I spent my new year dancing salsa, watching fireworks and jumping over a burning paper mache man on the beach in Ecuador. Here are a couple of New Year pictures:
Feeling festive in my New Year hat at dinner
Ready to bring in 2008 in our sequined masks
three cousins in our new year disguises
Jumping over the burning paper mache man to leave my troubles in the year behind me.
(I know it looks like I'm wearing spandex. This is unfortunate! Actually it's my skirt in my hand!)
Dancing in the New YearThe trip down to Ecuador was truly fantastic. I could not have asked for more! The country is so beautiful and I feel like I got a good taste of several parts of it. And best of all, I was deeply rejuvenated after a very difficult semester. Praise God, it is a new year and I am starting it with vigor!
So, I shall break my trip down into three posts: the beach, Quito and the jungle.
The beach:
I arrived late at night and the next morning, my cousins and I took the bus from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere to go to the beach on the north coast of Ecuador. The drive was interested, though rather long after my full day of travel the previous day.
mountains in and around Quito
Q
Quite a lot of fog! Be careful around those turns!!!
Quite a lot of fog! Be careful around those turns!!!
reminds me of Thailand
roadside houses
And a fruit stand. Bananas, anyone?
We traveled to the town of Atacames (a beach town not too far from the popular beach Esmeraldas). It was a cute typical Ecuadorian town with a central park and a couple of turn-arounds with fountains:
Of course shiny shoes are a must. I enjoyed the shoe shine stations we saw everywhere.
Near the beach, there was plenty of shooping...I mean shopping
And since we traveled down there only a couple of days before the new year, there were paper mache masks everywhere for sale. The tradition is to build a paper mache person and put into it all your troubles, anger etc from the year. Then you burn in at the stroke of midnight and jump over it to leave all those things behind you. I think this is really neat and jumped over ours with great enthusiasm!
all kinds of paper mache masks for sale...
some are generic and some are famous people/cartoon characters
Several of Martina's friends and their families were down there for the holiday and we joined them. I could not have felt more welcomed. With few exceptions, I found Ecuadorian people extremely warm, inviting and friendly. This first interaction at the beach could not have been better. Though we had just met, I felt like I was in the company of relatives. Despite (very minimal) language barriers, we were included in everything and a fun time was had by all!
the whole gang
The days we spend on the beach:
And the nights all the young people went out dancing. My goodness Ecuadorians love to party!!! (I've never gotten so little sleep or stayed up so late in my life. But, boy it was fun!)
the gang at Casa Blanca beach
Pilsener models
(the drink of choice in Ecuador. Don't be fooled...try as I may I still don't like it!)
hammocks and dancingThis was a great start to a wonderful trip, though I did return to Quito pretty tired after all that late night dancing!
