Wednesday July 30, 2014 Johanna's Birthday

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See more of my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com/.

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Wednesday July 30, 2014

Johanna Vaca, the vivacious Program Director at Hearts Of Gold was celebrating her 30th, oooops,... 28th birthday today, and myself and Natasha and Neil helped her celebrate it in style.

First stop was a Mexican supper at La EnFriJolada on Francisco Moscoso.  Poor Johanna is not a drinker but she was game for a couple of shots of tequila to get the evening off on a lively note.

Upon leaving the restaurant there was a Dancercize class going on across the street at ECU911 so the girls joined in on the sidewalk.

A short cab ride later and we were checking out 4 different bars on Honorato Vasquez.  One spot is always busy apparently, packed and loud with people of all stripes and Johanna got a free Birthday cake.

Then we stopped in at a disco/karaoke bar which was empty except for one couple but their karaoke machine was broken so we moved on.  Johanna love to karaoke so the next karaoke bar only had 3 young guys with bad voices so we stepped in.  Everybody gets a shot at 4 songs so Johanna did 3 Ecuadorian songs while I did "Let It Be" with help from the others.  That was my first karaoke attempt, and probably my last because I didn't get the expected standing ovation, lol.

We weren't finished yet so we moved on to see Mike at the Inca Bar for an Open Mike night.  I hope Johanna is feeling OK the next morning as more tequila and beer was happily consumed.  Happy Birthday kiddo!!  It was fun!

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al  

Happy 28th Johanna!

Natasha & Neil helped celebrate the happy occasion.

And the first belt of tequila gets the night going..

The combination of tequila, salt, & lime gets a grimace from Johanna

Free dancersize on the street

Sadly it was the only dancing all night..

Enjoying a free Birthday cake 

Dueling spoons over the Birthday cake

Interesting disco lighting

The dynamic disco duo

Johanna enjoying her karaoke

Neil and Johanna at the Inca Bar

Johanna is ready for more tequila

Down the hatch in one shot

A little more to go

Hmmm, it's not so bad after all...

The whole bar was having a good time

Mike, owner of Inca Bar with Luz and her daughter

Sunday July 27, 2014 Gualaceo Battle

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See more of my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com/.

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Sunday July 27, 2014

My buddy Ed and I snuck out of town to the following event advertised on GringoTree:

Battle Of Moors And Cristianos In Gualaceo

A reenactment of the war between Moors and Christians will take place on Sunday, July 27. This event illustrates the deep devotion that Gualacenos have to the Apostle James, or “Patron Santiago” as they called him. This annual event has gotten larger through the years and it’s now  part of the local culture.

The staged battle between Moors and Christians represents the forces of good and evil, in the context of the conquest of Christian faith against the pagan world, and one of their dance expressions this year will include more than 130 participants.

The event will begin after midday on Sunday with folk dances and processions from the church to the stadium (Estadio Belen). It is estimated that more than 3000 people will attend. This is a great opportunity to see the exhibitions, taste Gualacenos delicious food and admire their souvenirs.

Surprisingly, we only saw only one other Gringo couple during the whole day so we were kinda shocked at that!  We left early to catch the bus home but hopefully saw most of the event.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al 

Mass was being celebrated when we arrived in Gualaceo

The church and main park are very pretty

The town square had many booths selling all kinds of things

I love these dolls!

These too!  Very expressive art.

Lots of folks going in and out of church

Many paying respect to Patron Santiago

It is quite lovely inside the church

...and the outside isn't so bad either!

Then the horses started to be brought in.

This chartreuse mare was eye-catching!

Then the actors got into their costumes

Not bad work for a small town

Even the children get involved

Johnny Reb said he was supplying polo ponies.  Polo??

Those are aluminum swords so nobody got too close to this action

The kids enjoy it though

They got to pose for a lot of people

These guys were scary and realistic

The clang of the swords could be heard for blocks I'm sure.

Christians and Moors dressing together

This was the Moor's "champion"

That Christian is keeping the wrong company...

Everybody is waiting for the procession to begin

Even the dog got into acting dead!!

The Christian ladies arrive.

They get sit on a float

The polo ponies get mounted by both sides.

The Moors line up for the procession

I think he is the Catholic Bishop?

The procession is led by these colourful dancers.

Then the Christians come by.

A short squall turns shields into umbrellas..

Now it is the Moors turn

A Moor Princess??

Loved this shot, had to get rid of messy background..

Now the Christian ladies come past us

Very stylish indeed.

The kids are so cute

A smile from the princess

Hmmm, nope, this guy is the Bishop....

Hmmm, what is Xena doing here??

Now Johnny Reb has turned Christian.

OK, I have no idea what he represents..

Boys will be boys to get a view

Maybe not 3,000 people yet, but filling up fast

This bunch is way across the field

Our colourful girls dance around a maypole

I bought tickets to help cancer patients

Now the Moors strut their stuff 

The princess criss-crossed the field all afternoon

The Moor ladies and foot soldiers

Princess was always in evidence

The ponies were beautiful and well-behaved.

Everyone kept getting in my line of view

It is a tremendously long field for my 15-85mm lens...

Lots of re-positioning

Still trying to maintain a viewpoint

A battle of the champions in the center

The huge Moor took on all comers

The big Moor killed at least 3 Christians

Yup, this Christian fell too

The Christian ladies had a ringside seat atop the castle at the other end.