On Thursday,
October 31st, 2013, I woke up to the sound of screaming bunnies. Do
you know why they were screaming? Because they were trapped in a bag, awaiting
death, while listening to the demise of their furry little friends. You
probably don’t know what screaming bunnies sound like (because neither did I
before this day), picture cute squeaking, but filled with terror. It’s
basically a PETA member’s worst nightmare.
And then I
remembered it was Halloween and bunny murder seemed fitting. But this also
reminded me that it was the last day of the month. I’ve had a strange little
superstition ever since I was a little kid about the beginning and end of the
month. I can’t remember where I heard it- a TV show or a movie or a friend or
teacher, but the idea is that the first thing you say when you wake up on the
first day of a new month should be “bunny bunny” and the last thing you say on
the night of the last day of the month is “rabbit rabbit” and this should give
you good luck for the entire month. It’s sort of like a new beginning ritual, I
guess. I always try to do it and I can never remember. As soon as I say “Buenos
dias” in the morning of the 1st, I give myself a mental palm to the
forehead. Anyway, bunnies dying on the last day of the month made me think next
month might not be so lucky. We’ll see.
I said that the
event reminded me that it was
Halloween because I almost forgot. It is prohibited in the country of Ecuador
to celebrate this spookiest of holidays because it is considered an American
tradition, NOT Ecuadorian. So you know what I did?! Broke that law! Like a
BAMF. In my high school classes, we played a trick or treat game and in my kids
class we played “Pin the Face on the Jack O’Lantern” and Concentration with
Halloween vocabulary. Arrest me. ‘Merica! (JK my co-teachers wanted to do it
and the students were really interested, cultural interchange is one of the
basic goals of the Peace Corps.)
Then, the 1st
of November was the start of the Finados celebrations. Also known as Dia de los
Muertos, Dia de los Difuntos, or Day of the Dead. All the classes at the high
school made the traditional Colada Morada and Gua Guas de Pan. Colada Morada=
Purple Drank. My favorite translation. It’s a warm drink made of blackberries,
blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, and spices and it represents the blood of
the dead people. Gua gua is the Kichwa word for baby. They make little bread
loaves in the shape of babies with a lil babyface and all and it represents the
body of the dead people. Because each class made their own version, I was
expected to try at least 10 of the 23 courses. I had 4 cups of blood and 2
babies and felt like I was going to explode. (Said the zombie.)
That night, my
host family was also making Colada Morada and bringing big pots of it to share
with our neighbors. I helped pass out the drink to neighbors and then attended
Mass with the family and then we went out to dinner to eat Guatitas (cow’s
intestines in a creamy sauce, really yummy actually). I hadn’t eaten lunch
because I was so full from all the zombie food at school so I had gone about 7
hours without eating and then ate a lot at dinner. So when I got home, I
figured my stomach ache was normal, I just sat in bed for a few hours because
laying down made me nauseous. I fell asleep sitting up but woke up around 2am
with cold sweats, chills, and achiness in my whole body. I was in and out of
the bathroom every ten minutes and then started vomiting around 5am. I actually
got really lucky because we had run out of water for most of the night but it
was pumped back into town before the vomiting started. (No water means no
working toilet, you do the math.) I’m sorry, this is disgusting, but I had to
live it. You only have to read about it.
So I spent the
weekend lying in bed, reading, drinking salt water and tea and Gatorade. My
host mother insists that this is my fault for drinking too much colada morada.
It was a pointless battle to explain that food poisoning is generally 24 hours
later, my reaction was about 20 hours later, and that the traditional drink is
full of fresh fruits which are hard to wash, and that if it were overeating, I
would have been sick immediately, not the next morning. So I gave up. I did not
give up, however, when she tried to get me to eat rabbit on an empty, queasy
stomach.
I almost died on
my first Day of the Dead. You can’t make this stuff up.
