Hey everyone! I hope everything is going well in the states, and in snow covered cold Wisconsin! Today in Quito it is sunny and about 65 degrees. This is my first Christmas, or anticipation of Christmas that it has not been freezing cold and snowy! Because of this, it really doesn´t feel like it´s Christmas season to me, but in the malls there are decorations and lights, and lots of American Christmas music playing on the speakers!
The semester here is done, I finished all my finals awhile ago because I had to chance to go to Galápagos with a class for 10 days! I just returned yesterday, and despite having to stay in bed the first 2 days due to a throat infection, the trip was amazing and I saw so many cool plants and animals. When I get a chance to upload pictures I will write a blog about this trip.
I wanted to write a little about Fiestas de Quito, which just happened during the first week of December, the last day of fiestas being my birthday, December 6. Fiestas de Quito basically entail a celebration of the city of Quito, the founding of the city, and whenever someone yells ¡Viva Quito! there is the expected response of ¡Viva Quito!!! There is a lot of drinking, big parties, dancing in the street, chivas (´´cheevah´´,party buses) and bull fights.
I went to a party hosted by a popular club here called UIO (the vowels in Quito). It was held in a mall, and there was music, food, free bar, but tickets were 30 dollars. Most parties like this during fiestas cost this much. It was fun, but there was a ton of people. I also went to a bull fight, which was an experience. The corrida de toros, bull fights, kind of have the feel of a rodeo; a lot of people bring out their cowboy boots and hats, and sip, or indulge in beer and wine. In each corrida, there are six bulls, and a differente torero (bull fighter) for each bull, some from Spain, some born here in Ecuador. First, the bull is released and helpers agitate the bull by throwing small swords, or knives in the bulls back. Then the torero comes out, does the whole thing with the red cape, the bull charges, and yes, people yell ´´ole´´. Finally, the torero attempts to put a sword in the bulls back. After that, the bull collapses, and another helper guy comes on makes one quick stab in the back of the head, which should, or is supposed to kill the bull automatically.
At first I really didn´t want to go the bull fights. I ended up going, and the atmosphere in the stadium is really energetic and exciting. I am glad I did go, to see what it is like. I´ll never go again, because to me, the whole concept is pretty wrong. A lot of Ecuadorians say ´´No, it´s more of a tradition, etc´´ which is true, but it is a very Spanish tradition. About half of the Ecuadorians I know are in agreement with the bull fights, the other half don´t like them.
For my birthday, I had a small party at my house with some friends, which was nice and relaxing. It was weird because it wasn´t cold!
That´s it for now. This semester FLEW by, and I´m reall glad I am coming back next semester! I´ll be home soon and see many of you I hope! I will be updating lots of pictures over this winter break, so check out the webshots and blog again soon!
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