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Don't Drink The Water Wednesday, November 10, 2010 This past weekend was the festival of Mamá Negra in Latacunga, the capital of Cotopaxi province in the central sierra. Mamá Negra is a bit like Mardi Gras in the United States, which earned the festival the nickname "Mamagras." The main event of the festival is a parade which lasts well beyond six hours and features a cast of characters that mix indigenous, African, and Spanish histories. Each character has his or her own personality and features and the more important ones have minions like angels which accompany them. Memorizing all Pokémon is easier than learning what these characters are and what they do. All ready for the parade Sea hags? Ghosts? Lord of the Flies? Klansmen? Nightmare fuel? And five dollars for whoever can tell me what's going on hereAfter the parade and lunch we went back to the hostal for a nap. Since the water in Peguche, Otavalo, and Quito has always been fine, I figured it would be alright in another small city and so I drank a liter directly from the tap. Whoops. Nine hours later I enjoyed an even four hours sitting on the bathroom floor until it was presumably out of my system.  Getting beaten, scratched and sprayed...for fun! Boyz nite!This week is when things get interesting and the work increases. We are expected to have completed 30% of our ethnographies by Monday, which is difficult when there hasn't even been enough time to collect all relevant data. Hopefully the weekend brings something interesting, but it looks like there won't be another festival until December, when the glorious foundation of Quito rolls around. Sam / 1 comments |
About the Adventure Student: Sam Grigsby '11 While abroad in Quito, Ecuador, Sam will interning with a grassroots nonprofit organization dealing with human development. Through this work, he hopes to identify areas of further study and possible career paths. Sam also intends to greatly improve his fluency and conversation skills in Spanish while staying with a host family and working in his internship. Blog Archives
• June 2010 |