St. Patrick's Day al estilo quiteño

After our gringo Thanksgiving party was such a hit, Julia and I decided to throw another gringo party for our classmates. Since Valentine's Day is somewhat celebrated here (as el día de la amistad- Friendship Day) and kind of an awkward holiday, we decided to skip February and get straight to a classic, all-American holiday: St. Patrick's Day. OK, so it's a holiday that North American college kids have co-opted as an excuse to drink Guinness beer and Irish car bombs, but it was a good reason to host a party here! We decided to make it even more authentic by co-hosting with a French friend and his Ecuadorian roommate. Nothing says Irish like an award-winning dancing Frenchman and his Cuencano filmmaker roommate hosting a St. Patrick's Day party with two gringas with no Irish blood.

Because the party was based at our friends' place, decorations and yummy goods were cut to a minimum. We encouraged guests to wear green and hung some green "streamers" made out of string around the place, and we prepared some green drinks. Julia and I probably would have baked some sort of shamrock cookies or at least prepared some kind of food dyed green, but the co-hosting meant it was last minute. Still, we had fun! Most people wore green! That's pretty much where any sort of resemblance to a gringo St. Patrick's Day party ended. There was dancing- but it was to salsa, bachata, and reggaeton music. There were snacks- but they were fried banana chips and sliced mangoes. Most people knew that the party was "Irish-themed"- even if the co-host kept calling it El Día de Santa Patricia. But that's what makes the gringo-Ecuadorian parties interesting.