You've been spumed

espuma (pronounced e-spoo-ma): literally, “foam”
figuratively: do not leave your hotel without at least one can, a dark hooded sweatshirt, and maybe even some goggles.

Last weekend was Carnaval, an extended weekend celebration before Lent begins. We had Monday and Tuesday off of school, so it was a great weekend to take a nice long trip. A lot of people opted for the beach, but we heard it was usually crowded and crazy and were more in the mood for a relaxed vacation, so we headed to Baños.
Baños is about 3½ hours from Quito, and is a tiny town that sits in the valley in the mountains. It is also located near the famous Tungurahua volcano, which has been pretty active over the last ten years. We had heard it was rumbling a bit and the roads weren’t safe to travel, but after talking to a few Ecuadorians who said it was completely fine we decided to head down there. Looks like we made it just in time—when we got back, we received this message from the U.S. Consulate in Ecuador:

“This is to inform American citizens visiting or resident in Ecuador that Tungurahua volcano erupted in the early morning of February 6, 2008, after months of intense seismic activity. American citizens are advised to avoid and/or immediately evacuate the vicinity of Tungurahua volcano, including Baños.

The volcano is located approximately 140 kilometers south of Quito, near Baños. Pyroclastic flows occurred on the northeast flank of the volcano. The extent is not yet known. Two main pulses occurred and scientists predict ash activity will continue and is likely to increase. The government has declared a Code Red (highest level) alert for the surrounding area and closed schools in the immediate vicinity and in Baños. The road from Pelileo to Baños is officially closed. Residents of the highest-risk areas have already been evacuated, and more people were evacuated late in the evening on February 6. Satellite images show a disperse ash cloud moving to the east and southeast. Ambato and Riobamba are also affected, and road traffic is slow."

We left Baños on Feb. 5. Haha.

This is a picture I took of the volcano on the way to Ambato. You can see the smoke and ash rising out of it--probably not a good sign.

While we were there, however, the volcano kept itself under control and we had an amazing time. After arriving early evening on Friday, we settled into a beautiful hotel on the quieter side of town. Our room was huge and we even had a view of a waterfall from our window. Saturday was a crazy day which began with renting go-karts. Apparently it was possible to go up some trails and see some waterfalls, but that meant literally driving on the highway to get to the trails, which we had no desire to do considering the driving styles of most Ecuadorians. Instead, we bumbled about town, went the wrong way on a busy one-way street, and finally found a small trail to zoom up and down until our hour was up. After the go-carts, we set up a 2 hour horseback ride with a guide our hotel recommended. The ride was amazing, and completely unlike anything you would be able to do in the states. It was just the four of us with the guide, who gave us a lot of freedom to ride as fast as we wanted. I rode Cabrón. I’ll let you look that one up to figure out what it means. We literally rode up through the mountains towards the volcano, and José (our guide) was extremely knowledgeable about the mountains, volcano and wildlife. Not to mention the breathtaking views.

Katrina riding Diablo, Cabron's brother

After the ride and a little grub, we set up shop on the street to watch Baños’ parade. It was a cute small town parade, with dancers, floats, and plenty of sequined costumes. That night we also made our way to the hot natural springs that give Baños its name (in English: “baths”). After a nice soak to ease our sore horseback riding butts, we hit up the town to see what kind of nightlife Baños offered. What we discovered was what Carnaval really meant in Baños: espuma.

Espuma, or carioca, is a cross between foam, shaving cream and silly string, and during Carnaval in Baños is everywhere. It is a tradition during Carnaval for espuma and water to be thrown on people. We really had no idea as to the extent of the spuming, however, until we went out Saturday night to find a little fun. We were looking for a discoteca, but ended up finding a street that was seriously spumification nation. Being gringas, we had extra big targets on our backs. We couldn’t walk two feet without someone literally sticking a can of espuma into our faces and letting loose. At one point I had so much spume all over my face and clothes I couldn’t even see. We tried to take refuge in a discoteca, only to be hit on by boys who probably couldn’t legally drive in the states. Our next safe haven (or so we thought) was a chiva bus—not really a bus, more like a train of cars that looks like it should be on a rollercoaster track at a carnival. We got on hoping to escape the relentless attacks, only to find ourselves sitting ducks. The driver loved having gringas onboard, and stopped dead in the middle of a busy street to facilitate an attack. After the chiva bus we were running low on ammo and energy, so we headed back to the hotel to recover from a crazy day and night.

Carnaval is serious business and calls for some Charlie's Angels' poses

Our goal on Sunday was to head to Ambato, a city about an hour from Baños that is famous for their fruit and flower festival during Carnaval. While we did make it there, we missed the big morning parade and only caught the massive amount of garbage and people that were left over. Ambato is not a pretty city, and there really wasn’t much to do since we missed the parade, so we walked around for an hour or so and decided to head back to our beloved Baños. My friend lovingly described Ambato as the “underpit of Ecuador” and I can’t disagree. It is not somewhere I would return or recommend people go to.

Monday brought a little rain and a lazy day of shopping and wandering around Baños. In the afternoon it cleared up a bit, and we headed to Baños’ very own zoo. The zoo was seriously built into the mountains, with natural plant life making up the habitat for most of the animals. It was a decent sized zoo for such a small town, and it was fun to see some of the animals native to that area. We couldn’t help but laugh, however, when we passed the cage of a mapache (raccoon). I can’t see a zoo in the states ever putting raccoons on display.

It's hard to tell it's actually a zoo

On Monday night we hit the streets again with our espuma—this time, however we vowed to go on the offensive and no longer be victims. While our first Rambo attempt failed, we did end up getting into a pretty intense spume battle with some teenage boys. At one point I turned to see myself cornered by three of them. As I charged, espuma can in hand, I covered my face and prayed to come out alive. Suddently, however, I looked up to see two of my friends charging at the boys from the opposite direction. In a triumphant display of the power of the gringa, we showed those boys we meant business. I think it would be fair to say we won that fight, and emptied our cans in the process. Quick side note on the mercilessness of spuming during Carnaval—as we walked down the street heading back to our hotel, we passed a husband and a wife holding a small baby. Clearly it would just be downright wrong to hit a family with a baby, so we allowed them to pass unharmed. Just as we turned our backs, however, the woman whipped out a can of spume and hit me directly in the face. I was shocked and a little disgusted that she would use her baby as protection and then without hesitation spumify me. All’s fair in love and Carnaval apparently.
Monday night Baños also launched some fireworks, and we had a perfect view from the roof of our hotel. It was a great way to end an amazing weekend and say goodbye to a beautiful city—at least before the volcano erupted.

Tomorrow is the five week mark for me. I can’t believe it has been over a month already—the last few weeks have flown by and I know the rest of the time will too. I heard Wisconsin had a major snowstorm on Wednesday—I spent the day reading on our patio in capris and a t-shirt. Haha. This is Ecuador.