipedia).


The above statue is of "The Modest A. Penaherrera precursor to the cantonization of Cotacachi and the first council in 1861 (Local Government municipality Year 2000)."

This wall is very interesting because it is a very confused and abstract way of presenting a past. Some of you who follow this blog have seen the way that the government palace in Quito made mural that very clearly represented the colonization and later revolution in Quito. It is very formal and the words are written as though they were old Latin. This is very different, they used a modern font and a modern art style to represent a very tumultuous history. Also unlike the mural of Quito it is focused on the history of those who were oppressed. To the left it seems similar to Guernica with it's afflicted horse but it doesn't seem to represent the violence by force but rather the social differences that it represented and the general resolve of the community before these changes. You have a very stoic face, a few representations of the church, then you have the community who continues expressing itself despite the fact. In the first scene it is this mix of oppression, resolve, and general hope and in the second it seems to represent the liberation of the community and the clear changes for the good and, depending on your point of view, for the worse. A. Penaherrera is also in this scene, you can see him in the middle of it all.




Here is the manger scene without the baby. They put the baby there the night of Christmas, because, literally, that's when he is supposed to arrive.
The following are general pictures that I took of the city.





The following pictures are taken along the way from the town center to David and Geovanny's house.



I love this gate. It seems like something out of dreams.

This is a very old wall. It was probably a house during the Columbian era but probably not before.

This picture above and below are the same. I just wanted to show how the world can be much more beautiful in Sepia tone.





The place below is a sort of stopping place to worship. There are little doors with places to put candles on the sides. It is elevated above the road.



Well, in between the picture above and the one one below I got to David's house. Below you can see the chancho roasting.

Ok, we finally got back to the cuye. The day before these little guys were killed with a knife and then put into boiling water in order to take off their skins. Now they are fur less and skinless and well seasoned to be cooked.


This is the stove which was converted into this giant Nativity scene by David and his cousins.

This is the cuy in the middle of the process. Salomé is applying more seasoning or marinade to them. They were cooked in this bread oven. My Ecuadorian mom said she had never heard of it being done this way, but that she is very distant from that culture.

There is the oven, the cuye and some empanadas below.

The following few pictures were not taken by me but by David and Geovanny's relative, also named David. He also studies at my university and like photography.

This is a picture of the inside of the bread oven. Which is huge. I took a picture of the one at David's grandma's house during her funeral. I didn't know exactly what it was and now I know.

This is a basket of empanadas and homemade bread.

Here is a staged picture of me working the oven. I am really not doing anything David told me to pose this way.

Here's the whole scene.

I took the above picture of the cuyes cooking, but the following are still taken by David.

There were a lot of old, if not ancient things surrounding us and David wanted me to have a record of them because they represent the history of the very people that I was around. The above picture is of giant pots that are turned upside down.

This is now used as a storage shed but was likely a common room before.

The old pots.

And again.

This is Areli, the daughter of the David who was taking the pictures above. Now from this point on I think the pictures are mine until we get to the party then there will be some picture taken by Geovanny.

May friend David is to the left, his grandpa is to the right and my new friend David is to the very right. They are examining the cuye.

This is a picture to show my dad how they would seal their windows before they used premanufactured windows. He wants to do something that appears more natural for the "hobbit shed" that he is building.

In this photo my friend Geovanny is lighting this incense holder which also has a type of wood called "Palo Santo" or "Saumerio." I am not sure if we have this type of wood or not, but the smell is very distinct. Later you will see the pictures of us walking and it will seem very foggy but it's just the smoke.

This is the wood.

For this parade each household carries their own baby Jesus, they carry it to the church to put it in the manger scene.

They also dress up in costumes, these

The manger scene

This is Geovanny and David's aunt. She is dressed as a shepherd

This is the beginning of the parade, later we had a ton of people with us. I am not sure if the family knew all of the people that ended up joining us at their house.

This is a movie that has the music that we listened to as we walked.

This is a lady that has come to be known as "La fantasma" or "The phantom. She appeared out of nowhere and joined us the whole rest of the night. No one knows who she is but you will see her a ton more throughout the blog.

This is everyone at the church. We all had roses, but I still don't know what role they played in the tradition.

This is a picture of all of the baby Jesus's that were placed under the manger.

This was a game I played with perspective. The kid above is Geovanny and David's little brother who is clearly smaller in the other pictures you all have seen. I took this picture when I was kneeling.

This is Geovanny. I took his picture when I was standing. Who is taller? Alright, maybe the game isn't as fun for you all but it was interesting for me.

And this is the huge group of people that accompanied us back to the house.

This is one of those foggy looking pictures. It's just the smoke.

This is another movie with the huge crowd that ended up following us on the way back. You will see the usuals and then a bunch of people that either are barely known or not known at all by the family.

This is the other David (photographs above) and his son Alik who has appeared in prior pictures as well. His sister is Areli.

There she is "la fantasma"

and again

and again

The whole entire trip back everyone was holding candles. When we arrived they put them in front of the manger scene with all of the baby Jesus'.

And this is the final group who stayed at the house until dawn. Some left earlier (myself included) but we all ate soup and cuy and then we danced. There was also drink there.

The following pictures were taken by Geovanny while I was occupied with a few chess games.

This is the "La fantasma." She got a meal out of the night (I didn't know that ghosts ate. Just kidding.









That's the end of my blog. If the question arises, presupposing that it has, "Did you drink during the part." The answer is yes, but with great moderation. I still have never felt the experience of drunkenness. I also danced (with moderation). Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the blog. It was interesting for me to see the differences in the way they celebrated Christmas compared to how we generally do in the states. It is very communal in Cotacachi as I am sure you can tell. One of David and Geovanny's uncles said that it might now be considered so much of a religious practice as a family tradition. A reason to get everyone together and celebrate the same thing communally. This shed an interesting light on the Catholicism that i have seen here and the various events that are centered around it.

I love you and miss you all,

I hope to hear from you soon,

Spencer.