CARNAVAL!

Ah! It's been soooo crazy lately that I haven't been able to finish writing this. Since the last time I wrote in here, there has just mostly been classes and homework so nothing too exciting until about the past week. Two weeks ago on Friday at dance class, we had a sort of competition to see who could learn this whole new dance and do it the best. It took only about 10 minutes of watching before the dance instructor chose me and two other girls from my group. We, along with four other girls from another group, were chosen to dance with the instructor in a parade for Carnaval in the streets of Cuenca! We would perform the next Thursday (or this past Thursday) and only had until then to learn the dance and practice. Saturday, we had a full day of canyoning! If you don't know what that is, it is basically hiking up a mountain and then hiking back down a river...in a wetsuit. Not my best-looking outfit. We left at 10 a.m. And didn't get back until about 4! It was so much fun but also a lot of work and exercise. We had been split into two groups and the first group had left an hour before us, but within out first hour or so in the river, we caught up to them. We were cruising! We had to jump off rocks that were ten to fifteen feet up in the air, but if we didn't jump in the right spot, we would get hurt because of the rocks that were underwater. We also got to slide down a few rocks that were just as high, if not higher. To make it even more interesting, we had to propel down small waterfalls because it was too shallow to do anything else. There were so many cool things we did that I would totally do it again! It's too sad that there's not many places to do it in the U.S. When we got back, we went to go grab a snack at a restaurant since we never really had dinner and then I came home and took a nap. Later on, some girls were going to go out and dance, but I was too tired so I just met up with them at another girl's house before they left.

On Monday at our group meeting, a girl got sick and was sent to the hospital. She had been one of the girls going out Saturday and she had gotten drunk and acted a little crazy but was taken home and taken care of for a while. Sunday, she had woken up with a rash and went to the doctor only to get medicine for an allergic reaction to something she had eaten. She was fine that day, however, on Monday she became really confused and sick. Throughout that day and the next, she became worse to the point that she didn't know who she was and didn't even know she was in Ecuador.
Fast forward to Thursday and it was the day of the parade! We had never actually practiced but it didn't matter because he ended up changing the dance that morning. I woke up at 6 to take a shower and my mom did my hair-which was curls. That only took about an hour so I had a little time before I had to leave. All of us in the parade met at school at 8 a.m. before leaving for our sister school where we would change, get all prettied-up, and practice. I was given my dress, which was a yellow and green layered skirt and top....and it was a belly dress. Oh gosh, I had no idea what I was getting into! Well, I had to wear that and get glitter painted on my face and neck before practicing in front of that school and then drive another 45 to find our starting spot in the parade. The parade lasted about an hour or so and we danced thru about a mile of Cuenca. I showed my belly to half of the city! Crazy...strangely I would do that again because I had so much fun. Not only did we just dance through the streets, but we were sprayed with water and spray foam-which I ended up accidentally eating some and inhaling some through my nose and I don't suggest doing either one. I did not have any classes this day; thank goodness because I was so tired after dancing for so long.
When I came home, my host mom was in shock at what I looked like. First of all, the curls she had put in early that morning were still there and actually looked good, and secondly, because I was all sparkley! My mom spent a good ten minutes at least and about 10 make-up remover pads before she gave up...but all it looked like she did was smear everything around a little bit more. I've taken showers since Thursday and I'm still finding glitter on me!
Friday, the girl who was sick was at school. She had been released from the hospital Thursday and came to school Friday, but didn't have classes. On our break from our second class, she was sitting outside so we went and visited for a little bit. She did not remember names or who we were, she just recognized our faces. To understand what she was like, she basically could not remember anything from the past month. She does not remember anything from Ecuador clearly, she only has vague memories or recognizes things. Almost all of us in the group went out to eat lunch with her and got ice cream at one of our favorite places, however this did not help her memory. She had mentioned some house that was on a big hill but didn't have much more information than that, so I figured that was my house. We got the okay from our coordinator and we walked about a half hour to my house, taking the way we think she remembered. We got to the house and when she saw my room, she said that she recognized it so she did remember something about the few times she was at my house. She also recognized my brother from pictures and also the night she went out. We spent a while here, but then realized that she was getting some stories mixed up and they began contradicting each other, so we called our coordinator to come get her. She was brought to the hospital again where they changed her prescription. She then joined the group, and my family, at an Italian restaurant where we were eating last night. The coordinator had spoken to my host mother and myself last night both on the phone and while we were eating. We decided that since she felt safe at our house and recognized it a little, we would take her for the weekend. Currently, she is living with us and we are watching her to make sure she is getting the care she needs. Yesterday she seemed a lot better although the medicine does make her pretty drowsy. She was remembering people and face from Friday and she does not seem nearly as emotional as she was before. Today she was remembering more things from the past few weeks and walked around with me and the family at the store and she seems to be doing even better!
Although I might not get out much, it is Carnaval...which means lots of water being thrown or squirted everywhere! Carnaval is a celebration that takes place in Ecuador and I found out that it used to be the forty days before Easter, so basically celebrating Passover. People will throw water at you with water balloons, water guns, buckets of water, and of course silly string. When people used to get hit with water it would mean that their sins were washed away and the person was cleansed. Therefore, the more I get hit the more I am cleansed :) They also spray a lot of foam on you. It comes in a can like silly string except it's a bigger bottle and it's this soapy foam stuff that eventually goes away after a few minutes. That is what I was hit with a lot during the parade! I had it layered on my face and dress...it was nuts!
Well I don't have much else to say, so until next time, adios!