HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!! - We Celebrated Our 3rd Año Viejo in Cuenca......

Bo - Clowning Around!  
Everyone is ready to party and celebrate Cuenca's New Year Eve Celebration!

Can you believe we are now in the year 2015?  I am blessed to live in Cuenca, Ecuador and that Bo and I have finally settled into a simplified lifestyle after two years of making one of the biggest decisions of our life together.  The purging, packing, moving, and then returning to sell our home, purge and pack more, and the process of letting go of 40 years of living in Oregon was no small task.  Yet, we've accomplished so much and we are now calling Ecuador our home.  

Time heals!  I have moved on from the STUFF I chose to let go of and find myself enjoying our smaller home and more simple lifestyle here.  It's actually refreshing.  Sometimes I have pangs of sadness when I look back and remember life in the USA, but when I focus on my life in the "NOW" and look around and see all the blessings and good changes that we've made, I smile.  I especially enjoy the friends we have here in Cuenca who we see often and are intimate with.  When I feel sad or confused, my friends encourage me and lift me up with their words of wisdom and understanding.  Isn't that what true friends do?  Absolutely!  

We expats have all been through great changes to transition to life here. Those of us who chose to leave our USA lifestyles, family, and friends share this understanding. So words of encouragement come easy from those who have left it all behind to embraced a new way of living and a much simpler and freeing lifestyle.  To be able to live in a city that is so alive and amongst a people that are humble and so hardworking is a gift.  We've been able to open our home to young people and teach them English, and to have our Ecuadorian friends over for "un cafecito" and to share our lives together.  They feel comfortable and at home with Bo and me, and that in itself is such a gift and blessing for us.  

After living in the Oregon "country" for 40 years, Bo and I at times had expressed a desire to one day live in a big city so we could walk out our door and walk over to a close by cafe and sit and enjoy reading a morning paper.  Well, we don't really do that very often here (we like spending our mornings at home), but it was a dream we spoke about.  Now we are doing just that - living in the heart of an historic city.  We just didn't know it would be in another country!!!  

We continue to live on one of the noisiest streets in Cuenca - a bus route and a market-vendor "yelling" street.  It's funny, but when certain ex-pats come over to our apartment for the first time, they seem more troubled by the area we live and the noise than we are.  If they are not in the best of shape and have to climb our three flights of stairs, some have grumbled and one woman even swore all the way up, while I speak words of encouragement to help them along, "You're doing great!  Just a few more stairs to go......" (liar).  I go up and down these stairs two at a time (not bragging, just a fact) and consider them good exercise.  As for the noisy buses going by, we're use to it.  We consider there are more pros than cons for our location, like not missing out on the fun festivities and cultural city events, and being walking distance to everything.

Last night was wild and very noisy!  Loud music, people dancing in the streets, fireworks being blasted off,  DJ's announcing the events over big loudspeakers, and a city of locals and tourists coming together to partake in the tradition of Cuenca's Año Viejo.   The burning of the old and rejoicing in the New Year ahead was celebrated with such joy and laughter last night.  We had special friends over for a potluck dinner, and then we all headed downstairs to enter into the festivities happening right out our door on Padre Aguirre.  Calle Larga was closed off to traffic, as was Juan Jaramillo.  Some of our friends had not experienced the El Centro Ecuadorian New Year's Eve, so it was a fun experience for everyone, especially their little ones who were leaping with energy and excitement to say "adios" to the old and "Feliz Año Nuevo" as midnight approached and the burnings of the effigies began.  

PICTURES TELL THE STORY OF 

OUR AÑO VIEJO CELEBRATION TOGETHER.  ENJOY!

We walked around our neighborhood late afternoon to view the preparations many were making for the big night ahead.  Large paper mache statues were being constructed and dressed.....

.....and last minute gluing and painting were making these characters come to life!  Such artistic and serious participants make this event happen.

Two blocks from our corner, hundreds of masks were sold.......

......and every size and kind of firework you would hope to find was available.  Yes, we bought fireworks for the kids!

Even the tour bus heading up Padre Aguirre was adorned with effigies!

Three sisters sitting on a bench at the San Francisco Flower Market area were having too much fun!

Spanish Bob Marley music blared along the street.....

.......and this young adorable was in business collecting 50 cents for a photo with Bob Marley!

Bo and I picked and bought our Effigy body from this kind vendor.......

.......saw a ghoulish mime holding his position (for a looooong time) along the way......

......got a photo of our "vecino" Manuel by his Calle Larga "street-blocking" creation.......

.......and saw more artistic participants working on their paper mache creations.

As we headed home, we could see the progress being made.

We spent the next few hours at home with our friends, eating, drinking, laughing, and getting ready to head down to the festivities.  Our Effigy was hanging out on our terrace - soon to go up in smoke!

It's time!!!  The party-kids are fed and ready to go show off their masks and light their fireworks......

So, we all head downstairs and around the corner......

........and the party begins!  Mr. Bo is designated firecracker lighter.  Not so sure Alexandra is getting into this.

 Victoria sparkles away and is too adorable for words!

The festivities are on the way......

Moms holding Mr. Effigy are loving this first-time New Year Eve experience in El Centro with their families......

.........and I think Mr. Bo is having more fun than the kids are - ya think??????

It's close to midnight and the crowds are getting huge!

We all head for Calle Larga, and Manuel announces that it's time to toss in the Effigies and BURN THE OLD!

The pile is lit......

.......and the fire roars......

This fire burned high and was huge.  You could feel the heat from afar!!

The crowds gather and watch with smiling faces!

Dancing.......

........three leaps over the fire each for good luck.......

....if you can stand the heat and jump that high and far.  If not it would not be good luck!!!!

 Brave boy!   Pretty risky if you believe in such a thing as GOOD LUCK!

So far, no fire enemas! 

 It was a happy "high" time for all!!

 The laughter and fun continued until the wee hours of the morning.

This evening's celebration was even more fun than last year for us!

All wild street parties in Cuenca do come to an end!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL - AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!!

So, how did you spend your New Year's Eve???

Cuenca Ecuador's Celebration of AÑO VIEJO - Cuenca's Old Year!

Guess who our Effigy was for 2013 

and who we will burn for 2014?

It's almost here - the end-of-year 2014 burning of the effigies!  Dummy bodies and paper mache' masks bearing the likeness of different celebrities, cartoon characters, presidents, or people who resemble someone you might know are being chosen and purchased, ready to be set on fire at midnight December 31st.  

It's a wild and crazy night for many - and a very different kind of celebration for anyone who hasn't experienced it yet.  So get ready!  Bo and I had our effigy hanging over our terrace last year for several days, and it would scare the crap out of me every day until we finally burned it with the crowds at our neighborhood block burning party.

Yes, in El Centro, it's one big smokin' "burn" party as thousands of Ecuadorians and many Gringos participate in this yearly tradition that has been celebrated for years.  The air will be filled with smoke and the sky will be bursting with fireworks.  I am not aware of the origin of this yearly custom, but I read that it could date back to a time when corpses were burned during a yellow fever epidemic.  Ya think?  Sounds a bit off to me, but who knows?

The effigies are supposed to represent the old year (años viejo), and some construct their effigy to specifically resemble someone they may dislike (like a current President) or someone personally they may have issues with.  The dummy may simply represent past disappointments.  Some pin a handwritten note on their dummy to specify their new year's goals.  For many who take this tradition seriously, they are demonstrating their desire to erase the past by letting go of the good and the bad, and starting a renewed year of new hopes and goals.

You will see many leaping over the burning dummies, usually three times for good luck.  There have been emergency room visits by some who end up injured by the fire or exploding firecrackers or rockets embedded in some of the dummies.  Wild and crazy, I say!

Be looking for your neighborhood "burning" party!  There will be many throughout Cuenca, including loud music, crowded bars, drunken staggerers, piles of burning effigies, fireworks, and more.  

As for Bo and me, it will be our third year of saying "Adios" to the old and "Gracias a Dios" for every new day and blessing we will embrace in the year to come.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our BLOG fans and followers.  May the year ahead be one where your goals and dreams are fulfilled - especially to those planning their exit from their current lifestyle to begin a new adventure in Ecuador.

PICTURES TELL THE STORY OF 

HOW WE CELEBRATED AÑOS VIEJO IN 2013

Hand-crafted paper mache masks of every kind line the streets ready for sales.  Most sell from $2 to $5.

Firework stands are popular for the burning celebration

Our neighborhood girls choose their fireworks carefully!

So many effigy bodies to choose from......

The main street of Calle Larga is blocked off, ready for one of many big burn piles in El Centro!

Kids love this traditional Cuenca celebration (not so sure their dog will though!)

You'll see taxis, cars, and trucks whizzing by with an effigy tied to it.

Our neighbor girls get dressed in black to represent "La Viuda"  - The widow mourning the death of the old!

So Beautiful!

Outside our door, our neighborhood gathers to begin the burning of the viejos.  It's almost midnight!

It's time!

Adios Año Viejo!!

 Around the corner, on Juan Jaramillo, another huge burning begins.....

 People continue to toss their effigies onto the burning pile.....

 ......and the crowds gather to watch the effigies going up in flames!

One block away, on Calle Larga, another pile is burning.  

All over the city of Cuenca, the smoking flames and ashes rise to the skies! 

leap #1 over the burning ashes....

.....leap #2..... 

.....leap #3 for good luck in the coming year!

 Viva Ecuador!  

What a wild and crazy night it was.  We're looking forward to celebrating again tonight with special friends and our neighborhood party people.  So, ya'll come out of your caves and find a neighborhood to join in the Cuenca celebration!

From Bo and Linda and our neighbors on Santa Teresita in El Centro - "Feliz Año Nuevo" to all!