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The holiday season is a special time in Cuenca with interesting traditions. The 24th of December is the “Pase Viajero del Niño”, a parade through the historic center of town where people dress up as different Biblical characters (Virgin Mary, Wise Men, Joseph, shepherds) as well as in traditional indigenous dress from various towns in Ecuador. People rent horses for the day to ride, and decorate them with all manner of sweets and also cuy (cooked guinea pigs—the local delicacy).

We saw the Pase del Niño with our friends Mónica & Felipe, and their kids Juliana y Ariel. 

For Luz’ daycare, she and I dressed up as Otovaleñas, from the town of Otovalo, for her Christmas program. Jade dressed up as an angel and sang a christmas carol with her school. Tomu decided not to participate in his class song. For Luz early development classes with my friend Lore, she dressed up as the Virgin Mary. All of the kids got “fundas navideñas” or Christmas gift bags, which were full of candy and cookies—probably more than the average Halloween haul.

The municipality of Cuenca decorates the town and the river with tons of lights. We went out one night to walk around & see the lights.

New Year’s Eve is actually a bigger holiday than Christmas here. Everyone burns a monigote, or año viejo, an effigy that represents last year, at midnight. First you should kick it and jump on it. That is to let the old year go, and bring in the new year with a fresh start. The city has a contest of monigotes, and different neighborhoods elaborate scenes of giant effigies that comment on the political happenings of the year. We went out around 6 pm on New Years Eve to check out the contest, and they were so interesting.

And finally, I brought in the New Year at my friends’ Lorena & Juanito’s house with their extended family. I brought caipirinhas, and we danced from about 10 pm until 2 am. Everyone was intent on teaching me cumbia, salsa, and an Ecuadorian dance that I don’t know the name of. We took a break at midnight to go outside and burn the monigotes & set off fireworks. At midnight, everyone hugs and wishes each other a happy new year. Lorena & her granddaughter came out at midnight dressed as “viudas”, or widows. It was a blast!

New Year’s Day Riki and I hiked to the summit of Guaguazhumi, the mountain where he dislocated his shoulder, while my mom watched the kids. We got caught in a major rain and hail storm, with lightning nearby. But we had fun—it’s always good to start the new year outdoors.