Escaramuza (Skirmish!)

Right now, Ecuador is in the season of celebrating their independence from the Spanish overlords - my word, not theirs. (They also celebrate the arrival of the Spaniards...I guess any reason is good enough for a party here.)

Born to ride!

In the environs of Cuenca, the town of Punta Coral has the Escaramuza, a horse rally of fairly sizable proportions, followed by a pampa mesa and concert/dance in the evening. It's a pretty big deal, and we decided this was the year to experience the festivities. The patron saint of Punta Coral is Saint Augustin and they were celebrating his saint's day. Good times! Nothing says "holy day" like vast quantities of food and alcohol.
 

Shahbaz and LT "enjoying" Ecuadorian hospitality

It's a pretty wild time and, while we didn't stay for the pampa mesa (a traditional Ecuadorian picnic) or the dance later on, we did get to watch the horsemen play out their traditional skirmish that reminded me of something between the RCMP Musical Ride and the chariot race in Ben Hur.

Photo by Ken March

Organised chaos

Lots of drinking is involved. Canalazo (a warm alcoholic punch with ever changing ingerdients), fortified wines, chicha and other mysterious and unnamed things circulated with alarming frequency. I was loathe to turn down the offer in case of offending someone. Fortunately,  once the riders arrived, I was spared from any further hospitality.

Striking close up shot by Bob Horowitz

Some people might not know that I'm allergic to horses (most likely their dander), so being down wind of the party wasn't the smartest tactical move...thank heavens for antihistamines!

 

Me sporting "allergy face" photo Bob Horowitz

 

Enjoying chicha (mild corn alcohol)

Some of our gang:
Lois, Linda, Bob, Shahbaz, Jeff, LT, and Ric

The whole thing was fairly spectacular and I would recommend it. Stay for the pampa mesa, if you can, and enjoy watching the riders slowly getting lower and lower in their saddles as the chicha (et al) kicks in. 

The final course - photo by Bob Horowitz

We chose to end our day with lunch at a local joint, instead of free loading off of good Ecuadorian hospitality. There was a good selection: ceviche, asado (roast pork aka chancho), sacocho (stewed, on-the-bone pork with herbs and citrus, trucha, maiz, llapangachos (fried potato patties) and ensalada de la casa (almost always lettuce, onion, a bit of grated carrot with vinegar). Of course, rice and mote (MOE-tay which is mostly corn mostly corn) were available. The beer was cold, so we had no complaints.

The Deliciousness of the Festival of Corpus Christi

There are a lot of festivals here and, mostly, I don't understand the why of most of them. That doesn't stop me from enjoying the celebration, of course! I actually had to look up Corpus Christi (Cristi, here). Of course, I knew it's a Catholic celebration and by the name, it should be obvious that it celebrates the body of Christ. So I went online. (Whatever did we do without the internet?) It's actually a celebration of the Eucharist - the transformation of the blood and body of Christ to the holy wine and communion wafer. This is also know as transubstantiation.

2nd best macaroons so far

What I didn't get is why Corpus Christi is celebrated here with a wealth of sweets, so I did a bit more digging. It wasn't just a matter of taking the communion wafer to a whole new level, no. Corpus Christi happens to coincide with the return of the Pleiades constellation to the sky over the Andes and many indigenous groups use this time of year to celebrate the harvest and consider it the "new year". Sweets and harvest time go hand in hand. So, I feel I've solved the mystery. I've always loved how traditional festivals and Christian ones seem to line up so nicely. Of course, we all know that it helped ease the disparity between the old and new religions.Catholicism had a pretty amazing marketing team, back in the day.

Vendors as far as the eye can see

So, despite my status as a non-believer, I still get to browse the sweets, enjoy the odd treat and enjoy the fireworks displays that are set up in the main square of parque Calderon for the five day event. What fireworks have to do with transubstantiation, I have no idea. Nor, do I know why they're built into bamboo towers, so close to the crowd that you can get singed hair. What I do know is that if there aren't fireworks in Ecuador, it isn't a real party.

At least this year, they've cordoned off an area around the towers, before you could get as close as you liked! Safety first! (So not an Ecuadorian motto!)