Phrase of the day: Yo llegue en un buen tiempo para que? La Reina de San Isidro!... I arrived in time for what? San Isidro's Reina Competition!
If you don't know much about Ecuadorians, at least know that they love their Reinas. Reinas being Queens... Yeah, think Miss Virginia.
I'm back in Ecuador, and not too much has changed in town. The church seems to have a new paint job (at least the front of it).
And there are carnival type activities in the center. Think of a fair that you'd see in a movie out west; it reminds me of that. There is a huge moon bounce type slide, a caterpillar train, and foosball tables.
And don't forget the random street food vendors. There's the usual cotton candy and popcorn, but also the more Ecuadorian meat and plantains. (Yeah, I'm not touching that).
Back to the real story: Reinas. They are a huge deal. So huge in fact, that the entire town comes out. There is a guest emcee, judges, and even entertainment.
The show/pageant began at 10pm with Cotton Eye Joe and the contestants walking out. Really, Cotton Eye Joe. I knew this was going to be a long night. ("Cotton Eye Joe" is a song. A pretty bad one. Especially to be using in Ecuador).
There was the usual swimsuit category.
Some of the entertainment included a boy-band from Bahia. Everyone was pretty excited about them.
And there was intermission with some other performance some time around...
Yes, that late. And we still had to listen to the question/answer round!
I left around 1am, after seeing at least one of the evening gowns. I hear it all went until 2:30am though.
My first meal back was awesome. I really just made pasta as usual, but my dad had given me a black pepper grinder and crushed red pepper, so all my meals are 10 times better now.
And you may be thinking, "Wow, it's been a long time since you've written". But I hope you just read this when you're super bored at work ;) Happy Birthday Mom!
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