Carnival Observed in The South
Carnival in Ecuador is nationally agreed upon dancing, water-war, fancy-dressing, and feasting for four uninterrupted days.
In Ambato, trucks full of civilians armed with all sorts of water paraphernalia ranging from: trumpets that shoot foam, miniature harlequins that walk and walk until a joke is told and they explode into eggs and flour, and invisible gremlins that lurk and paint the oblivious with colorful colors.
In the town of San Juan, which is not bigger than a small-time shopping mall, live chickens are tied to a pole and the dance of fertility commences around them. A policeman with a lazy eye assured that he had heard that the roosters are buried alive while the newly widowed hens are left to dance over their graves. If the dance is done proper, the roosters survive, if not… a feast!
Guaranda is an infamous name during the festivity. The entire city (Guaranda) sleeps during the entire year only to awaken during these four days. Albert Amadeus, 62 years a resident, a walking waker for only 248 days, a dreamer the rest, said “the spirit of the city has awakened us all, and now it is the turn of the dead.” Needless to say, most everyone gets wildly drunk with a substance known as “blued bird,” which allegedly dulls the overrated sense of sight. Half the town is blind, but Amadeus assured “who needs to see while asleep.”
In Ambato, flowers and fruit are arranged to create ego-beasts that keep the city safe of unwanted guests. A Bengal tiger made of neon daffodils, pears, the most succulent peaches, and tulips, stalks around the city. “Edmullian (the tiger) is the size of the ego of whomever gazes upon its fur,” said Joanne Minitu, who was part of the 317 women who arranged the beast. “For some it will be the size of a puss, for others as massive as a fully grown redwood tree.” And it is not the only one. Rose hummingbirds and butterflies fly through the town playing and singing with children. Alpacas made of peach feed the bumbling drunks and maidens who wish to eat. Flying mantas made of seeds play pranks on fools. At the end of the festivity, the ego-beast gather and turn stiff as brick until the year hits a full cycle once again.
The festivity has come to an end and mundanity has again settled here in Ecuador. The children have had their fun and the mystics their chance; the fire has burned, but perhaps reality will not rule for too long.
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