2011...a new year.

New Years is celebrated a bit differently here. At home we have parties thrown in houses to welcome the new year. We eat, drink, and talk. Here.....it is a little more intense. I concluded that it is a mixture of 4th of July and Halloween with some twists. Firstly, many of the guys dress up as women. Everyone is in the streets from the afternoon on. There is music, alcohol, and lots of costumes. The "women" dance in the streets in front of cars, make them stop, and ask for money. If you are not participating in that enthralling activity you are in the street drinking and hanging out with friends. In the evening everyone burns these dolls that they make that resemble a scarecrow, they dedicate it to someone (a friend or family member) and the burning is a way to represent good luck for the next year. Just before it turns 12, everyone runs home (or stumbles) to be with their families and eat. It was a really fun holiday.

My host brother and his family came to stay at the house for the week, so it was nice to spend more time with them. We went to the movies and saw Chronicles of Narnia. If you know me well, I usually fall asleep while watching movies, its even harder to stay awake when it is in Spanish. But I hung in there....

But overall, I am excited to start a new year full of fun experiences. I have lots of hopes, ideas, and plans for this coming year and can't wait to work hard to do it alllll!
I am off to Nicaragua next week! Excited to see my kids and some good friends, use my improved but still lacking spanish, be in warm weather, and give some peace corps learned talks to the kids and parents. I will miss my ecuadorian home for the week, but will be back to keep on trucking through my peace corps adventure. Happy New Years to everyone!