Christmas in Ecuador!

It was really cool to celebrate Christmas here in Ecuador this year. It was among the most fun holidays I've celebrated here thusfar, second to New Year's. First of all, they celebrate Christmas here on the night of the 24th. I guess it's so they can celebrate it as close to midnight of the 25th as possible. Either that or they're just impatient and can't wait the extra day.

My most special gift for Christmas this year was a visit from my mom and my sister. They arrived a little before the festivities started. We picked them up from the airport, got them settled in, and then began. My whole host family was there in the living room, spilling into the dining room.

Christmas started off like most nights of Novena, with songs and readings. Here are some of the things that happened after the Novena part:

Performances: Each subfamily within our big Ecuadorian family prepared and presented a skit, or song for the rest of the family. My host parents and I had come up with something earlier that day, which involved me being a spoiled little kid who starts whining when his mother says he can't have everything he wants for Christmas. The mother in turn goes to the father and begs him for money and gifts for her and her son. The father is completely overwhelmed and doesn't have enough money and can't take it any more. Here the acting part of our skit ended and my host mom stepped forward, still wearing the silver tinsel wig that was part of her costume, and made the point that Christmas isn't just about getting presents, it's also a time to share with family and stuff like that. Other people sang various songs, one family re-wrote the words to "Rudolf" to be about their favorite soccer team.

BINGO: We played a big game of BINGO, three actually. I didn't win any money, but it was still a fun time. As soon as the numbers were called out in Spanish, I had to repeat them in English so my mom and sister would know what was going on.



Gift Exchange: We didn't have a stack of gifts under the tree, but rather when it came time to give gifts, everyone walked around and handed out the gifts they had. I gave two gifts: one as part of a secret Santa gift exchange that the adults in the family do, and the other to my 4-year-old buddy, Paula. You see, after my experiment with the tadpoles, I kept the little guys around and Paula became fascinated by them. Whenever she came over, she'd want to go up to my room and play with them, touching them, picking them up, making them dance, everything. Around these parts, tadpoles are called "wiji-wijis". It wasn't long at all before Paula and I started calling each other "wiji-wiji". I decided that it would be the perfect gift to give her a stuffed wiji-wiji. Since it's VERY hard to come by them in the stores, I decided to make her one by myself, so I bought the materials and sewed her wiji-wiji by hand. It turned out being about two feet long, I'd guess. When I wrapped it, I squeezed it into one of the plastic containers that I kept my real wiji-wijis in. When she opened it, her eyes sparkled and she had the biggest smile on that I'd ever seen her have. She was so delighted and I'm so glad I was able to capture that face on camera.

Christmas Food: Yummy, there was so much good food. Salads, turkey, Columbian rice (with cocoa), desserts of guanábana mousse and a crunchy things called pristiños that you drizzle dulce de leche on. Also there of course was wine. Everyone was so cheery and happy to be there, and I had fun translating for my mom and sister.


Well, it looks as if I won't have time to do my New Year's post before heading off to the jungle. I won't have time to post pictures before that either. There will be internet at our biostation where we'll be staying so more likely than not, I'll be able to post my progress and adventures in the rain forest.

Take care everyone, wish me luck on my trip. I'll be out there for two weeks--until the 20th.
~Joey