The Journey Begins....Again: Traditions in Ecuador

So a lot has happened in the last couple months. I have been neglectful of my blog, sorry!

This is my fourth year in Ecuador and I like the fact that I now have traditions around this time of year to share with friends and really any random person who crosses paths with me. Going back to the beginning of November, we had a post-Halloween party since I was still stuck in NY with the hurricane. We introduced our Ecuadorian and European friends to some fun traditions such as bobbing for apples/donuts on a string and carving pumpkins. After putting in much effort into my costume, I went as gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe. This involved me getting dressed all in blue, painting my face blue, and tying a shoe to the top of my head. People were very confused by this costume.

A few weeks later we celebrated Thanksgiving. I cooked the traditional Ecuadorian turkey again this year, but there was an added surprise. Within the plastic wrapping of the turkey, there appeared a colored pencil. I removed it before cooking. Around 20 people came for Thanksgiving dinner, including a girl I literally met about 4 hours before the meal. We played the “Where did this colored pencil come from” game and I also quizzed our non North American guests on some Thanksgiving trivia. Here were some of my favorite Questions/Responses:

Me: What was the name of the boat the Pilgrims came on?

Ecuadorian: The Titanic?

Me: What does a turkey say (looking for gobble gobble here)

Ecuadorian: No me comas? (translation: don’t eat me)

This year I got to take part in a new tradition thanks to one of our Dutch volunteers; the celebration of Sinterklass. I’m still not completely positive of what is all involved on this day. But while doing work on my computer one normal morning, I was suddenly graced with the presence of Sinterklass (Santa---sort of) himself (this was Suzan with a construction paper hat on and a blanket wrapped around her). She came bursting in the door (and I don’t use the term bursting lightly) and began throwing cookies everywhere. Apparently this is part of the tradition. I got to eat them off the floor. I found some in the corner about a week after the fact.

Another new tradition was picking out a real(ish) Christmas tree with Kathryn. We went to a local park and purchased our shrub-like tree which was pruned right before our very eyes by our very nice saleslady. We then trekked across the park with bush in arms where we loaded it into our 15 passenger van. I broke out in some random rash on my arm.

With the tree purchase, came some lovely lights. When plugged in, we discovered that the lights actually play Christmas music in a dying music sort of way. I tried to get into it and even ate dinner in front of the tree one night with the lights on, it didn’t last long. However I am happy to say that as I am writing this I am sitting besides our bush, lights are on, and no music. We cut some wires and voila-- we are music free.

At the beginning of December are the Fiestas de Quito. This is the celebration of the independence of Quito. So there are special events planned throughout the first couple weeks. To celebrate I went with some friends on a chiva. This is a bus that goes around the city blasting music and you dance as the bus goes up and down streets that are as hilly as San Francisco. Each person is given a whistle to blow throughout the ride and you are encouraged to yell, “Que Viva Quito” often. I participated in a dance off with some Ecuadorian girls for the position of Reina de Quito (Queen of Quito). This was done against my will, I might add. I did not win.

To conclude, tonight I was reading our end of the year report concerning adoptions and 23 children have either been reunited with their families or have been adopted nationally/internationally. That’s about half of the children that we care for on a yearly basis. God is good! Psalm 68:6 “God sets the lonely in families….” God has blessed me beyond belief these last four years. I am excited to see what He has in store for 2013!