On Thursday, 29 of December, we did a special program for New Year’s Eve with our students and teachers. We wanted our students to get involve in our traditions and to show them how we celebrate New Year’s Eve.
In Ecuador we celebrate New Year’s Eve like it is a funeral. There’s always a dead body, a widow, and a will. A ‘monigote’ is like a doll, stuffed with paper or cardboard. It represents the last year. When it’s midnight, we burn the monigote. And we jump over the flame to have good luck the next year. We also read the will the dead left to his beloved ones. And there’s also a widow, who is usually a straight man dressed as a woman. He dances and then asks for some pennies to the guests so the widow can pay the funeral.
A teacher and a student dressed as the widows and the monigotes were a representation of Eva and Johnny. One of our teachers wrote the will. And when we burned the monigote, everybody jumped over it. We also danced and sang and had a great time.
