Feliz Fiestas (Carnaval & Valentine's Day)

Not that Ecuador ever needs a reason for celebration, but today, Feb 14th, we have two! First is the one most Americans know, Valentine's Day. They do celebrate it here in Ecuador as well, it's called Feliz día de San Valentín. And since the country is known for its flowers, well, you can just imagine.

I walked to our local grocery store and there were several folks set up to sell flowers by the bouquet or a more formal arrangement.

But at the same time the locals are celebrating Carnaval and the same folks selling flowers are probably selling cans of spray foam. Water balloons, water soaker sprayers and cans of foam are the weapons and anyone out on the streets (especially in El Centro) is at their mercy. So what can you do? Simple. Stay home or join in as my good friends, mother & daughter Pat & Dale did.

Banks and government offices are closed until Wednesday and many other local businesses will close on Monday and Tuesday, although many workers have to show up on two Saturdays to make up for it.

There will be parades, concerts and more all weekend long. Wanna party? C'mon down!

Oh, and last night I was awakened at 3 am by the sound of LOUD singing. I looked out the bedroom window and there was a van with the doors open and at least six men outside singing loudly. VERY loudly. Knowing they were serenading for a sweetheart or maybe just for Carnaval, I closed my window, turned on the fan and went back to sleep. Feliz Fiesta!

Every day is a parade....

Well, maybe not, but here in Cuenca we run into parades often enough that it feels that way. Yesterday was a nice day for heading into El Centro for a walk. I needed to meet up with our tagua man to see if the turtles I ordered for my sister-in-law were ready to pick up.

We headed in after lunch, took a leisurely walk to the artisan shop (Casa de la Mujer) but the tagua man was closed. Assuming he was out to lunch, we headed to Don Colon's for a cup of coffee.

The sun was shining, it was busy everywhere, vendors everywhere selling everything from the usual wares to shoe laces to these cute little hats we saw on toddlers (and of course I could never catch a shot of them). Aliens? Bugs? Not sure... The flower market was full of people enjoying the sun on a crisp day.

While at Don Colon's we were joined by several friends, we sat for over an hour chatting, enjoying our coffee and watching the sights.

After that we headed back to see if the tagua man was back or if he was done for the day. We ran into these adorable little ones there...

From there we headed towards our final destination of the day, dinner at Fabiano's Pizzeria. But before we got too far, we noticed the motorcycle police blocking off intersections and directing traffic. We soon discovered why - a parade!

One thing about living here, you never know when you will run into a parade...and you always know when the parade is over!