今天星期五是耶穌受難日，我們來到厄瓜多爾首都基多，碰巧與當地民眾一起歡度佳節。 

      Today was Holy Friday and we stayed in Quito, the capital city of Ecuador.

       At an elevation of 9,350 feet/2,800 meters above sea level with the latitude of 0^o15"S, Quito was the highest and only capital that situated on Equator in the world.

      基多海拔9,350英尺／2,800米，南緯0度15秒，在世界上不僅算作地勢最高的首都，而且還是獨居赤道的國府。

      After I put on a new set of clothes, Mom and I went down for breakfast. Our hotel was called Patio Andaluz, which I wasn't surprised to see that we couldn't pronounce it in Spanish. The breakfast mostly provided toast bread with ham, aged cheddar, French Swiss, creamy Havarti, Dutch Gouda, American cereals, plantain chips, local fruits, juices of fresh soursop (guanbana)/little orange (naranjilla)/banana passion fruit (taxo) and authentic coffee. It was quite a simple meal to me.

      早起我穿好衣裝，立即和媽媽一起到樓下吃早飯。我們酒店叫安達盧西亞天井，因為不會西班牙語，所以總也叫不地道它的名稱。這裡早餐主要供應烤麵包、火腿、黃油乾酪、蜂窩奶酪、哈伯弟乳酪、荷蘭豪達硬酪、美式麥片、芭蕉干、應時水果、新鮮刺果荔枝／奎東茄／香蕉西番蓮汁以及正宗咖啡，我簡單吃些東西應付了事。

      Later, our room's phone rang and signaled us that our private tour guide had arrived. He looked very friendly and introduced himself as Juan Carlos Guerra. Juan Carlos sounded like an extremely popular name from its president to the ordinary people in Ecuador. Before I knew it, we were bumping on the streets up and down hills in the historical center of Quito.

      不一會兒，屋內電話鈴聲響起，事先預約的私人導遊正在酒店大廳等候我們。他看上去非常和善，姓“格拉”，名“胡安•卡洛斯”，這個名字風靡厄瓜多爾全國，上至總統、下至百姓，“胡安•卡洛斯”多如牛毛。毋庸贅述，轉眼間我們便出征在上坡下坡高低起伏的古城街道上。

      We drove up a small hill of El Panecillo where an enormous statue of an angel, Virgin of Quito stood on a snake that she killed. In Quito, the snake meant an evil and would tell people to do bad things. Here Mom and I could see the whole city of historic old town and modern districts with a turn of our heads. The proliferation of churches, convents, and monasteries won Quito the nickname "The Cloister of America", which prompted the declaration of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Even more amazing was that we could observe 16 active stratovolcanoes from the summit if the sky was clear enough. Today, only 2 of them showed up, i.e. Pichincha and Cotopaxi in the Andes mountains.

      我們登上麵包山，眼前出現巨幅“基多女神”塑像。她面容慈祥，腳踩莽蛇，勇於為民除害。在基多人眼中，蛇代表邪惡，專做壞事。站在山頂放眼遠眺，整個首都盡收眼底。厄瓜多爾印第安民族歷史悠久，直至16世紀西班牙依靠宗教思想統治當地民眾300年，基多經歷了若干社會變革，再加上火山爆發、地震災害等自然磨難，土著部落在徹底擯棄印加帝國影響的基礎上，不斷吸收兼容西方意識，結果教堂林立，歌特式、摩爾式、巴洛克式等建築風起雲湧，全方位矗立在古城各個角落。時至今日，本土傳統與殖民文化交織並重，教堂、修女觀、僧院幾乎完好無恙，最大程度保持了歷史原貌，古城遺風仍然不減當年，基多贏得了“美洲寺院”之盛譽。正因如此，早在1978年間，世界科教文組織將基多歷史名城納入《世界遺產名錄》。更激動人心的是，倘若天氣晴朗，基多周圍安第斯山脈中16座層狀活火山定將歷歷在目，儘管我們來的時候只看到兩座著名的皮欽查和科托帕希火山。

      After we took all the panoramic view of the pictures Mom needed, we headed straight for the most fascinating Calle La Ronda. During the late 16^th and early 20^th centuries, La Ronda was home to several musicians, poets, historians and other important figures of Quito's history. This neighborhood inspired poetry and some of the most romantic traditional music. It was a very unique street for us to get a feeling of traditional life in colonial Quito. Within only 2 blocks in cobblestones, there were many small stores, bakeries, antique collection and authentic Ecuadorian restaurants. Once a while, we would run into a variety of cultural activities and play universal games on the street like hop-scotch, hula-hoops or aiming sticks.

      等媽媽拍完所需全景相片之後，我們下山直取古城最浪漫的“圓街”。自16世紀晚期至20世紀初期，基多地區不少志趣相投的音樂家、詩人、史學家以及其他重要人物喜歡聚集圓街抒發情懷激揚文字，因此成就了許多詩歌作品和民族音樂。這條弄堂鵝卵石鋪就的馬路，總長不過兩段街口，但它卻以鄰家客居特有的方式向遊客展示不同風格的本土文化。雜貨鋪、糕點房、古董店和小吃餐館一個挨着一個，我們走東家串西家，逛得不亦樂乎。每隔幾步路遠，我們都會停下腳步玩一玩全球流行的跳房子、轉呼拉圈、瞄準套圈等街頭遊藝項目。

      Mom looked desperate for some reason. When I asked, she said she wanted to see the Catholic Procession that happened only on Good Friday every year. Thousands of Catholics participated in the traditional Easter ceremony before Jesus got reborn. As we arrived at the Carondelet Palace in Independence Square, a large crowd of residents gathered around the streets after we met Juan Carlos's wife, 8-year-old daughter, 10-year-old nephew and 6-year-old niece. It seemed as if we caught up for the huge religious parade. Trumpets were blaring and drums were being hit. Most people dressed in purple or blue with long sleeves and covered their faces with high hoods and some carried crosses while others chanted as they marched from Church and Convent of San Francisco. The hooded penitents were seeking purification. The procession ran through the main streets of Quito in 3-4 hours and ended with the reading of the liturgy in the convent. Church and Convent of San Francisco was the oldest in Quito (1536-1580) and biggest religious architecture complex in America. It was said that the facade had a style similar to that of the Escorial in Spain.

      此刻，媽媽看上去有點焦慮，我問她緣由，得知她想去觀看一年一度的天主教信徒為紀念耶穌受難而舉行的盛大傳統遊行活動。我們抓緊時間趕到位於獨立廣場上的總統府，不但正好與遊行隊伍會合，而且還巧遇導遊的太太、8歲女兒、10歲外甥和6歲外甥女。喇叭吹，鼓聲起，有的身着紫色或藍色長袍，頭戴圓筒高帽，臉面遮擋得嚴嚴實實，還有的肩扛“耶穌神力無限”十字架，深表虔誠信主之心，盡展悔改罪過之意。他們從聖弗朗西斯科教堂出發，圍繞古城一周，歷時3～4個鐘頭，最後再回到聖弗朗西斯科修道院念經唱詩。聖弗朗西斯科教堂及修道院建於1536─1580年，既是基多最古老，同時又是美洲最大的宗教建築群，據說其正門效仿西班牙聖羅倫佐修道院設計而成。

      Quito's ice cream, Ecuadorian water ice made in a copper paila, and plantain chips looked so tempting in the street. We pushed along with the people on Garcia Moreno Street and flowed through the Cathedral of Quito that characterized its late Gothic in the arches, Moorish in the ceilings and Baroque in the main altar. Soon we found ourselves at the doorway of our hotel toward the Basilica of the National Vow (1892-1988) symbolized the largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas. Mom paid cash and thanked Juan Carlos for being such a good tour guide.

      我們與路邊販賣基多冰激凌、厄瓜多爾刨冰、南美芭蕉片的小攤小吃擦肩而過，沿加西亞•莫雷諾街緊隨人流進入基多大教堂參觀，晚期歌特式拱門、摩爾式房頂、巴洛克式主祭壇橫貫建築主體。由此出門朝全美洲最大的全國誓言大教堂方向走去，不知不覺來到酒店下榻，媽媽付完現金，衷心感謝胡安•卡洛斯周到服務。

      By the time I was ready for lunch, my stomach rumbled like a distant thunder which I didn't realize it could make. I had a local appetizer of Mini Corn Tamalitos stuffed with chicken and vegetables on a bed of leaves served with special Ecuadorian hot sauce "Aji" and an entree of Fritada Quitena made with pork sirloin, potato patty, avocado, toasted kernel corn and fried sweet banana. Pork sirloin cooked as hard as the toasted kernel corn. Mom ordered the Easter special Ecuadorian Lenten chowder Fanesca, a stew made of 12 different kinds of tender grains and beans as well as dry cod fish. The number of grains and beans symbolized the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel. Cod fish represented Christ and the way his message nourished the Christian community. The soup tasted absolutely delicious, no wonder that Ecuador was a soup country! People put all sorts of soups on their tables every single day.

      午餐時分，我肚子叫得咕咕慘烈，猶如雷聲轟鳴，自己從來未意識到腸胃竟會鬼哭狼嚎。我頭台點的“玉米粽子”，雞肉蔬菜餡，通常蘸土著辣醬；主餐上了“炒豬腩”配土豆餅、鱷梨片、烤老玉米粒和油炸芭蕉塊，豬腩硬得實在嚼不爛，可以PK拼盤上的老玉米豆。媽媽則根據厄瓜多爾復活節正宗食譜要來“齋湯”凡奶斯卡，由12種不同穀物和鱈魚乾煮成的雜燴。12種穀物代表耶穌12門徒和以色列12支派；鱈魚代表聖主耶穌以及由他栽培的基督信徒。凡奶斯卡喝起來味道不錯，難怪厄瓜多爾是一個翡聲國際譽滿全球的泱泱“湯”國，本土居民每天都要喝湯。

      As Mom decided to explore the local Mass late afternoon, we set off to see the most beautiful church in Latin America- Church of Society of Jesus on our own. Other than the seats, everything was decorated with gold reflecting light every few second inside. It was a magnificent exhibit of foliage, vines, fruits, birds and caryatids. As we entered the church, we were entranced by the splendor that met our eyes. Since we did not understand anything in Spanish or Latin, we left the church in a French style when the archbishop prayed in the middle of his Mass.

      傍晚臨近，媽媽決定參加節日彌撒，我們立刻動身前往拉丁美洲最為富麗堂皇的教堂──耶穌會教堂。除了長凳座位之外，教堂內到處鑲金鍍金，打造得金碧輝煌。燈光下，金樹葉、金藤枝、金鳥禽和金女像柱光芒四射，耀眼奪目。我們一進入主殿大堂，立刻被它的神彩聖明所迷住。可惜我們完全聽不懂西班牙語甚至拉丁文，只好中途不辭而別。

      In US, we never experienced the religious spirit with such faithful natives on Good Friday like Ecuadorians before. Now we were blessed to do it once in our life.

      在美國，我們從未親眼目睹像南美天主信徒如此虔誠慶祝耶穌新生，因此格外慶幸今生通過朝拜盛況了解基多文化背景，真正認識厄瓜多爾人。

(二O一三年三月廿九日,耶穌受難日)