Scenes from our Childhood, Part 7 - La wambrita, trial by fire
March 6, 2022
In 1969 our family visited Quito and San Rafael...I was approx 8 yrs old, and vividly remember several things. For just over 2 months we stayed at our grandparent's Luis/Ines's farm in San Rafael, and had a chance to see what life was like on an Equadorian family farm. Many stories here, but there was another wambrita we would meet.
Cousin Susanna was about my age, one of the few children that we got to play with while in Ecuador. We would play in the fields, avoiding the bulls, but doing all the things kids do: playing by the creek/river, throwing stones, picking fruit when we could. There was an old, dilapidated choza with the roof falling in, which we played nearby. Susanna told us that the Devil had been there, and that we couldn't get too close to it because children would disappear. We got really close, but not close enough to encourage the Devil. Then she said...we need to get rid of the Devil...and to our astonishment, she produced matches and began to set fire to the dry field around it. The winds kicked up and we panicked...we started stomping on the spreading fire, worried that we were going to get San Benito's whipping if we set the whole field ablaze. It was the first time we had ever played with fire, and we were so scared. Three dumb kids wearing shorts, we were able to stomp the fire out, but had ashes all over our legs and shoes. I remember going by the creek and doing our best to wash off the evidence that we had been playing with fire. Thank God we overcame that fire.
Susanna surprised us by saying that she could fly. Really? Yes, let's jump off that big rock over there. She would dare us to jump off, that she did it all the time. Oh yeah? show us. She wouldn't show us, she would touch us on the shoulder and say, "there, I touched you, now you can fly like me..". but she always wanted us to jump first. Andrew and I were so skeptical, that we didn't do it...you show us first! It never happened.
Susanna la wambrita probably laughed at us boys from the city...we almost set the neighborhood on fire and we could have jumped off a big rock into the fast flowing creek. Years later when we confessed to mom about what had happened, she laughed and said...un aventura. (an adventure).
Cousin Susanna was about my age, one of the few children that we got to play with while in Ecuador. We would play in the fields, avoiding the bulls, but doing all the things kids do: playing by the creek/river, throwing stones, picking fruit when we could. There was an old, dilapidated choza with the roof falling in, which we played nearby. Susanna told us that the Devil had been there, and that we couldn't get too close to it because children would disappear. We got really close, but not close enough to encourage the Devil. Then she said...we need to get rid of the Devil...and to our astonishment, she produced matches and began to set fire to the dry field around it. The winds kicked up and we panicked...we started stomping on the spreading fire, worried that we were going to get San Benito's whipping if we set the whole field ablaze. It was the first time we had ever played with fire, and we were so scared. Three dumb kids wearing shorts, we were able to stomp the fire out, but had ashes all over our legs and shoes. I remember going by the creek and doing our best to wash off the evidence that we had been playing with fire. Thank God we overcame that fire.
Susanna surprised us by saying that she could fly. Really? Yes, let's jump off that big rock over there. She would dare us to jump off, that she did it all the time. Oh yeah? show us. She wouldn't show us, she would touch us on the shoulder and say, "there, I touched you, now you can fly like me..". but she always wanted us to jump first. Andrew and I were so skeptical, that we didn't do it...you show us first! It never happened.
Susanna la wambrita probably laughed at us boys from the city...we almost set the neighborhood on fire and we could have jumped off a big rock into the fast flowing creek. Years later when we confessed to mom about what had happened, she laughed and said...un aventura. (an adventure).