Weeks before, seems like every bakery/cafe starts to sell these special offerings. The locals enjoy them in the cafes and buy sacks of guagua to take home. In the cities, people no longer take food and drink to graves, only flowers, something we read and observed first hand.
We tried guagua and colada morada at La Union bakery and pastry shop.
Both 11/2 and 11/3 are national holidays and very few things are open. We went to the Quito Botanical Garden and the cemetery at Igelsia de San Gabriel. This trip we always seem to be visiting the obligatory cemeteries. Normally I do not mind visiting cemeteries. But these cemeteries have very closely clustered above-ground vaults. I walk through them as fast as I can. John doesn't mind as they are good photo ops.
The Cementerio at Igelsia de San Gabriel - lots of vaults. There was a steady stream of folks stopping in to pay respects, leave flowers, and spruce up the tombs.
Guagua display at Mall El Jardin. The mall was open on Nov 2 and doing brisk business.
Sun-Ling among the huge calla lilies at the Botanic Gardens.
Hanging carnivorous plants in the greenhouse.
Thanks for writing about Dia del Difuntos -- I've wondered about it in Ecuador. Interesting to see the guagua cookies(?) and display in the mall -- sort of like gingerbread men??? But these would be babies, right? I remember that "guagua" (wah-wah) is an indigenous word for baby -- perhaps because a baby says wah-wah. :-) Were they as tasty as they look? PS. I really don't remember many words in Quecha, but because this one is so obvious, I think it stuck with me.
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@Dayle, we did put up this entry per your previous request. The guaguas are breads. The good ones have a fruity filling. Wawa is the same in Chinese. Some coincidence :)
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