Merry Christmas from Ecuador

Christmas Day in Ecuador is a day for family, and exchanging gifts is very important. Actually, one of the first items to appear on supermarket shelves is an assortment of gift baskets of various sizes that employers ‘are expected’ to buy for their workers. Contents range from a bottle of wine, to cooking oil, rice, spices and other food items. 

Having decided to remain in Ecuador for Christmas holidays, I was rather eager to experience their celebrations. In Quito, my friends told me that festivities tended to be personal and although traditionally religious they incorporated civic celebrations as well.

My pesebre.

Early on in December you start to notice nativity scenes called Pesebres [sometimes clothed in traditional Ecuadorian costumes] erected in various locations including parks and church compounds. These are very elaborate and in fact for most homes, pesebres take the place of a Christmas tree. I made sure to get myself a pesebre. All around in parks and plazas [town squares] people hold Novenas, which are public gatherings where people perform religious hymns and prayers.

Christmas Eve is Nochebuena, and families gather for dinner [cena de Nochebuena] which may traditionally include  turkey or chicken, salads, fruits, selected cheeses, rice, wine or the local drink chicha. I had a turkey cena de Nochebuena with a lovely Polish-Ecuadorian family, which was prepared by a black Colombian maid [interesting demographics here].  I did not attend the midnight Misa del Gallo, the Christmas Eve mass, which I later learnt is the highlight of the Christmas prayers.   

We turned this house-plant
into a christmas tree. 

Christmas Day as I pointed out earlier is a family day, to visit and exchange gifts. Had I really understood this, I’d have attended the Misa del Gallo and avoided the disappointing, sleepy Christmas day service. We even tried mass in two different churches, hoping for ‘vibe’ and life, but we found rather ‘ordinary’ rushed services, with more empty pews than not, of sleepy-looking people. It didn’t feel very Christmassy.

Most Ecuadorian homes I’ve been to have a shrine, adorned with flowers, candles and statues of Maria and baby Jesus. During the Christmas mass, I noticed that most people brought their baby Jesus to the church for priests to anoint/bless with holy water.

I will travel to the coast for New Year’s and though I feel like I’m leaving the festivities behind I am looking forward to a few days of warmth and quiet. Mompiche is a very small town.

The Memorable Face of Gratitude…

The persistent tagging at my jacket from behind caught my attention. I turned around to investigate the source and was surprised to see the face of a small boy looking up at me. He was going on in a barrage of Spanish that I could barely make out and he seemed agitated. In his other hand he was holding out the toy truck we had just given him and he appeared to be giving it back to me.  After another unsuccessful attempt to understand him, I called someone over to help. Finally, I understood that he didn’t like his age-appropriate gift. He had mastered the courage to return it for exchange with what he really wanted; a soccer ball.

The boy proudly showing off
his soccer ball

The memorable face. It's like that
was the best gift he'd ever received

His mother stood aside, appearing embarrassed at the audacity of her son to be ‘picky’.  But within a short time, the boy drew the attention of everybody around, as he was the only one in the group to reject his gift. But, rather than admonition, he brought out admiration from the Canadians whose culture strongly encourages personal choice and decision-making. We had brought soccer balls in variety of colours, and we were further surprised as the little boy indicated that he wanted a blue/white ball. I couldn’t help but think with that attitude, that little boy was going far in his life.

And this brings me to gratitude. When I think of that day, one particular face stands out in my memory. I remember him more not for his courage to pursue his gift of choice, but more for how his face which later beamed more than all the hundred plus faces put together. And as I’ve always believed, gratitude and appreciation should be shown or spoken out, whether we’re receiving from a stranger, or from a close one.

I regret though that although that little happy face will remain with me for a long time, I don’t have a name for him. He was so happy with the ball that he scooted off for a test game faster than I could ask “¿Cómo te llamas?"

Enjoying the 'good game' already

Chumillos-Images

Clare Fitchett shares Candy with kids
we met along the way

The Beautiful landscape

Breathtaking, Ecuador is

Plenty of grazing land for the sheep
Reminds of of my uncles farm in Nyandarua,
Central Kenya

More beauty

The Kids sit quietly observing the
Proceedings

Calves tethered by the roadside

Linda Kolodziej, Kyung Whitaker and
I take a photo moment with
some local women