Tonight was Wonderful!El 10 de Agosto is the Ecuadorian Day of Independence from Spain--and interesting fact, Ecuador was the first South American country to become independent. Next year is the 200th anniversary...I am sad to have missed that, after experiencing this last week of celebrations.
Tonight Lali and I took the Trole, the Ecuadorian version of the cable car featuring twice as many people in half the space, to the historic district of El Centro. This is the heartbeat of Quito, and walking down any of the hundred narrow cobbled streets(being two to five hundred years old) you find a plaza with a large fountain or statue or both, making it feel spacious, surrounded by a flourish of blooming trees and plants, making it feel cozy. And probably there are one or two enormous and elaborate churches around the plaza, perhaps a museum, and a library, and government buildings all reminiscent of the "Painted Ladies" of San Francisco. The streets were closed off to cars in about a one mile radius from the Presidential Palace, the main plaza for the events this evening.
Presidential Palace
Lali reminded me of dad tonight, because every few minutes as we walked around El Centro, she would find a gaurd or a vendor or a cameraman to talk to and ask questions. I think this is more common in Ecuador, everyone loves to talk with strangers. Lali took me away from the crowds down a narrow but lovely old street called Calle Ronda, to a little adobe building called La Casa de las Geranias. (House of Geraniums). Here we got big hot chocolates and Huge empanadas--kind of like a pocket-shaped biscuit with cheese in the middle. We put sugar on top, like I do with Cele's crepes at home. It was delicious and I loved the atmosphere--we even had a sort of mariachi band come play for us. After "Besame Mucho", they asked "Te gusta la cancion?" But before Lali or I could respond they spoke in broken Rnglish, "You like the song?" Haha! Lali has darkish blonde hair, and as Lali explained later (laughing a lot), they thought she was a gringa! There were many european looking people tonight, at least more than usual, so it was a reasonable assumption. But Lali doesn't speak a word of English and when they asked that, she just looked really confused, then asked, "Perdon?" It was amusing. (Plus I enjoyed pretending I too am an Ecuadorian who just happens to have blonde hair.)
The main event of the evening was an hour long presentation of music and slide shows and traditional dances celebrating their independence, finished off with a spectacular fireworks show. Probably 1,000 white plastic chairs were set up in the plaza before the main stage, set on the steps of one of the older churches around. Of course, much of the time the crowds were too busy waving towards the balcony at the presidential palace to enjoy the show. There stood Rafael Correa, their extremely beloved (very leftist, arguably socialistic) president, with his family and a crew of uniformed men lounging over the railing and enjoying themselves. One of my favorite things was hearing the whole crowd sing the national anthem, which they did twice, at the beginning and the end--swaying and smiling and all very picturesque.
Another shot of the plaza in daylight
Walking back was quite the adventure--I was laughing the whole time because the crowd was the densest I have ever experienced. If we had been any closer we would have chemically bonded and become a sort of people-liquid. As it was, we moved (with a struggle) in little currents until we were a couple blocks out of the plaza, when the crowds finally dispersed a little. Took the trole home, and here I am, wishing I had pictures to share...but alas, I was advised not to take even a purse to the celebrations due to the crowds and crowds. The first picture is taken from the presedential palace, and it's only one corner of the whole plaza. Just imagine all of it, with everything lit up and extremely crowded with people....
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