school birthday and parade

A few weeks ago the kid's school had their annual birthday party. Apparently the school is 41 years old and they have a 3 day celebration. The pics below are from the first day and I will have more on the other days later. For this first day, a Wednesday, they had a normal school day but they let out early and then we had to return at 1pm. At that point, the kids each when with their classes to line up for the parade. Lots of kids wore costumes and some classes had themes. The themes usually related to the performances that the students did later in the afternoon after the parade. Mostly they were dance numbers that were based on the different cultures, tribes, etc. in Ecuador.

Here the is parade as it started next to the school. They were led by the police truck and went downtown and then circled the square and returned to the school.

This sign names the school, UEFTE, and notes that it is 41 years old. These are some school administrators carrying the sign with parents in the background.

Here is the band that rode in a truck behind the police and the administrators. Mostly they are drummers and then a guy singing. Certainly was loud!

Camilo's class is the youngest as they are in kindergarden. As such, they got to ride in the back of a truck. I think they wedged ~20 kids into this truck! Camilo was right in front and you can see him here peeking over the front. His classmates wore outfits of the highland peoples, particularly the cowboys. They also did a dance after the parade. Camilo didn't have an outfit and couldn't follow the dance instructions so he just watched with me. Rather than feeling left out he seemed relieved as he can be shy.

Here is Amalia's teacher Pedro. And behind him you can see Amalia. She didn't have a full costume but made a mask herself that was sort of half bird, half butterfly, half cat…. that's too many halves. She certainly is a creative kid. She was nervous that she didn't have a full costume but I convinced her that making something herself was much more impressive.

Here she is with her mask on.

I thought it was cute and she made it ALL BY HERSELF.

Here are Camilo's classmates dressed up like Ecuadorian cowboys from the sierra. Note the ponchos and the cool chaps that still have fur on them.

And here is Camilo looking around.

And the band.

This guy is the PE teacher. He actually wanted to put Amalia on the school soccer team as she is one of their best players. The problem is that she is not an 'official' student since she wasn't there the first day. So she just plays at PE and during recess.

This class was some sort of dance group.

And these were supposed to represent an indigenous tribe from the Amazon.

These were supposed be 1950s era rock n' roll.

This is Geovany. He is the husband of Camilo's teacher and the computer teacher at the school. He is also my english student. The guy works a full time job teaching in Mindo and then rides the bus to Quito each weekend and spends 10-12 hours in an english class at a university in Quito. He is struggling and asked for my help. So I tutor him from 4-5pm on Mon-Thurs. We read books, work on grammar, etc. Super nice guy and it actually helps my spanish too. Anyone who works as hard as he does deserves anything I can help him with.

Another Amazonian tribe theme.

And these were more Peruvian it appeared to me.

I have no idea except to say they were cowboys wearing pastels...

This class did a more traditional style outfit and dance.

And another...

Here is Camilo's teacher Susannah.

And another of Amalia… she decided to smile a bit. Note that her classmates had no theme but many wore elaborate costumes.

Here is Valentina from Camilo's class. She is his best friend it appears… although she pinches him and he hits her.

And here is Camilo's class doing their dance. You can see their teacher directing them. They did great. It would have been nice to see Camilo in the dance but he just couldn't understand the directions and in the end was more than happy to watch.

I don't have pics of the other dances as I spent the rest of the time holding Camilo and eventually he just fell asleep...