Ambato, Latacunga y Carnaval!

!Hola a todos!
I hope you are doing well and enjoying all that snowy weather! It’s been quite sunny and nice here, although nearby cities and countries have been having torrential rains, volcanic eruptions and mudslides. There is quite a lot of crazy weather going on! First the drought in much of Ecuador and now terrible floods. You can’t win. The good thing about the rains though, we haven’t had the power turned off for the last several weeks, which has been nice!
We decided to take a trip for the weekend and went to Latacunga (about 2 hours away). We got there in the afternoon on Friday and by that night decided we needed to go somewhere the next day, because there sure wasn’t much to do in that town! We made the most of our trip – visited two museums, and got a good history lesson on the Mama Negra festival that is huge there. It is a tradition that started with a celebration honoring la Virgen de las Mercedes, the patron believed to protect the city from the nearby Volcano Cotopaxi’s eruptions. According to the legend a priest who was hosting the procession failed to provide enough food and was scolded by an apparition of a black woman. After this event she was added to the procession and now each year a new “Mama Negra” is chosen to ride in the parade. We also tried chugchucara a specialty of fritada (fried pork), hominy, fried platanos, tostado (fried corn kernels), cheese empanadas, and potatoes (it was a lot of fried food, and a lot of food period, but tasty!).
We then took the bus on to Ambato about 45 min. away. Here we visited a quinta (countryside home) of Juan Montalvo (a famous Ecuadorian writer). It was a simple house surrounded by a garden full of beautiful trees and flowers. We would have enjoyed it a bit more if there wasn’t such a constant rain. :) The next day we visited another quinta of a famous writer, Juan Leon Mera which was together with a botanical garden. Needless to say it was also gorgeous and we had a great tour learning all about the fruits, flowers and medicinal plants grown there. Many of them are used for the Fiesta de Frutas y Flores (Festival of Fruits and Flowers) that is taking place right now for Carnaval. We also visited the market which had everything from meat, fruits, flowers and candy. Upon the recommendation from our handy Lonely Planet Ecuador book we tried llapingachos (fried cheese and potato pancakes) and loved them! It was a very cultural food weekend!
We have been enjoying preparing and participating in Carnaval (the two days before Ash Wednesday is the actual dates but people here begin celebrating the beginning of February). At school the other day after lunch, we had a teacher water fight … that’s how they celebrate here. Water, water balloons, flour, eggs, carioca (silly string type spray), and face paint are all used. We have been seeing kids in the neighborhood with their balloons ready and waiting from rooftops, street corners, you name it … Mischief and Mayhem! We are celebrating with the kids at school on Friday. The last few times I’ve rode the bus into the city, our bus has been struck by water balloons! haha You’re not even safe inside the bus!
We are planning to take a trip for Carnaval. We bought tickets to Colombia and Venezuela and then received notice today that our flight was cancelled. So we’ll see what happens! Praying for you all as we start this season of Preparation and Sacrifice. May your Lent be blessed and filled with a deeper understanding of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection!
La paz de Dios guarda de todos los males,
April

P.S. We are going to Colombia y Venezuela for 2 weeks! Pray for us!