New Years is arguably one of the most celebrated holidays in Ecuador. And of course, as a person who studies a discipline fascinated with rituals, I felt like a little kid in a candy store. Those who don't immediately take off for a 4 day vacation to the beach in Las Esmeraldas (Northern coast of Ecuador) have plenty of things to keep themselves busy with in preparation for the New Year. Most things either shut or slow down during the days leading up to the holiday, so that people can work on preparing their viejos: life-sized dummies that serve as representations of themselves and the aspects they dislike about their lives. People usually put them outside of their houses or businesses, in clothes they typically wear. Sometimes you see them sitting in cars, lying in the street, or tied up to the hood of the vehicle. As soon as the clock strikes midnight, they then light the viejos on fire and stuff them with firecrackers. As the fire diminishes slightly in size, people jump through the fire (I've seen this before for Saint days throughout the year) as an action that brings good luck.
If you want to have a good New Year, there are a few things you should do. If you wish for wealth, you must wear yellow underwear. If you wish for love, you should wear red underwear. If you want to travel, you need to run around your house (or jump up and down) while carrying suitcases. Eating 12 grapes at midnight is also a must. All throughout the day, people were selling imense quantities of grapes, masks, and viejos at nearly every street corner.
My personal favorite was seeing men dress up as viudas, widows. It's long been a tradition for men and boys to dress up like women and to go out begging in the streets for money from people walking down the street or driving in their cars. They're supposed to be raising money to support their families because their husbands just died, but often its to raise funds for the night's portion of booze. I visited a friend of mine in Cumbaya, a suburb in the valley just outside Quito, who was hosting a viuda-fest. He told me to meet him on a street corner by a store called "Rose". When I arrived via taxi, I could see about 50 young people hanging out on the corner of a busy, traffic-congested street (picture a drag race kind of gathering only with reggaeton blasting from all cars...all puns intended). There were about 10 young guys dressed up as promiscuous girls running between oncoming traffic to knock on drivers windows and ask for change. Usually they did a little dance and blew kisses at the drivers, saying something like "Happy New Years, precious." Usually the women and girls stand on the sidelines and cackle hysterically as the viudas put on their hilarious act. The best men dressed in drag are usually the ones who get more money. You don't usually see the women going from car to car asking for money, because it's supposed to be a moment for the unordinary (i.e men dressed in drag), not that women routinely go from car to car, but it's supposed to be absurd. My friend grabbed me and said that I should ask for money with him (of course! How absurd! A white woman from the United States in Ecuador asking for loose change from strangers!!). I certainly felt ridiculous running from car to car asking for change, recognizing the hilarity/awkwardness of my position, but it was ultimately very fun, especially running and grabbing onto an 18-wheeler with 10 guys dressed in drag. Priceless. In a country where homophobia runs especially high, it was really interesting to witness such a ritual where gender-bending is legitimized. Of course, there is the possibility that they're only performing for the sake of being absurd, but I'd like to leave a little more room for ambiguity.
After I get over this bug (hopefully it's not altitude sickness), I'll finally be off to Esperanza. I'm aiming to leave Quito by Sunday.
Happy New Years!
