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| I wonder what that Smurf will be doing on New Year's Eve? |
Do you ever wonder what other countries do to celebrate the New Year? Granted, it's not something that occurs to you on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis...honestly, I have never really thought about it myself. Until we got to Ecuador, I assumed the whole world watched Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve until midnight and then went outside to the front porch and banged on mom's old pots and pans with wooden spoons until said wooden spoons broke and splintered or until the neighbors called the cops. Not the case here in Ecuador, as far as I can tell. Instead, the tradition here is much more colorful, creepy and loud!
The tradition is known as, Ano Viejo or Better Luck Next Year...and we dig it! This is a centuries old practice that every Ecuadorian participates in with vigor and enthusiasm. Ecuadorians construct effigies ranging in size of anyone from political figures, famous people, cartoon characters (i.e. Smurfs!) or even regular people. There are roadside stands which were selling paper mache heads or full bodies...seeing a vendor selling colorfully and usually smiling decapitated heads along the road and in town is a bit creepy. People either buy the heads or bodies or make their own and then display them proudly for the week leading up to New Year's Eve. These lifeless bodies are everywhere...outside of homes and businesses, tied to cars, in the supermarkets...I even saw one trying to catch a bus out of town the other day. Sadly, I never saw a bus stop for him...poor bastard. In addition to the paste and paper dummies, notes or messages are attached to the bodies. A handwritten note explaining all the regrets, disappointments or negativity from the past year which must be eliminated through a cleansing fire. Oh, there are also men who dress in drag and act as the widows of the crusty characters complete with crying and begging for money to compensate for the loss of their husband or the old year. In an word, awesome! Nevertheless, the culmination of this week is at midnight on New Year's Eve when the effigies are burned as symbolism for the end of an old or unlucky year and the hope of better luck in the new year.
Laura decided that we should put our own twist on the tradition and do a little burn of our own past year. We colored ugly paper masks that represented our past year and wrote on the back various things, names, unfortunate situations, etc. We took those masks down to our terrace and burned them in a flower pot while Eli watched and wondered out loud why we were burning our pretty masks that we worked so hard to color. He's too young to have issues to burn, but soon enough my son...sadly, soon enough. I have to say it was very cathartic and made Laura and I both thankful we made it through 2011 still healthy and no worse for the wear. It is a great and meaningful tradition that we hope to continue no matter where we are in the world in the future. Hopefully, we won't have to write too many things when we burn our next masks.
Happy New Year to all of you and we wish you all the best of health and happiness for 2012 and beyond!
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| Cheers! |
