Photo Journal: Fiesta De Guapalo

Yes, it is Fiesta time. Our local neighborhood hosted their throw-down this past week, and yes, this Fiesta has coincided with the first week of school. But hey, what can you do? The Fiesta basically involves bands, fireworks, statues of virgins, and lots and lots and lots of booze.

The Fiesta started with a run of unknown length up out of the Valley of Guapalo, through the streets of Quito, and back down. It was supposed to start at 8PM, I didn't start running until 9:45, and after an obscene amount of elevation gain-loss-gain, a beer aid-station, a kiss from my wife, and a good deal of late night car dodging, I arrived at the finish line around 10:45. I didn't finish anywhere near first, but the race was only 2 bucks, and I got to keep my cloth race-bib. A healthy start to an unhealthy weekend...


Friday night was spent on our front stoop, the entrance to our housing complex. Our stoop is just down from most of the bars in town, and was the center of action. No, you are correct, there is no open container law here. The beer we are all drinking is Pilsener, the national beer of Ecuador. Because there is no recycling here, we bought a case of 12 bottles, and now just get them refilled for something like .80 cents at the shop across the street from us. Convenient, huh!

Saturday night was the climax of this little party. The residents of our community began with a costume party and fire on our neighbors deck, and eventually progressed down to the mayhem in the bottom of the valley.



In the valley we found the locals carting huge firework laden bamboo structures into the middle of the crowd, and lighting them on fire. Apparently this is some kind of competition, but I just cannot describe how ridiculous this is. I think the CanaLazo, a local hot alcoholic cider drink has erased any sense of danger from the participants. But then again, even I couldn't resist taking a run in the circle-pit that was stewing around the flaming bamboo towers of death. Here's an action shot from the "pit"


I got out of the Latin American circle pit just in time, when the top of this sucker went off, fireworks starting cartwheeling into the audience with abandon. I took this video while ducking and holding the camera up in the air.




But even with this finale, it became clear that someone was going to one-up them, no quicker had the flaming embers dried in peoples hair, than the locals trucked out this monstrosity. I looked at Erin and said, "I think we should take a few steps back."


Once the locals lashed this contraption together, they started spinning this thing around, and then lit it. As the fire moved up the bamboo, various fireworks would go off, sending amazing amounts of colored missiles into the audience. On the opposite side, alter doors flung open to display a pyro-technic religious offering, the orange wheels spun, missles were shot out of the canisters on the top, and a huge flaming eagle was perched flapping his burning wings. I've never been to a better fireworks show, period.



We went to bed at 4 AM last night, and took a rest day today. We did go up for the tossing of the oranges, something similar to Mardi Gras, except the people in balconies were whacking the people on the streets with oranges instead of flashing them. I have to admit, with the orange parade, at least you get to go home with something. And I now must finish this entry because tomorrow is a school day, though I can hear that the Fiesta continues outside our window, unabated....

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