The holiday season in Ecuador

In Quito a week long fiesta just ended, last weekend was absolutely crazy, there was a big parade along Shyris which was closed until around 3 pm, and a concert at Carolina park lasted until around 1:00 am. And of course people dancing and boozing on "Chivas" or dancing trucks throughout that whole week. So I think Quiteños have gotten the party aspect out the way.

What's approaching is Novena de Navidad or nine days that precede Christmas. Each day symbolizes something and for those who partake it's family orientated. Christmas itself judging from last year is subdued, and many people in Quito, like most other extended holidays head to nearby beaches (Esmeraldes, Atacames, etc).

Personally, when in Rome, do as the Romans and the playa or beach is great, but after the hordes have left.

Aside from the beaches people will also be heading up the mountains for Christmas and New Year. I’m told Papallacta is inexpensive and popular, and only 1 ½ hours by bus from Quito. It’s a place to enjoy hot springs and families and groups of friends go up there. So this is yet another option to relax during the holidays.

I assume a few people will head to hotels as I’ve started seeing advertisements at hotels for dinner and a show. A bit too touristic perhaps but hey nothing wrong with a dinner and show and for those who don’t want to leave the city, it’s convenient. I’ve seen prices range from $30 to $135 for Christmas and New Year events.

Additionally, during this time year, which I’ve only learned about recently, it’s a tradition for bosses to treat their employees to a holiday dinner at a fancy place.

So, there’s something for everyone in context of feeling the holiday, time constraint and also budget, which is nice.

vsimple wrote:

Aside from the beaches people will also be heading up the mountains for Christmas and New Year. I’m told Papallacta (is) a place to enjoy hot springs....

Ah, Christmas in Ecuador -- beaches and hot springs.  Not exactly reminders of those childhood Christmases back in New England, the Upper Midwest and Medicine Hat, Alberta.

cccmedia

Unfortunately the negative side of the holiday season is upon us, well at least in Quito. What normally takes an hour to complete is taking as much as twice the time. Bad traffic, crowds in malls, supermarkets, mercados, you name it. Saturdays are normally light in traffic, not these days. 

Well at least business owners are happy

It's not truly Christmas until you hear Rudolpoh the Red Nosed Reindeer, blaring from the Montañita church speakers... in Kichwa.

Yup... Beach is quiet today but next week through the 2... its gonna be hopping!

The capital is becoming a little a festive. There’s this love for reindeer antlers, and all of kinds, the ones kids wear on their heads, antlers to hang up, antlers for cars, etc. It’s different here, a lot humbler in many ways.

It’s seems humbler to me and probably to other expats, but in actuality it’s the norm here for most people. Materialism on a grand scale is not here yet. Friends, co-workers, etc, will exchange simple gifts for the sake of enjoying it, and I mean simple gifts, and the gift in itself is secondary. It’s just different, and asking my friend what’s the point,  they’re replied with a weird look, “it’s fun.”

In other countries that celebrate Christmas, there's this pressure whether real or not to get someone “the perfect/best gift.” It’s in the media, the top whatever gifts to get your wife/husband, son/daughter, friend, girlfriend/boyfriend, coworker, etc.

That pressure in general is not here.

This is true, ecuatorianos are not materialistic.

Quito on Christmas day is as quiet as mouse, and absolutely loved it. Until a neighbor showed up unexpectedly to say Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas) and my place is messy, it’s a Sunday, but no problem.

But another friend, after texting him Feliz Navidad to him and his family, said he’ll visit me with his family (not today). This is a friend who knows I don’t celebrate Christmas or any religious holidays for that matter. Ecuatorianos are kind hearted, but I’m caught off guard. I have to clean my place up and don’t know what the tradition is to greeting people to your home for Christmas is in Ecuador.

Do they stay for 5 minutes and leave?

Do you serve beverages, cookies, or whatever?

I don't know it's my first Christmas here as a non-tourist.

There is no Miss Manners Guide to Quito.  The arrival of Expats is a new happening .. and so you get to make up your own rules.

Miss Manners Aside, there was a guide published a few years ago titled '101 Things to Consider Before Moving or Retiring to Ecuador'.

The author, Nicholas Crowder, recommended against inviting people into one's home in Ecuador, for security reasons.

Crowder is an expert on worldwide safety and security issues.  His website, touristkilled.com, monitors attacks and scams against Expats and tourists in countries around the world.

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If someone showed up unexpectedly at my Quito condo and I wasn’t prepared for guests, I might meet them down at the guard desk and move things to nearby Patio Andaluz for beverages.

No unexpected visitor should be put off because he/she/they are not immediately invited into your home.

When I first moved to Quito in 2013, the head of the South American Explorers (which organization is now defunct in Quito) complained to me that he and his Ecuadorian wife had some local couples over to their place in the Valley .. and never got a return invitation to the locals' homes.

I suspect it was mainly for security reasons. 

cccmedia

If I hadn’t read about horror stories then I would have thought your reply was an overreaction. But we have to be safe and I don’t necessarily mean my neighbor who visited unexpectedly because I’m guilty of that as well but it was just a surprise because as I understood it, Christmas day visits here is a family thing. So I asked a friend about this today and whether it was normal or okay and they said no, unless they don’t have family and are possibly sad that day. So, my neighbor is excused, but my friend planning to come over without me initiating the invitation is not cool at all.

As for safety, I think we have to exercise good judgement. For me a starting point is socioeconomic similarities and knowing about that person’s life like where they live, work, etc. This is true for locals and expats, some of which I’ll have few drinks with but to invite over, no way. This is essentially how I’ve been approaching it my entire expat life, exercising caution, but also fostering friendships and inviting friends that I’m comfortable with over.

I don't think anyone is working today, but the 27,28,29 were productive days, unlike the last holiday, Día de los Difuntos in conjunction with Quito foundation day (I think) in which a whole week was wasted.

Anyway, back to today, my neighbors are partying and celebrating the New Year as early as noon on the 30th, how do I know this, we have a grocery/light breakfast & lunch /neighborhood hangout spot where neighbors converge.

It's actually beautiful and speaks volume of this society. Sure drinking is probably a pastime here, but I don't simply mean that. I mean the relationships, the apparent closeness or willingness to spend time with friends and neighbors and it's not just for this holiday.

There's so much to love about Quito, you walk out during the day and it's spring, you walk out your home in the evening it's Fall, each and everyday. But the jewel of Ecuador is the friendly people.