Holidays in Ecuador 'after the fact'

Despite my dormant blog activity, life here has been full of excitement! The only thing it’s been lacking in is internet…so now that I’ve got some internet I figure I owe at least a brief explanation of some of what’s been going on down here! For Christmas break the missionaries headed to Quito to stay with a cool family there. But before we leave, Brittany(the other gringa) and I make a little Christmas happen here at ‘home’ for the guys(the gringos). Not the typical Christmas but one spent with the family we’ve made here J Christmas in Quito was a game of secret santas! It’s not as big as x-mas in the U.S. but they more than make up for it with New Years! If you drive anywhere on New Year’s Eve, you can’t miss the people that have gone all out with their national gender-disguising dress-up game! They stop cars with ropes until some spare change is handed over. Some other traditions include burning a huge stuffed person, jumping over bonfires, and fireworks galore! We jumped right in with the traditions, even buying some rather terrifying masks to have some fun with! The guys, being boys, were scarring us all every chance they got! We became wary of every corner we walked around, every dark room we walked in, every noise we heard at our window--we didn’t sleep much that night! The rest of vacation included some of the best hot springs in Ecuador, a view of the city from over 13,000 ft., a drastic haircut, some tourist shopping and so much more! You all should have been there! I hope I have now given you at least a taste of our Christmas here! There has never been and never will be a Christmas like this!