This winter, as I continue my way down the South American continent, I took a month out of traveling to spend it with my Ecuadorian family. You may remember, when I served in the Peace Corps, I lived with a host family in Ibarra, Ecuador for two years. I’m incredibly indebted to this large and spontaneously crazy family for showing me so much love, generosity, and laughter as every day is filled with new opportunities to participate in the rhythms of their life and culture. I try to come back and visit them often.
When I lived with this family, it was Pablo who was the littlest in all of my photos. He’s a teenager now, and their newest little, Samantha, is the new focus of the family’s attention.
I arrived in the beginning of December to celebrate all the cherished Ecuadorian holiday traditions. Almost immediately, however, two different family members reminisced about the time I shared my US tradition of making Christmas cookies with them. They don’t bake cookies in Ecuador and they remembered with longing the flavors of vanilla, ginger, pumpkin, cinnamon, peppermint and almond. Sure, I said, we can have a cookie baking party again! So Margarita set up the speaker to play the five most common Christmas carols on repeat all day, and a few others were able to join in the fun.
They loved the decorating so much, that it was strongly suggested to me that I take my show on the road to another side of the family during their Christmas dinner. So, needless to say, lots of different Christmas cookies were made and enjoyed in Ecuador this year!
Generally Ecuadorians don’t bake desserts, but they do have sweet traditions of their own. Throughout December on every corner, someone is selling packets of pre-packaged cookies and hard candies. Families buy these packets in masses to give out as presents to all their family members, neighbors, friends and perhaps others less fortunate who they see in the street.
In past years, Margarita has bought candies by the tons and we have packed small bags for giveaway. This year, she discovered that she could pick out her own candies and the local store would make the candy bags for free. This ended up being a huge timesaver. She had fun picking out all of her favorites to make her gift bags extra special.
Ecuador is traditionally a very Catholic country and so, on the nine days before Christmas, everyone seems to be hosting or participating in a Novena, or prayer service. Some Novenas are personal gatherings in a home with a small offering to eat. But other Novenas turn into large neighborhood celebrations. Our cousin in Quito was hosting a special Novena this year. So after the church service and traditional parading of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus through the streets, the real party began. There was a live 12-piece orchestra and at least four different professional dance groups entertaining the crowd. Eventually, everyone joined in for the late night dance party in the street complete with the Vaca Loca, or Crazy Cow, spewing sparks into the crowd, and a pyrotechnic show that seemed to never end! What a party it was!
For Christmas, José cooked the turkey and chicken all night in the outdoor brick oven. Then, in the wee hours of the morning, we drove it to Margarita’s family in Quito. The turkey was so delicious, we roasted another a week later for a New Year’s lunch with José’s side of the family. Throughout Ecuador, the basic traditional menu for Christmas celebrations include turkey, rice with vegetables and some type of salad.
New Year’s Eve, or Año Viejo, in Ecuador is a raucous event. There are many different traditions to follow in order to invite the best for the coming year. First, Ecuadorians might wear yellow underwear to invite wealth, or red for love. They might clean their house with incense. They might grab a suitcase and run around their house three times in order to have good luck in next year’s travels. And they might make, or buy, their own manigote.
A manigote, with a mask or photo, is often constructed to be a likeness of themselves. But many people get quite creative and make manigotes of favorite characters or politicians they want to make fun of. Whatever the design, many Ecuadorians believe that to burn the manigote at exactly midnight is to burn all the bad of the previous year. This year, several members of my family helped to construct a manigote which we burned at another all-night dance party. Then we ate our 12 grapes, making 12 hopeful wishes for the coming year.
I love the idea of starting the year with a new slate and I participate in all the traditions with gusto. But, without a doubt, my favorite part of New Years in Ecuador is the viudas, or widows. These are men who dress as women and parade around town. They often work together with friends blocking traffic in the streets. Then, as each car approaches, they stop it and pretend to pole-dance against it until the driver passes money out the window. Basically, it’s beer money for them, and people with cars and motorcycles drive around to participate in the tradition. Other Ecuadorians pour into the streets to encourage all the crazy antics unfolding. I really pity the motorcyclists!
For me, the viudas represent all that I love about this country. Ecuadorians love to laugh. They don’t take things so seriously. They don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what others do. They’re happy people and they believe life is to be enjoyed. And if men want to dress up as women and make sexual gestures that make some blush… well, it’s hilarious!
Happy New Year from Ecuador.
