I was determined to write on the first day of the year, but the internet was dead all evening yesterday and into this morning. The year did not start well at all, despite our effort to do everything exactly right New Year's evening. I was worried when we returned from Bellavista just for the New Year's celebration and learned that the parade of 'muñecas' would occur an hour and a half to the south this year. The usual venue is on Amazonas not far from our house, and my expectation was that we would wander around all day amongst the throngs of partiers and photograph the massive dolls and watch them burn. Carolina was empty, and nothing appeared to be happening in the city. I had been insistent that we HAD to be in Quito for the event, and was so very disappointed...
Amparo arrived just as we returned from the cloud forest. Her family had all come down to the park to check out the festivities, but left after wandering around and discovering that so little was happening. After her lesson with Tara, we walked around the park looking for action, but other than the Christmas shops having changed over to New Year shops, the park was empty. We did get a doll for our 'Lucio' mask, and chose bright colored wigs and long eyelashes for our own costumes. We left the part disappointed and Amparo went home to a very wild and happening event in Carapungo. She did not have to leave her apartment; all the activity happened just outside her window.
Eric and I ran over to Quicentro to buy new clothes for all of us, since we were told to wear something new for good luck in the new year, but the stores were closing early and we only managed to find a top for Tara. Maya had new clothes from Christmas, and for me, I found a new sequined top in my closet perfect for the occasion, and when we dressed up in our wigs and provocative outfits, we were very convincing ladies of the night. The inlaws came over to watch us dance and pout, and then we drove to the centro to check out the action. The streets were empty, and La Ronda was half full. We ate llapingachos and empenadas and lots of hot canelazo. The best part of our experience were all the viudas, or widows; men dressed in women's clothing, with wigs and makeup and exposed underwear, dancing for us, whispering sweet nothings and asking for a few coins. We gave every penny we had away, and were very entertained by their antics. Even little boys were strutting their stuff. The widows loved Eric in his orange/yellow hair, and paid very little attention to the 'ladies of the night' accompanying him. The widows were the best part of our evening!
We arrived home in time to get organized for midnight. We had fireworks to light up, setting off all the car alarms in the neighborhood; we had to get our muñecos ready and write out all the bad things that had happened in 2012 to tuck into the doll, we burnt our doll on the street and jumped over the fire three times each; we lit sparklers for candles; we ran out on the street with our empty suitcases and ran round the block; we ate our twelve grapes at midnight and opened the champagne and drank and hugged and kissed and enjoyed more fireworks til early in the morning. The inlaws watched and appeared interested, but I wondered if they had ever experienced anything quite so outrageous. We skyped my parents and they were delighted.
It was hard to sleep after all the excitement. I learned later that we need not have done EVERYTHING on our list (including wearing red underwear for love and yellow for money), that we could have chosen one thing and done it right, rather than running around like mad to get it all done.
In the morning, the inlaws arrived at 10, and I objected because the house was a mess and I was not yet showered. When I finally let them upstairs after a fifteen minute wait, they were furious with me, telling me that the house was a mess last night and why did I make them wait to come up? My father in law was particularly angry and it was an ugly scene, especially since I had made scones and banana bread and wanted to have them over for breakfast. I guess I did not feel comfortable with them in my house when unprepared, but they did not feel that they were strangers and should be welcome anytime. It was so very awful, and I felt terrible about starting my new year with such an ugly scene. Maya was scarce, Tara tried to be supportive, Eric just did not understand me, and I felt he was not respectful to me by letting them upstairs when I was not ready. What a mess....
We were invited for a New Year's Day lunch, including the inlaws, but they chose not to go....we arrived three hours late (like Ecuadorians) with a yummy carrot cake. We laughed so much, and it felt so so good to let it all out. Odd that Maria really saw Eric's perspective much more than she understood mine. While she and Eric picked the flowers off her blueberries, he revealed to her what a sensitive thoughtful man he is, but I do not see that, at least not now, when everything feels so raw. My inlaws are here because I wrote an email asking my father in law why he has no relationship with his son and only grandchild. Eric objected, not expecting anything good to happen with the visit. I do believe it is a positive event for Maya and in truth, Eric is so appreciative of any attention he gets from his father, he is happy too. I want to focus on that, and not on how offended I am that Maya and Eric were ignored for ten years. Apparently I was the problem, and because the inlaws cannot tolerate me, they stayed away. That of course is a lousy excuse for not having a relationship with Eric and Maya. Anyway, I am supposed to look forward on this and let the past be the past. This paragraph makes no sense, I had better rethink it all and revise when I am less emotional.
When the inlaws left for the evening, I finally had a chance to clean the house, and managed to break my finger in the process. Tara is limping, I cannot use my left hand, we truly do not have good luck. Tara and I visited the Banco Central museum after her Spanish class with Amparo, which was lovely of course, we had a quiet evening recuperating when Maya returned from school. I took my first taxi since the robbery (from Megmaxi home) and survived. Eric is in Bellavista working on his birds, and the inlaws are away or a few days at Mojanda north of Quito. They clearly need a break from all the intensity of our family, which is fine for us; we can all pull ourselves together by the time they arrive Friday and put our happy faces on....
Amparo arrived just as we returned from the cloud forest. Her family had all come down to the park to check out the festivities, but left after wandering around and discovering that so little was happening. After her lesson with Tara, we walked around the park looking for action, but other than the Christmas shops having changed over to New Year shops, the park was empty. We did get a doll for our 'Lucio' mask, and chose bright colored wigs and long eyelashes for our own costumes. We left the part disappointed and Amparo went home to a very wild and happening event in Carapungo. She did not have to leave her apartment; all the activity happened just outside her window.
Eric and I ran over to Quicentro to buy new clothes for all of us, since we were told to wear something new for good luck in the new year, but the stores were closing early and we only managed to find a top for Tara. Maya had new clothes from Christmas, and for me, I found a new sequined top in my closet perfect for the occasion, and when we dressed up in our wigs and provocative outfits, we were very convincing ladies of the night. The inlaws came over to watch us dance and pout, and then we drove to the centro to check out the action. The streets were empty, and La Ronda was half full. We ate llapingachos and empenadas and lots of hot canelazo. The best part of our experience were all the viudas, or widows; men dressed in women's clothing, with wigs and makeup and exposed underwear, dancing for us, whispering sweet nothings and asking for a few coins. We gave every penny we had away, and were very entertained by their antics. Even little boys were strutting their stuff. The widows loved Eric in his orange/yellow hair, and paid very little attention to the 'ladies of the night' accompanying him. The widows were the best part of our evening!
We arrived home in time to get organized for midnight. We had fireworks to light up, setting off all the car alarms in the neighborhood; we had to get our muñecos ready and write out all the bad things that had happened in 2012 to tuck into the doll, we burnt our doll on the street and jumped over the fire three times each; we lit sparklers for candles; we ran out on the street with our empty suitcases and ran round the block; we ate our twelve grapes at midnight and opened the champagne and drank and hugged and kissed and enjoyed more fireworks til early in the morning. The inlaws watched and appeared interested, but I wondered if they had ever experienced anything quite so outrageous. We skyped my parents and they were delighted.
It was hard to sleep after all the excitement. I learned later that we need not have done EVERYTHING on our list (including wearing red underwear for love and yellow for money), that we could have chosen one thing and done it right, rather than running around like mad to get it all done.
In the morning, the inlaws arrived at 10, and I objected because the house was a mess and I was not yet showered. When I finally let them upstairs after a fifteen minute wait, they were furious with me, telling me that the house was a mess last night and why did I make them wait to come up? My father in law was particularly angry and it was an ugly scene, especially since I had made scones and banana bread and wanted to have them over for breakfast. I guess I did not feel comfortable with them in my house when unprepared, but they did not feel that they were strangers and should be welcome anytime. It was so very awful, and I felt terrible about starting my new year with such an ugly scene. Maya was scarce, Tara tried to be supportive, Eric just did not understand me, and I felt he was not respectful to me by letting them upstairs when I was not ready. What a mess....
We were invited for a New Year's Day lunch, including the inlaws, but they chose not to go....we arrived three hours late (like Ecuadorians) with a yummy carrot cake. We laughed so much, and it felt so so good to let it all out. Odd that Maria really saw Eric's perspective much more than she understood mine. While she and Eric picked the flowers off her blueberries, he revealed to her what a sensitive thoughtful man he is, but I do not see that, at least not now, when everything feels so raw. My inlaws are here because I wrote an email asking my father in law why he has no relationship with his son and only grandchild. Eric objected, not expecting anything good to happen with the visit. I do believe it is a positive event for Maya and in truth, Eric is so appreciative of any attention he gets from his father, he is happy too. I want to focus on that, and not on how offended I am that Maya and Eric were ignored for ten years. Apparently I was the problem, and because the inlaws cannot tolerate me, they stayed away. That of course is a lousy excuse for not having a relationship with Eric and Maya. Anyway, I am supposed to look forward on this and let the past be the past. This paragraph makes no sense, I had better rethink it all and revise when I am less emotional.
When the inlaws left for the evening, I finally had a chance to clean the house, and managed to break my finger in the process. Tara is limping, I cannot use my left hand, we truly do not have good luck. Tara and I visited the Banco Central museum after her Spanish class with Amparo, which was lovely of course, we had a quiet evening recuperating when Maya returned from school. I took my first taxi since the robbery (from Megmaxi home) and survived. Eric is in Bellavista working on his birds, and the inlaws are away or a few days at Mojanda north of Quito. They clearly need a break from all the intensity of our family, which is fine for us; we can all pull ourselves together by the time they arrive Friday and put our happy faces on....
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