Friday, July 3, 2009

Fiesta en Cayambe

Last Monday, tired of hanging around collecting dust, Hilary and I got on a bus to the pleasant town of Cayambe expecting to see a rodeo. Instead we stumbled upon an incredible parade. We talked to one man who said the local indigenous communities plan all year for this one day. It showed. It had the feel of a small town Bacchanalia or Carnival. Despite the boozy atmosphere we only met one rude drunk, ate delicious food, had a sip of the local firewater with a friendly grandfather, and limped off before dark. And the great thing about a parade is people expect to be a spectacle and don't mind pictures. I hope these give a sense of the mad swirling beauty of it all.

And I want to thank everyone who comments on our blog. It means a lot to us.

























































2 comments:

tgov said...

nice snaps! I used to stumble across sim street fairs throughout small towns in Germany - always made me wonder why we don't have more of that in the US. (of course, then I went to the Fillmore Jazz Fest, and corrected myself).

glad you two are still getting out and about, judging from Hilary's Good Reads updates, I was thinking you'd moved into the local library and were staying put! [grin]

hope all's well, and keep posting!

ps. are your ears itching? you two were subject of our world travel discussions over Mission Street Food last night - we're all jealous!

OTRgirl said...

I love the colors. The fedora hats are fantastic. I'd love to know their history as a cultural 'norm'.

Just caught up with a few of the recent posts. I hadn't realized you both have brothers with the same name!

Glad you're able to continue enjoying yourselves despite your white plaster fashion statements.