However, he was prepared.....and retaliated.
On Saturday, we were in Giron in search of celebrations and encountered this procession from the church.
There was a huge turnout by the townspeople, including, this little guy.
One of the participants.
Mick considering a "flight to Egypt".
After Giron, we returned to Cuenca and continued foaming. The Cuencanos derive such pleasure from this. Everything is taken as fun and tradition; however, tourists can be a problem. We were all, including Nikolas, soaked with water and foam. The day was a real "hoot". For those of us who have lived here a while know that it is a harmless tradition and that it is all in fun. The tourists get extremely upset, scream, shout profanities, etc. We were driving down Benigno Malo, armed with foam as I shot 2 non-Cuencanos. My bad, we were too close to the traffic light. We were sitting at the traffic light with my window down. A hand reached in the car and grabbed my can of foam, which I would not give up. The two guys were cursing us, calling us "@#$%^ing Americans". I managed to roll the window up, at which time, one of the fine tourists kicked the car door, putting a large dent in the door. At that point I was infuriated and got out of the car, big mistake. The older German then kicked me in the thigh. There were no police around. I was shocked. Mick got out of the car, not realizing what had happened. The "delightful German tourists" backed off, I threw my can of foam at them and they ran. Bummer!
Our fun day had been rained upon, not with rain, but with "sour krauts". If you can't accept the culture and traditions, don't come here; it's that simple.
Most things, including the malls, were closed for Carnaval; however, Costto was open. When you go there, you're prepared for shopping with the giant baskets. Here's Joannie with one.
Carnaval is over. Cuenca is back to normal. Life is good.
Until next time,
Mick and Kathy
Gee, imagine that... Germans without a sense of humor. No fun. Mark from Oberlin.
ReplyDeleteIt is one thing to throw water and spray foam on your friends who are prepared for your antics. It is quite another thing to do these things to unsuspecting tourists. it is just plain rude and mean and frankly I am not surprised at their reaction. How about using a little common sense?
ReplyDeleteGet a life dude
DeleteSorry Kathy, there was no reason for those folks to actually kick you. You obviously oops'd and did not mean to spray non participants.. but I am thinking that was not the first time they got nailed that day.. you just happened to be a easy target. Hope your leg is better soon.
ReplyDeleteLooks like great fun! We are SOOO looking forward to our move to Cuenca, next September. Looks like we'll have a good six months to get our foam in order after we arrive...Susan
ReplyDeleteCarnaval es divertido. Hay que tener cuidado con la manera que jugamos carnaval con vistas extranjeras. Sobretodo cuando las visitas no estan familiarizadas con la cultura y con las tradiciones. Que el próximo año nos sirva de experiencia y solo juguemos con nuestros amigos y conocidos.
ReplyDeleteGracias Closs para su asesoramiento. Si usted está fuera durante el Carnaval, se ve cómo la población local participe y reaccionar, por lo tanto, como un turista, usted debe reír y disfrutar, y no se enojó. Una vez más, gracias por tu comentario. Kathy
ReplyDelete