One of our very favourite things in Ecuador (no, don't cue Julie Andrews...) is their New Years celebration. You probably saw the post from last year (A Flame-tastic New Year!), but we still can't resist posting photos for this year. The excitement starts by going to find your effigy...if you were too lazy to preplan and make your own...
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| Pick a body |
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| Pick a face (see below for final product) |
You might find this practice odd, since effigies have a different connotation in NA, but here it's a way of getting rid of the old bad stuff and sending out hopes and wishes for the upcoming year. Often the effigies are accompanied by placards with written out desires or dreams. We compiled our own effigy, named Rico Suave, due to his expression. As Ron says, he seemed quite pleased with himself, whether because of the 'stache or the threads, we'll never know.
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| Stylin', I know! |
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| In to the fire, Rico! |
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| He turned his face away...disappointed with us. |
Because we were all caught up in burning Rico, we missed the start of the big fires for the community installations, but we do have before and after pictures. We'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
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| Before.... |
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| After! (We were really late to the party!) |
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| Before... |
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| Fidel |
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| Obama...do you feel the love? |
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| After |
I think what we like is that the whole family is involved and despite the appearance of a war torn city, everyone is fairly responsible (as responsible as one can be when lighting fires in intersections of the downtown core) and has a lot of fun. You can feel the excitement in the air, as the day winds down and night approachs. Everyone can't wait for the fireworks, bonfires and time with family.
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| Fires as far as the eye can see! |
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| Fireworks, too! |
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| Fires and fireworks |
Of course, that doesn't mean that crazy things don't happen. One of the rituals is to jump over the effigy fire three times, no matter the size of the fire and despite the fact that the effigies are often sprinkled with firecrackers...
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| Once in a lifetime picture...what a fluke! |
But from us to you (okay...terrible English, I know), all the very best for 2015 and the years that follow.
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| Cutting a rug with a random Ecuadorian, since Ron doesn't dance! |
Great effigy, did he represent any Ecuadorian officials, like the ones
ReplyDeletethat had you redo all your papers.?
Looks like a fun time, imagine trying to do something like that in Vancouver.. Bev always joke's about Vancouver lack of New Years celebration and fireworks saying " they used two packages of sparklers this year"
And happy New Year as well ! !
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the move to your new home, hope it goes well.