Spending the Holidays in Ecuador

My new tradition is discover a new places over the world and learn how others celebrate. This time I headed to Ecuador for two weeks. Why Ecuador, you might ask? Well, first off, my parents went to Cuenca, Ecuador years ago and couldn't stop talking about it, so its always been on my bucket list.  

Then I moved to Jackson Heights, Queens, a neighborhood full of Ecuadorians. And now, the height of the latest migrant crisis, new Ecuadorians are arriving every day, which made me want to learn more.  I'm an experiential learner and travel helps me soak in the reality of what is going on way better than just reading the news. This time my timing was impeccable. I went, I learned and I got on a plane home and then the day after I got home the gangs and narco traffic issues that have been simmering under the surface for a few years in Ecuador, came to a head and big news from the country made it into US mainstream press, making many people check in on me. Yup, I was fine in NY and the danger junkie side of me wished I was still there seeing first hand while the military cracks down and hopefully begins to stabilize the country.

Lastly I went to Ecuador because I have gotten close to an Ecuadorian family and even was named god mother of their two daughters. This family is deeply involved in a Ecuadorian cultural center and I attend dances and ceremonies and have learned so much about the culture. I had to experience it in real life.

Photos from Ecuador

 Click HERE to see my photos from Ecuador

Quito, the Capitol City

Quito. Ecuador’s capitol city is the highest altitude capitol in the world, now that La Paz is no longer the capitol of Bolivia. It’s perched in the mountains which makes for dramatic landscapes. The Old City is BEAUTIFUL. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and is well preserved. As with all cities, I liked looking at the diversity of faces and the intense buzz of activity. I joined the masses riding the brand new subway that opened in early December and quickly moved around town.

Cuenca

The news today about Ecuador is grim. The flow of drugs to America has destroyed many countries and Ecuador is one of the latest to fall victim to its ravages. I feel sad. It’s a sweet little very beautiful culturally rich country. I hope this is just a blip in their history.

Now back to posting happy pretty pictures which accurately depict my experience. It’s weird how tourism can be largely unaffected by the harsh reality locals live under.

Cuenca is Ecuador’s most beautiful city. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage City towards the southern end of the country up in the highlands. It took us 8 hours on beautiful, mountainous, winding roads to get there at times driving through total cloud cover.

I have wanted to go since my parents visited about 20 years ago. Also, since I try to visit where immigrants I know are from, the first Ecuadorians I knew from Port Chester, all came from around Cuenca.

Cuenca has unusual architecture or at least unusual to me. I’m not sure I fully captured it, but you will see some of the details and colors here.

Cuenca is also where the famous Panama Hats are made. Originally a hat maker produced hats for the workers digging the canal, then the hats were mistakenly named and Ecuador gets no credit for their beautiful products.

Churches in Ecuador

Churches are some of the most prominent, ornate and impressive buildings in Ecuador. When the Spanish Empire defeated the Incas in the early 1500s, they began to spread Catholicism throughout the indigenous communities. They built churches on top of Incan structures to erase the past and solidify power. Today you can see the original bases of the Incan buildings and Spanish churches rising out of them. These days Ecuador is over 90% Catholic, but many indigenous religious traditions continue intermixed.

The Spanish used religion to control the people. There was even a point in history only Catholics could become Ecuadorian citizens and get enjoy government benefits. While that has changed Catholic traditions are deeply mixed in daily life.

I always look at the opulence and gold and think about in Colonial times it was built to wow people into believing in Catholicism and submitting to Spanish control and honestly, it works on me. My heart skipped a beat in some of them. The beauty is awe inspiring. In Ecuador I was very impressed by elaborate wood carving that covered entire churches, much of it plated with gold. Others churches had intricate designs painted on their walls. Photos were not allowed in the most famous/important ones, but you’ll get the idea.

The churches in this post are from various places around the country.

Three Kings Day in Quito

Can you spot the three kings in this sea of nuns? It’s the 12th day of Christmas, Three Kings Day. I got sucked into the side chapel of the Church and Convent of St. Francis lured by a beautiful spirited children’s choir. Seems like a good day to work on my God is on your side points and a very good crowd to do it with. I stayed an extra day in Ecuador hoping for fun local celebrations. I found none but this was a pretty close second.

Ecuador is a small country, about the size of the state of Colorado. We spent many hours driving through its dramatic landscapes through the Andean Mountain Range. I love looking out the window and soaking it all in. On New Year’s Day we were also lucky to pass through a few local indigenous towns who were holding fun parades and some interesting different roadside food vendors. I’m not sure I captured just how amazing the landscape is. It’s hard in a moving vehicle. I’d like to recommend to the Ecuadorian government that they need more scenic overlooks, so I can get more pics next time!

Visiting the Amazon

One stop on my trip was at a homestay in the Amazon near Tena. We got to see the jungle and learn about indigenous culture from our host family.

The most exciting thing I did was climb a waterfall. There was lots of support and ropes and I’m proud of my first (and possibly last) moments of rock climbing.

We also got to make chocolate! One of Ecuador’s more recent economic success stories is that instead of just growing and harvesting cocoa beans, the country has begun to process and produce the finished product making a more valuable export.

One thing you may not know is that Ecuador’s largest export is petroleum and till now lots of that oil came from deep in the Amazon. The big news is that in August there was a referendum and 60% voted to stop the oil drilling there. While drilling will still be allowed in other areas of the country, this is a BIG change and it led to interesting conversations about oil production, jobs, trade with China and the surprising success of the indigenous campaign to preserve the rainforest. In grad school I got to meet a number of Ecuadorian indigenous leaders who were in NY to address the UN on this issue. It feels exciting that they are finding success and hopefully it will force better extraction practices elsewhere too.

New Year's Eve Traditions in Ecuador

There are lots of New Year’s Eve traditions in Ecuador and it was fun to observe preparations and join the celebrations.

Here are some of the things that happen.

One of the most popular New Year’s traditions is the burning of a family’s “año viejo” (old year) or monigote. Ecuadorians fill old clothes with sawdust to create these figures that can look like a real person or an imaginary character with the addition of a mask. The monigote figures represent the old year that is burned in a bonfire at the stroke of midnight. Families sometimes create their monigotes to look like hated politicians that they hope will not be around next year. Some monigotes represent more traditional values, relating to religion or a personal meaning created by the family members. Some are purely for fun, such as cartoon characters and superheroes!

The next tradition is to throw a letter into the fire that contains a list of all the things you hope to leave behind in the “old year.” Many people write about any hardships they have had or things that have stressed them out.

Another interesting feature of Ecuador New Years celebrations are the "viudas" (the widows). Every year, men across the country will dress up in drag as widowed women, usually stuffing their clothes with balloons, donning elegant high heels and tiny skirts. Then, they take to the streets and collect money from the cars on the streets. Why are there so many widows? Because the effigies are almost always men, which leaves a lot of women without a husband.

The "Viudas" are very insistent and will block the streets and dance in front of cars until someone pays their toll. They tend to start first thing in the morning of New Year's Eve and continue throughout the day.

Another lighthearted tradition is related to the color of the underwear that you use as the clock passes midnight. Red is predicted to bring you love in the coming year, while Yellow brings prosperity.

Crossing the Equator

 Made it to the Equator. In a way Ecuador feels so far south from NY, but half the world lies south of here!

Otavalo Market

One stop was to the Otavalo Market, the largest market in Ecuador and the largest market of its kind in South America. The Otavalo Market dates back to pre-Incan times when locals bought, sold, and traded woven products, food, and other products in the market. These days the town still fills up on Saturdays with indigenous people from all over, who come to buy and sell. There was some great people watching!

Christmas Eve in Banos

 

In Ecuador, Christmas Eve is the time for celebration. I was in Banos and bumped into this family gathering to process around the town. More and more characters kept arriving and they finally set off.  It felt like a lovely way to honor the holiday.

 

Travel is my happy place - Banos, Ecuador