"Salve oh Patria!"

"Salve oh Patria!"
"Hail our Homeland!"
These are the first lines of the Ecuadorian National Hymn which is sung loudly and proudly to the raising of the flag at the beginning of every public or private ceremony.  I've learned to expect it because civic pride and patriotism are imbedded throughout the Ecuadorian culture.  But on September 26, I learned a lot more about the depth of their national commitment.  On this day, every school celebrates all that Ecuador was, and is today, with National Flag Day.  And on this day, all across the country, every Senior in High School makes a pledge to honor their country.  It's a very big deal.

Ecuadorians in general love pomp and circumstance, and after four entire days of watching the students practice, I should have known this ceremony was very special.  It started with the band and cheerleaders leading the procession into the stadium.

Then, from all directions came the flag bearers and the seniors marching in precise synchronicity to the drum beat of the band.  They looked very professional in their formal uniforms and white gloves.

As the students paraded in, they formed the letters of the school name.  They marched so slowly and ceremoniously, it took 30 minutes for the procession to finish.

After this, a group of students with the highest academic grades came forward and they were given sashes and pins by their parents to note their accomplishments.  And then their parents were honored with certificates for raising such a good student and citizen of Ecuador.  Finally, the top three students were given the honor to hold the country, county and city flags during the rest of the ceremony.

This video gives you a glimpse at the whole scene while they were singing their school song. 

My school is named Teodoro Gomez de la Torre, for it's founder Teodoro Gomez.  After the school song, students also participated in a chant in honor of their "Patron", or historical patriarch of the school.  The leader of the chant is the Student President.

Next, the Ecuadorian flags were presented.  In the flag, the yellow represents the bountiful corn or gold (depending upon who you ask... both important resources for this country).  The blue represents the beautiful seas and skies.  And the red represents the blood of all those who fought to save this country in their wars for independence.

Finally, all the seniors stepped forward in synchronized lines to bow down and make a promise to their flag, and their country.  Ecuadorians are a very proud people, they know their history, and they know they have a responsibility to help their country be the best it can be.  Notice the different color backgrounds.  The students of younger grades were seated in the bleachers.  They were all holding cards and with a signal, they turned them to either the colors of the Ecuadorian flag (yellow, blue and red), or they turned them to their school colors (red and white).

In this video, the students are pledging "Si juro!" on cue to the flag, which means, "Yes, I promise." 

As I sat in the stands watching this, several of the teachers around me asked if the United States has ceremonies like this to honor our flag and make a commitment to our country.  "No", I responded.  "Not like this."  "And why not?", they asked.  I found it hard to explain.  Is it because we are so big and so diverse, that our population pledges to many different flags?  Is it because there is already so much puffed-up patriotism lauding USA as the best country in the world, that we don't need an additional ceremony to pledge our commitment?  Is it because we instead choose to honor the service of our current and past Veterans during holidays such as Memorial Day?  I'm not sure of all the reasons, but I am very enamored with the efforts this small country takes to enlighten and empower its own.

I've seen Ecuadorian's sense of civic duty ingrained in other parts of life as well.  Although there is no requirement of service to join their Army, Navy or Air Forces, these are common career choices for young men and women.  Ecuadorians also read newspapers and watch the news.  Everybody knows what's going on politically, and they all have an informed opinion.  I have witnessed many passionate discussions between family members, neighbors, friends, and co-workers of both genders about political happenings.  They also vote.  Everybody votes.  Ecuador is a Representative Democracy and voting is taken very seriously by all.  I'll let a few websites from Google explain:

In Ecuador it is mandatory that ALL eligible voters 18 years old and above go to the polls and vote.  If you want, you are allowed to vote as early as age 16.  The only constitutional exemptions are for those over age 65; the disabled; members of the National Police or Military; Ecuadorians living abroad or those that cannot read or write.  As a result, it is common to have voter turnout above 90%.  If you are not exempt and do not vote, you get fined.  At the poling place, the government hands out a small card which has to be kept until the next election proving that you voted.

Campaigns in Ecuador are just as fierce as anywhere else in the world. There are many political parties, some old and some new. People support their parties by posting signs, painting walls and hanging up banners. During campaign time, candidates go all over visiting small communities, bringing gifts of food, clothing and booze. In the days leading up to the election, it is common to see parades of cars decked out in campaign propaganda, and trucks full of people waving flags and blasting their horns. 

There are no primaries here to sort out the candidates, so there can be many candidates running for any office.  If no one receives a majority vote then the top two vote getters participate in a run-off election.

Starting three days before the election, it is illegal to sell or buy alcohol of any kind.  And, on voting day (Sunday), it is prohibited to drink or hold any public meetings, including church services.

Tables are set up all around the towns and organized by last name.  People are assigned to vote in the same place where they voted initially (when they were 16-18 years old), so unless they have permission to change their voting location, it means people often travel back to where they were born.  A lot of people use the opportunity as a holiday to visit their family, and have more political discussions. 

From my point of view, Ecuador's voting laws are spot on.  Citizens are engaged simply because ignorance and apathy are not acceptable.  So, as all of you are feeling the adrenaline, or exhaustion, of the final days of this campaign season, I hope you pause a moment and consider how important that responsibility is for our country.  Whether you're hoping for the winds of change or want things to stay the same, it doesn't matter.  Exercise your right and your commitment to be an involved citizen.  

As I've always told my students: 

Vote ... because you can! 

Later Addition:

November 19- Voting Day at Teodoro Gomez de la Torre

Over the preceding week, classes were cancelled for 2-hour blocks of time to allow for Student Government campaigning.  Three parties of Presidents and Vice Presidents were campaigning for the right to represent the students' voice.  I saw conga-lines and loud chanting, banners hanging off of rooftops and even a bubble machine to win some votes.  When voting day finally arrived, all classes were cancelled for the day to honor this important civic duty.  Students lined up alphabetically at assigned classrooms, signed their name on an official registry, voted with an official ballot and put it in the box.  Even though all candidates for President were seniors in the high school, all students were required to vote. 

Here's one teacher explaining to her first graders how to only vote for one choice.

Teachers administered the voting of each class.

The corridors were packed with students waiting in line to vote.

The voting was very official. Teachers spent the afternoon counting the votes,
and the winner was announced the next day during classes.


Lesson Learned:  If you want the younger generation to vote,
you start by modeling the behavior and empowering them from a very young age.

It's Festival Season!

Ecuadorians love their festivals.  Each city, it seems, celebrates the date of their historic founding. Then, they have to celebrate the founding days of other cities.  There's also holidays for historic battles that were fought to earn Ecuador's independence.  Then, there's religious holidays in this predominately Catholic country.  Finally, each autonomous Indigenous group has their own festivals to honor the solstices, the season of planting, the season of harvests and Pachamama, Mother Earth.  It's not out of order to say that I could attend a different festival every week of the year.  This is good for me, because I, too, love the spirit and energy of a good festival. 

September is definitely a prominent season for festivals in the provinces near where I live, and I spent much of my free time over two weeks attending several parades, concerts and other events.  This post is a compilation of photos exhibiting some of the more unique cultural parts of these fiestas. 

In Otavalo, they celebrate the Festival de Yamor, a festival to honor all the gifts they receive from the harvest of corn... foods like choclo (corn on the cob) and mote (hominy), 
as well as traditional drinks such as chicha (fermented corn juice).  
This float represents the many gifts from the corn harvest. 

In all the parades, the Ecuadorian flag is prominent. The yellow in the flag represents corn or gold, depending upon who you ask.  Both are important products of Ecuador.  The blue represents the seas and the skies, while the red represents the blood lost in 
the many battles for their independence.

If you ask anyone why they love the festivals, they will probably tell you that they love watching the dancers.  An average parade is 3-4 hours long, and the vast majority of it is various professional or non-professional dance groups giving their rendition of traditional dances.  
Their costumes, often handmade, are incredible! 

This group performed The Bomba, a traditional dance of the Afro-Ecuadorian cultures.  
Yes, he's dancing with a decorated bottle on his head.  

The brilliant colors at these Andean Festivals are amazing!

There's also a lot of music.  Some of it comes in the form of huge speakers in the back of pick-up trucks leading the dance groups down the street.  But local school bands, or civic employee bands are also featured.  I love this photo because it shows that the traditional daily wear of Indigenous people is considered part of the official uniform in school and work. 
In Ecuador, Indigenous people always wear their symbolic clothing with pride. 

Some of the clothing that the Indigenous wear is machine made, but most of it is 
hand woven and hand embroidered.  Always stunning! 

In some of the smaller parades, autonomous communities represented themselves by carrying a sign announcing their pueblo (probably somewhere high in the mountains), and they carried gifts of appreciation to Pachamama for their successful harvest. 

The variety of headwear is always interesting.  If I was to guess, I think much of it
was born from the necessity to keep the intense sun off of their heads. 

I would bet this man has been dancing in this parade his whole life!

The Spirit of the Huma (with his two faced mask representing positive and negative energies)
 is always a prominent feature in every Indigenous parade. 

These large clay puppets are designed and made by artists in this area, 
so they were also featured in the festivities. 

Ecuadorians celebrate all kinds of arts and dance in their culture so I also spotted cheerleading teams, break-dancing groups, martial arts clubs, roller-skating clubs, gymnasts, and hip-hop groups.  If it's musical with movement, it's big in Ecuador. 

This was definitely the funniest thing I saw.  First, the man standing on the left had this costume that made it look like he was being carried by another little man.  Then, some other guys taped a chicken to an electric cart, but made it look like the chicken was pulling him.  I know, I know.  It was so cruel to the chicken!  But don't worry, I'm sure the chicken was his dinner that night anyway.



The craziest thing I've seen is "Vaca Loca"!  Literally, "Crazy Cow"!  The evening starts with a big music concert.  Then they set fire to a giant bamboo structure that is saddled with fireworks.  As each section explodes, it ignites the next section to create a huge long-lasting display of pyrotechnics.

Finally, the top part of the structure sets off fireworks into the sky. 

At the same time, a man starts running around the base carrying a giant 
structure of exploding fireworks.  He's supposed to be the "Crazy Cow".

As you can see, there's no safety barriers or guidelines in these festivals.  Ecuadorians love their pyrotechnics and it's your problem if you don't stand back far enough.  

The most unique parade so far has been Mama Negra, a huge tradition in the city of Latacunga.  This  festival was supposedly established after nearby Volcan Cotapaxi erupted in 1742.  The people worried that Latacunga would be destroyed by future eruptions so they created a twice-annually celebration in honor of the Virgin of Mercy, the Patron of Cotopaxi, asking her to spare Latacunga 

in the future.  It was in this same time period that the Spaniards brought slaves to this region to work in the mines.  So, the people of Latacunga, incorporated their arrival into this festival as well.  Although it's a strange (and sad) history to celebrate, some believe their homage is working.  

Latacunga hasn't been destroyed in Cotopaxi's recent eruptions. 

This is Mama Negra, a representation of the Virgin from many cultures.  She arrives on a horse  wearing an elaborate costume and carrying dolls to represent her children.  
She shares "her milk" from the squeeze bottle onto the crowd.  

There was so many fun costumes and colors at this parade.  

The men on the left are the Camisonas, dressed as the women in history.

This is a representation of a King of the Moors.  They were the enemy of the Spaniards 

(who conquered Ecuador). So, he is seen today as a symbol of strength to the 

Indigenous communities of the past.  

The street was alive for hours as the parade wound its way through the streets of Latacunga
and up a steep hill to a symbolic cross at the top. 

These characters are the Huacos. They grabbed people from the crowd to cleanse them with palm fronds and bones, supposedly preparing them for the coming of Mama Negra.

At the end of their cleansing, they'd spit Chicha (a sweet, fermented corn drink) into your face.
My friends, Ava and Ashley, experienced the whole treatment,
so I started running away every time I saw the Huacos coming!

Ice cream, cotton candy and caramel apples are favorite festival foods.
But it's not a festival in Ecuador without the large fried pieces of pig skin!

One of the most amazing parts of Mama Negra was the number of communities or families who created and carried an Ashanga.  This is their offering to Mama Negra, and it always included a whole pig, other traditional meats like cuy, full bottles of liquor and varieties of fruit.  It is so heavy, men had to take turns carrying it up the street and then resting it on a stool.  Watch the videos and you'll get the idea!

     

My friends and I spent hours watching this festival from the street and the balcony of Ava's new apartment.  At one point, I leaned over the railing of the balcony to catch some candy being thrown up from a participant and I leaned too hard on my side.  Ouch!  I cracked or broke my rib, and have been nursing it ever since!  That ended my festivities for awhile.  But overall, Mama Negra was a very interesting cultural experience.  I will definitely go back again next year!