New Years Eve



New Years Eve was spent with my Ecuadorian family here. It was a really great time, very different to what my English family were doing. I had a great Skype chat with all the family in England as their party began. It was good to feel part of it in a small way.

Here, I went to church with the family and then went to see the Ano Viejos. In Santo, these are men mainly made of paper mache, painted and varnished. People have them outside their houses or shops. In the centre of town, there was a big parade and you could go and see the best ones in town. There were so many people around and fireworks going off. Every child seemed to have a firework. It made sparklers seem very boring. I so hope none of the children got burnt hands. I'm not sure on the health and safety! The Ano Viejos represent the year past. At midnight it is burnt, symbolizing that the bad things are put behind us and we're looking forward to the year to come with hope and expectancy. At the end of the evening I went with my family to another families house for a meal and then we lit (tried to light) our ano Viejo.

Trying to set it on fire with newspaper.

After ours did not light, we added it to the pile next door...
a bit of petrol and fireworks made sure they burned!

The evening was really nice. A time spent with family. I am thankful for some much in 2011. God has been good and has blessed me with many good friends and family. I am excited by what the New Year brings.