The drive out there was a little long and precarious, as our old suburban's brakes overheated on the mountain roads. Of course we survived in the end though. On the way we enjoyed squirting foam at strangers on the sidewalk from the car. Once we got to the toll, we were so close to spraying a boy selling foam (people sell things on the streets everywhere in Ecuador) but a policeman subtly came over and foiled our plans. The Ecuadorians all are good-natured about it, and I bet they thought it was a little funny being sprayed by a suburban full of gringos. 
Once there, we played some games and hung out in the sun (finally! It's so rainy these days) while the men cooked up our lunch. We enjoyed hamburgers, chips, watermelon, choclo, and lima beans for lunch. While we were finishing our food we sat lazily in the sun, talking and admiring the gorgeous view. Then all of a sudden, we were covered in water and foam! I think I already mentioned this, but in Ecuador Carnaval is celebrated by dumping buckets of water and spraying foam on everybody in the streets, including strangers. The women in the little country town were even hiding up on the roof of the grocery store, waiting to soak unsuspecting patrons. It's hilarious. So anyway, Carnaval began for us right after lunch. The funnest people to watch were our hosts--two older men probably in their sixties who have seen many Carnavals in their day. They are ruthless! If you're not deemed wet enough, the whole group comes after you, tackles you, and makes sure you're completely soaked (this happened to me). So much fun, yet so cold!
After a whole lot of Carnaval play, we decided to let ourselves dry in the sun and eventually change into dry clothes. Once that was done our amazing hosts served banana bread, coffee, and cookies and we all relaxed and chatted together. Once 6:00 rolled around we piled back into our cars for the beautiful drive home through the Andes mountains. I was reminded again of how intense the pollution can be here at times--if you drive with the windows open the fumes are sometimes pretty insane. So much so that the women who work the tolls all wear gas masks! It makes me wonder how the men, women, and children who sell things around the tolls manage to do it.
So that was Carnaval for us. Today is a free day, and I am definitely taking advantage. I've had a cough/cold that's been getting worse, so I'm trying as much as possible to rest before work tomorrow. Unfortunately it's not exactly going so well due to my long to-do list...
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