quite a show

This Wednesday, I went to the performance of Manuela y Bolivar, an opera about the relationship between Manuela Saenz and Simon Bolivar, who both fought for Ecuador's independence from Spain. We typically don't have many operas here, and the ones that do play here are typically expensive for the quality of production. As this opera was pretty relevant to the history of Ecuador, I really wanted to see it, regardless of ticket price. Several of my friends and I met before the opera at the cafe across the plaza from the theatre for a light dinner. We had a great view out of the second floor window, and watched as a protest began in front of the theatre. The protest was quite different from what you would expect--a man dressed as the grim reaper on stilts and people playing drums. We were all very entertained by the spectacle, which we later discovered was in protest of the theatre being privatized. Then we noticed police cars coming up the street next to the theatre, which we assumed to be police breaking up the protest. No, it was the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, coming to the opera. Watching the two groups clash was pretty amusing. Unfortunately, the opera was not nearly as entertaining as the pre-show, but I felt that I got my money's worth just to see the grim reaper on stilts trying to get the President's attention.