Easter is coming up soon, and the 3 days before Lent starts the country celebrates Carnaval, you might know it better as Mardi Gras. We do not celebrate it, but here it was quite the experience. Weeks leading up the the holiday I kept asking what they do and people would tell me, "we eat alot, and play with water." Play with water??!! What the heck does that mean? I did not understand until I as well "played with water". So, basically what goes on is that you take buckets of water and throw it on each other, get soaked and then dry in the sun (while freezing your butt off) - and of course without a towel.
Also, you can play "dirty"...this means cracking eggs on peoples head, shooting foam from a can in peoples eyes, or even rubbing mud or cooking oil all over people. It's quite the event, and you can even do it to strangers and they can not say anything....simply because it's carnaval. I got targeted alot for the obvious reason, they would say - Look, a white girl, and shoot me with water. It was funnnn. Also, at the family party, I watched a pig be cut open and prepared to eat. There was lots of blood and the family thought I was weird because I did not want to eat the crunchy pig skin and blood sausage that they prepared. Overall, it was fun, but after 5 days of getting soaked and eating pig, I was done with that. I should've gave up pork for lent....I need the break.
Other news from Azogues: Amanda is moving out and will be living on her own.
So, I have loveedddd living with my family. It has been the best part of my experience here in my site. But, I have lived here 7 months now and am just ready for my own space. I made this decision a couple weeks ago. It will be hard to leave, because my family has treated me like one of their own since day one, but I am only a 5 minute walk from the house.
It is hard to explain to my family and friends here that I want to live on my own...they think I am crazy and will be lonely because----they don't move out here. They can be married and living with their parents. It is not a bad thing, just a cultural thing. When americans say to their parents, "I am moving out", the parents are so proud that their son or daughter is responsible enough (and thanking god they do not have to pay for them or do their laundry anymore). Here, if a son or daughter moves out, the parents try to talk them out of it or cry. Yes, cry tears of sadness. So- it was a delicate subject and took me about a month to tell my family. But I will be visiting them very very often.
*More to come about the apartment as I move in!
0 comments:
Post a Comment