...and Happy New Year!!

.....and I thought Christmas in Ecuador was different - then along comes New Year's eve!! Now that was different! I had some inkling of what was to come, I was warned, but I was not quite prepared for the reality of the event. The custom here, all over Ecuador apparently, is to build or buy "viejo's" or old men, which are figures made of papier mache or old clothes stuffed with paper. Around Bastion, all the ones I saw were made. For a week or so before the end of the year, everywhere I went I saw these figures under construction. They are anywhere from little, 2 feet high or so, up to HUGE - where a ladder is required to build it. They represent the old year, and are burned at midnight. Firecrackers are added to the contents, to add to the interest.

if you need a head for your viejo, here's where you can buy one Janna, William & I at Marlene's, where we had our first dinner

So on the 31st, everybody is out and about, visiting and talking, and waiting for midnight. I went over to Bastion and did some visiting, had one full meal of chicken and rice at one home, then went on to another home, where I was given another full meal...of chicken and rice! I was there at that home at midnight, when it all broke loose. We went outside, and the scene was incredible - all the viejo's are put in piles all along the street and set on fire. The fireworks inside explode, everybody tosses in more explosives to make yet more noise. The house I was at was at the top of the hill in block 6, and we were on a balcony upstairs, so could see for miles, over Bastion and much of Guayaquil too. And it is going on everywhere!! Fires, fireworks, explosions...it has to be experienced to be fully grasped! And it went on for a very long time. I got home at 2am and there were still very big bangs around here. Feliz Ano, everybody!!!!