Christmas in Ecuador
Christmas is a worldwide celebration. Although wreaths and pine tree might fill the living rooms of many Clinton students, Morgan reached out to students from Ecuador to learn how each person celebrates it differently.
Starting in the east, the Amazon
A very hot and humid place with lots of flora and fauna. Where people celebrate Christmas in a very fun way
Dayana Valverde, a junior from Napo Ecuador prepares a delicious rice with turkey with French salad with her family every year. After having eaten, Dayana and her family play many games. Her favorite game is “secret friend” (commonly known as Secret Santa) in which friends are assigned another friend to give a gift to on Christmas day.
“I like Christmas a lot because we all get together at my grandmother’s house,” said Valverdi, “and it makes you feel the love of the family. I also like when I receive gifts because I know that they come with a lot of love from each one of my relatives.”
Continuing on to the Costa
Costa is a very humid place as well, with super beautiful beaches like Tortuga Bay with very clear water, plenty of space to enjoy and beautiful views.
Lizbeth, a freshman from Guayaquil, Ecuador, celebrates Christmas with her family and a delicious meal. Her family cooks Encebollado, a super delicious coastal dish, a seafood soup like shrimp and fish, with cassava, onion, cilantro and fried plantains, as in a very coastal way. Normally, every Christmas they gather in different houses and dance all night to music like bachata, merengue, salsa, and salsa choque. Lizbeth likes it when her family gets together to play gift exchange, because it excites her to know that behind each gift she receives, there is a very nice meaning. She said “My favorite gift was a MacBook because I know the effort my parents had to make to be able to give me that gift, and I know how much it serves me, and I’m going to enjoy it” Lizbeth was very grateful for all her gifts.
And finally the Sierra
Sierra is a very cold central location, but comes with good views and good mountains to explore like Castilla Cruz-Hitocruz Turi, a very nice place to go hiking and enjoy the scenery.
Anthony Paredes, a senior from Cuenca, Ecuador, starts his celebration off with rice with chicken, beans, and French fries. One of Anthony’s favorite customs is dressing up as a widow, a custom called Las Viudas, a tradition in Ecuador where men dress up as woman. To prepare their costumes they use the clothes of their mothers, sisters, girlfriends, or cousins. They use colorful wigs, heels, short dresses and prepare choreographies. They choose a corner, generally the one close to the house where they will welcome the new year, and they take out the puppet –the representation of the year that is ending– and with a rope they prevent the passage of vehicles, which can only continue their journey after seeing the show and giving a financial contribution to the widows.
“I like dressing up as a widow because I can go out on the street to ask for money and candy.” Following those fun customs, they also have very nice and generous customs where they go out to give gifts and candy to families and children who don’t have the possibility to celebrate Christmas like everyone else. His favorite part of Christmas is the party that he and his family do and when they give him lots of candy because he likes it so much.
