New Year’s Eve

Hey fellow adventurers! Wow! It’s almost 2018 (assuming you’re using the Gregorian calendar)! Can you believe it? I hope 2017 has been a good year for you. It’s been an interesting and eventful year for me! Though on to Ecuador, you might have noticed that in my Christmas special, I didn’t cover the New Year’s Eve traditions for Ecuador. That’s because I wanted to write a special post about it! If you thought the New York ball drop was over-the-top, you haven’t heard anything yet!

First I’ll talk about a few very popular traditions:

Don’t try to rush anywhere around New Year’s Eve time in Ecuador. You’re going to be late. Although almost all of the businesses are closed, there are a lot of people traveling to spend New Year’s Eve with loved ones, and people take advantage of this. Little kids set up road blocks that they refuse to take down, until you pay them. So you better have some change set aside if you plan to drive anywhere because you’re going to be stopped every few blocks by a different group of kids.

And it’s not just kids. Another popular traditions is the appearance of the viudas (the widows). Men dress up like widows and beg for beer money. Viudas are very insistent and most of the time, will block the street just like the kids do. Not letting you pass, until you pay them. Typically, they’ll appear the morning of New Year’s Eve and be there for the whole day. Sometimes kids will dress up like viudas and ask for candy.

Another popular tradition is the los años viejos or monigotes. People make large scarecrow-like dolls, most of the time of people they don’t like, and at midnight on New Year’s Eve, light them on fire. A lot of times they’re made to look like politicians they don’t like. However recently there’s been an increase in people using figures of cartoon characters or super heroes. The dolls represent the bad or evil from the past year, and by burning it, you’re saying goodbye to the evil with the hope that next year will be better. To make their effigies, people fill old clothes with sawdust or newspaper and add a face with a mask. So a variety of masks are for sale in days leading up to New Years. The most popular dolls this year appear to be of Alberto Guerra and Donald Trump.

(Masks for viejos)

(Viejos)

(Monigote- monigotes are bigger than viejos)

Now for the smaller, though still widely practiced traditions:

DRINKING!!!!! No New Year’s Eve celebration is complete without drinking! In Ecuador too! Tons of crates of Pilsner will be emptied by January 1st. Though if I were in Ecuador, I would probably drink be drinking Spirit of Ecuador.

PARTIES!!!!! Ecuadorians love parties but New Year’s Eve is special. Almost every neighborhood will be throwing a street party, and bars will be open super late on New Year’s Eve night/New Year’s Day morning.

Looking for a way to ward of bad spirits with a bang? A lot of times fireworks will be present at parties since they’re so easy to buy in Ecuador. Some say that fireworks ward off bad spirits.

Need some extra luck? Eating 12 grapes (or cherries) at midnight is said to bring good luck for the coming year.

Hoping for increased prosperity or love this coming year? There is a superstition that if you wear yellow underwear on New Year’s Eve, you will have increased prosperity in the coming year. Wear red underwear and you will find love.

Are you planning on traveling this coming year? At midnight, run around the block with your suitcase, and you’ll have successful travels all of next year.

And then typically the streets are completely clear on New Year’s Day (everyone’s recovering from their hangover).

Well that’s all for today’s post! I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it! And if you’re planning on celebrating New Year’s Eve, please be safe! And have fun! I will see you in 2018! And as always, until our next adventure!