Mmm, a cuy! Yes, this is how people eat cuy: with the heads on and everything. Sometimes they take a sip of zhumir (sugar cane liquor) afterwards to make sure the cuy doesn't run around in their stomach. Apparently clubbing, cooking and chewing won't kill a guinea pig for sure, but good stiff liquor will. By the way, that adorable kid's bottle is filled with water. These people are not depraved!

This is the Cholita contest that took place at an elementary school. My teacher, Sophie, has a daughter at this school, so we went with her to see it. To keep the regional culture intact, many schools elect a "cholita" on Oct. 31st instead of celebrating Halloween, an imported holiday. A Chola is a traditional, indigenous woman from this particular region (Ecuador is amazingly culturally diverse; each town, village, region has a different traditional dress and custom). Anyway, the Chola wears two long braids, a beautifully embroidered skirt and blouse, sandals, a shawl, and often a panama hat. These kids dress up like cholitos and cholitas and make traditional dishes, and whoever has the best outfit and dish wins. Who do you vote for??

The girls have rosy cheeks because it's cold in the Andes, so Cholas have quite a bit of color in their faces. By the way, Ecuadorian children are the cutest children ever!!! I want to adopt one!! The families are big, and some people take their babies to work, so babies run rampant and spill their adorableness over all the land.

Supposedly, this girl is imitating the way Cholas walk... although I've never noticed them sashaying like that...