Viva Loja!

Loja celebrated it's Independence Day on November 18th. While the holiday was on November 18th, Loja took the opportunity to have, at least, two weeks of festivities. Each barrio (neighborhood) had its own parties which included soccer matches in the street, Ecua-volley tournaments, and live music at night with dancing in the street.

There were also two parades: high school marching bands and a military parade. It was very uncomfortable to watch high school students wearing full, long sleeve uniforms marching in the hot sun for four hours. But, actually, it is not uncommon for us to be wearing shorts and tank tops, while Ecuadorians have on jeans and sweaters and maybe even a scarf. Presentation is very important here. Most Ecuadorian men here in Loja are always wearing a collared shirt and dress shoes (even when changing oil in cars). Ecuadorian women in Loja wear full suits to work and are rarely seen without their stilettos.

The military parade was the following day and included a brief history of the important battles and wars in Ecuador. Floats came by decorated to depict the scenes of courage and horror. After the floats came the modern soldiers of varying specialties carrying sticks, flags and bazookas. We also got to see some military dogs and anti-tank brigades. It was an impressive show.

The night of the big celebration, there was a crowd of about 2,000 Ecuadorians standing shoulder to shoulder in the plaza to view the live music and fireworks. People were crowded into all of the stores and street side tiendas to buy liquor and beer. We opted for the curbside kegerator from which we were served 20oz. Pilseners by a nine year old girl and her sister. Cane lasso, the sugar cane liquor drink of Loja, was also being served around the crowd by young men wearing tuxedos.

After a couple hours of dancing and music on the main stage, the real action was unleashed in about 15 minutes of fireworks. It’s not like the kind in Elliot Bay that are launched off of a barge. These babies fired right off of the roof of the church in the main square. Our necks were sore from looking straight up for so long. Meanwhile the crowd was showered with debris from the fireworks and smoke filled the square. It was a superb display.

As a side note, in case any of you are curious, we are still experiencing daily rolling blackouts. It seems the rains have returned so the periods of disruption are shorter, but it will take some time for all of the turbines to be back on line. We're looking forward to it.