It's already 2018!?

Time has passed so fast over these last four months, but especially over the last month. It's hard to believe that 2018 is already upon us... So for this post, I'm going to focus on how they celebrate New Year's Eve here!

First of all, I've always thought of New Year's Eve as a holiday to spend with friends, playing games and eating snacks, but not in Ecuador. Here, it's almost a bigger deal than Christmas! All the family comes over and there is a big dinner, like our Christmas dinner, followed by fireworks and dancing. (We danced until 2am!) It's a bit different, but I may have enjoyed it even more than in the US! Of course, there are beautiful decorations, and everyone does their part in making the meal... And I made the best garlic mashed potatoes ever! 

Some of the biudas in Quito

Now, for some more  specifics of New Year's Eve... While the evening is spent with brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles, the afternoon is spent driving around looking for "biudas." Basically, biudas are men who dress of like women, just for one day, and joke around with the people in the cars. This includes dancing, talking through the window, or just making faces. It may sound inappropriate or wrong, but it really is just innocent fun here. This tradition is not meant to degrade either gender or be sexual, it is simply something that has been a part of their culture for years and makes the people laugh. 

This post was a bit shorter than usual, but there will be another one coming up soon about my trip to Baños and the Amazon jungle, so stay tuned!