New Year's: Ecua style

New year's is a big deal in Ecuador. To me, it looks like a mix between the 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas. One of the traditions is to make an "old man" that represents the year and burn it at midnight. (They are basically big scarecrows.) Andrés bought us the one right next to me in the photo. While the old men burn, everyone jumps over the fire. Bonfires lined the streets of Quito while families jumped over them. Best holiday ever!

In the afternoon young guys dress up as widows and stop traffic. They go up to each car and the drivers hand over change to them. Later that night the guys use the money to party.

Down Amazonas, a main street in Quito, large companies exhibit what looks like Rose Parade floats. But instead of the parade moving down the street and people standing on the side, the people walk up and down the street viewing the floats. Our church makes one every year and also had a Christian rap artist performing on stage. There were thousands of people!

For those that don't want a traditional "old man", on every corner they sell fancy cartoon-character "old men" to burn at midnight. We had a great time ringing in the New Year Ecua style.