Christmas in Quito

It's a long post, but I promise it's also picture heavy!  Javier and I spent our first Christmas away from family this year (although when I say that he gets upset since in reality the two of us are a family...but you get what I'm saying....)  

 

Sometimes I'm sad that Javier and I didn't think of some sort of really awesome tradition to start at Christmas when we got married.  I want something unique and special to us that we could repeat each year.  And I seemed particularly aware of this missing tradition this year.....I think I have this fantasy that whatever we came up with would just make Christmas (no matter where we were or what we were doing), but that's probably a bit movie-esque.  In truth, we've taken some of the traditions from his childhood and some from mine to create a hodgepodge of events and foods and things that mean Christmas to us.  (Maybe when we have some kiddos we'll think of that magical tradition I'm in search of...) I was a bit worried about how I'd feel on Christmas this year (particularly without my magic bullet Christmas tradition...) but the truth is, we really enjoyed it!  We spent the time as we've spent most of our time here: having some new experiences while maintaining some sense of home and who we are.

 

I've tried to provide a photographic report of our holiday season so that you can see what I mean...

First up: DECOR
As silly as it sounds....we were starting over with our Christmas decorations which required some exciting purchases from the Christmas markets that popped up all over to make our home feel Christmasy!!
On top of the bookshelf you can see our little trees, some fake snow and the advent candles Jody sent to us!
On the bottom left shelf you can see the two advent calendars my parents sent us (a Staples family Christmas tradition!)

Many of the markets were selling these cool wooden and brightly painted nativities.  We thought they were pretty neat and were happy to purchase a small one that we could bring back to the US as a souvenir!

Two stocking were purchased to be filled by Santa and decorate our big window. 
We also strung up lights on the window that could be viewed by passersby on the street.

My Aunt Charlotte gifted me with this 'JOY' when I went home for Thanksgiving.
 It totally brightened up our bookshelf and helped the place feel like CHRISTMAS!

Here is my little Feliz Navidad Santa that I bought to hang on our door.  (But he kept falling off so I ended up propping him up on our gate....which makes it look sort of like I put Santa in jail....but I promise that was never my intention!) 

and CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!  Sending Christmas cards was a tradition that I hugely missed this year!  While I am SO excited to receive Christmas cards every year, I was particularly pumped to have this little collection when so far away from home.
(Confession: I took this picture yesterday...as in...I still have my Christmas cards hanging up on our door.  But they make me SO happy!!  and some were hand-delivered by Kelsey and Scott so they haven't even been up that long....OK...I promise I'll take them down by February......)

We got a notice from administration at school that we could not decorate our classrooms.  (Since Colegio Menor is private, but not religiously affiliated) But the school did put up one tree in our Rotunda that was decorated for Dec!

While I missed out on the card sending, we did make up for it by treat making and baking and sending.  Here is our dining room table covered with Christmas goodies to be wrapped up and delivered!

I also got my kiddos a little sweet treat for the holiday season. (It's amazing how crazy my 9th graders go for candy....)

We also spent some lovely evenings with friends at holiday parties. (But in Ecuador they can be roof parties!) 

On Christmas Eve we hosted a little dinner for any other Colegio Menor teachers that didn't have family in town.  

We ended up with a bit of a crowd which was perfect by us. 

It helped make the day feel more like Christmas to have a full and bustling house!

We even attempted Grandma's eggnog recipe for the event (thinking some eggnog might happily remind everyone of Christmas at home).  And when I say 'we' I really mean Javier (because he did it all!).  It was incredibly time consuming and difficult, but SO worth it!!  The eggnog was delicious and certainly made me think of Christmas!

On Christmas Eve we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol (another Staples family tradition)...thank GOODNESS it was on Netflix!! We were also able to Facetime with family to wish all back home a Merry Christmas!

And on Christmas morning, we discovered that Santa was able to find us even all the way in Quito!!

Here we are on Christmas morning, all dressed up to head into the city to see what Quito looks like on Christmas.

We went to mass at Iglesia Santo Domingo downtown.

Downtown Quito is packed with churches and each one takes your breath away when you walk in...

And all had a very intricate nativity set up for the season.

While at church we learned about another Quito tradition...almost every family carried a small doll (ranging from palm size to actual baby size) that represented the baby Jesus.  Some were cradled in arms, others in baskets surrounded by flowers and lace.  At the end of mass, all gather at the altar, holding high their baby Jesus to be blessed by the priest.  Apparently most take them home to add to their nativity for the holiday season.  It was super interesting to witness (hey! maybe I found our new Christmas tradition?)

We were also surprised by the number of people that were out and about.  Most shops and restaurants seemed open (many of them selling baby Jesus dolls) and the streets were crowded with people.  Very different from the US! 

And for Christmas dinner we ordered a whole chicken from our organic market.  When they say 'whole'...they mean whole.  Here is Javier holding our chicken by his feet before butchering.

I totally chickened out (pun intended) and made Javier cut off his feet and head....I just couldn't do it...but after that we roasted him up and celebrated our lovely and relaxing Christmas together.

I'm sure it helped to know that Kelsey and Scott were arriving the next day, but we really did have a happy Christmas!  We enjoyed Quito and spent time with each other (Javier got an assortment of games from Santa because he knows Javier so well...so we played those).  We drank eggnog and savored the short-sleeve weather.  We gazed out our big window at a volcano and listened to Christmas carols on Songza.  We adhered to old traditions and (maybe) started some new ones.  It was a very happy and merry Christmas.

Community Service = Super Proud of my 9th Graders

Okay, another non-content focused, fun filled day at Colegio Menor to report....

The National Junior Honor Society organized a day of community service for each of the grades in upper school right before our Christmas break.  My 9th graders spent one gorgeous morning hanging out with a group of blind or deaf students.  I'll admit that I was a bit nervous going into the day...I have a few 'too cool for school' boys (as I'm sure every 9th grade teacher has) and was a bit worried about how they would handle the day.  To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.  My kiddos were AWESOME with their kiddos.  They ran ALL around the field (mostly chasing their young friends that had waaaaaaay more energy than the average teenager), made Fruit Loop (or the Ecuador brand equivalent) necklaces, and supervised Christmas card making.  It wasn't just that my kids stuck by their assigned buddy for the day, but that they really seemed to enjoy the time they spent with the kids.  Here are some photos from the day (hope they capture the fun and awesomeness that is was!)

A pair of 9th graders were assigned a guest student.  I was surprised at how young some of the kiddos were.

While we had some activities planned, it became clear that some of our guest students just wanted to play soccer all day.
(Kids in this country loooooooooove their soccer!)

lots of hand holding!

This little girl was adorable!  And enjoyed rolling the ball with my 9th grade kiddos!!

Two of those 'too cool for school' boys hanging out with their student.

Playing on some equipment with the kiddos.

More fun on the playground.

Marcelo is one of my 9th graders that spent the entire day with his kiddo.  This is probably one of the only moments in the day that they were not sprinting around the soccer field.  Marcelo was such a trooper!

Some Christmas card making (complete with dry pasta decor)

Santiago is one of the other 9th grade teachers that I work with!

Pedro giving a little girl her bag of candy!

It was a really great day for everyone and I had one of my first 'wow, I'm SO proud of my kids' moments which was a cool first year teacher experience.

Our First (and likely Only) Bullfight!

In addition to school celebrations for Fiestas de Quito, Javier and I wanted to join in on the fun around town as well which included a trip to the bullfighting arena.  Now, Quito voted a couple of years ago to outlaw the killing of bulls in the ring, which severely lessened the number of bullfights that occur in the city.  (You can still see bullfighting where the bull is actually killed in many other cities in Ecuador).  But for Fiestas de Quito the city hosted a few days of bullfights that Javier and I decided to go to (still with no killing in the arena).  It was certainly an interesting experience...

We were first amazed at how small the arena was....we were sitting in the very last row, but still felt quite close to the action!

We were there plenty early to soak up the scene and walked down to the first row - you would definitely feel like part of the action down here!

We watched three bullfighters battle two bulls each.  Two of our matadors were from Spain and one was from Ecuador!  He was clearly a fan favorite and at 17, acted invincible in the ring.  Our experience was unique in that each matador would face the bull on horseback, rather than on the ground.

Each rider did have the equivalent of a rodeo clown that was on the ground to control the bulls between rides.  (Also their capes were hot pink....not red as I had learned in cartoons).

Here is an action shot of the rider about to spear the bull.  (You can already see one of his spears in the bull!)

Understandably so, the bull would often 'attack' or chase the rider after being speared.

Here is a picture to try to give you a feel for the arena - everyone is cheering and ole-ing during the fight.

Everyone gasped when the bull got too close to the horse.  I was surprised at how involved I felt in the show - it was certainly intense.

After each fight, the matador was awarded with a certain number of roses that signified the judges' satisfaction in their fight.  Then they would take a lap around the arena collecting roses and catching hats that audience members threw at them.  Javier and I both agreed that there was a certain amount of showmanship that went along with each fight.

While we were both glad to have the experience and did enjoy the show quite a bit, I do not think we'll be returning to the arena anytime soon.  I still had a pretty big issue with hurting an innocent animal for the sole purpose of human enjoyment.  By the 5th bull or so, I was ready to check the experience off my list and head out.  I will say that we both agreed that having the matadors on horseback really added to the entertainment value.  Before the bulls came out each matador showed off their riding skills and control of their horse.  The horses were all beautifully decorated with elaborate manes.  I was very glad that they were incorporated into the show and think it improved the experience for me.  Either way, glad we went and certainly happy to witness the enthusiasm of the Quito community. It felt like a very appropriate way to celebrate Fiestas de Quito.

Fiestas de Quito

Ecuador seems to be unique in that they celebrate not only an independence day, but the independence day of each of their largest cities: Guayaquil, Cuenca and Quito.  Quito's big day was celebrated over the first weekend in December.  Javier and I were excited for this celebration because we had heard that the festivities start for Fiestas de Quito and continued through the Christmas holiday.  We joined in the celebration, both at school and in town.  Here are some fun pics from the traditions our students participated in at Colegio Menor.

First up are the Balcones (or skits performed using our second story walkway as a 'balcony' of sorts).  The 10th, 11th and 12th graders decorate their balconies and then perform a short scene or play from them for the school.  I believe this was the 11th graders balcony and skit.

Next up, the 12th graders scene complete with air drying brassiere and musical performance.  They did a nice job but...

it was the 10th graders with their big band and extreme decorations that won the Balcones this year!

In addition to the performances on the balcony, we spent half the day in our gym watching the drama students perform traditional legends or stories from Quito for the rest of the school.  Our band also joined in on the fun playing some traditional and not so traditional music to entertain us.

Here is our band!

Here are two of my 9th graders performing.  This one was something about a ghost that was found in a museum.  (Most of the legends seemed to be more ghost story than anything else...)

Again two of my 9th grade kiddos performing on stage.  This one involved a bull falling in love with a woman (weird....I know) but then when they can't be together he (the bull) instead kills her (I guess if he couldn't have her no one could?)

Here is one of my more theatrical (even during class) 9th graders getting read to face the bull that is in love with the woman.

After school, Colegio Menor hosted a party for all teachers that would include traditional Ecuadorian cuisine, Flamenco dancers and a less than traditional ride to the party.  We teachers had assumed they had rented a Chiva for us...but boy were we wrong.... (a Chiva is just a party bus where all the seats have been cleared from the back to allow for dancing and general merriment.  They are very common in Quito and usually include Canelazo, Ecuador's traditional drink.  We have not been on a Chiva yet, but I promise to post and go into detail when we do get that fun experience.)  Instead school sent a Gusanito (little worm) to pick us up from school and take us to the party!

Here is Madison riding on our little worm to the party.  It was decked out in Quito red and blue!

More teachers catching a ride: Vanessa, Kirstie, Ashley and Kim.

And the Cabezas not missing this once in a lifetime opportunity to ride in a worm down the main streets of Cumbaya.

At the party everyone was chowing down! (Esperanza, Mike Parker, Christina, Bri, Rachel and Madison)

The food was delicious and included: hornato (pulled pork) queso empanadas, roasted plantains, avocado and a red onion salad.

Our hostess added a few blue balloons to her red ornaments on this tree to turn it to a Fiestas de Quito tree!

I probably should have gotten a bit closer to take this, but the dancers were awesome!

And once the professionals were finished the teachers took over.  It is amazing to me how much Ecuadorians love to dance.  It seems that they all know how and jump at the opportunity whenever it comes up!

It was super fun to start the holiday season with some early festivities!