A New Year!

Growing up, my family minimally recognized New Years...we would go over to my grandparents' house for supper; maybe stay up till midnight...maybe not. I figured that this year would be a bit livelier than that; in part because we live in town, but mostly because that town is Latin American. :) Our evening started by attending the youth group's celebration. Of course, in order to get there we had to go through multiple impromptu road blocks where dancers would stop traffic with rope or cane poles, requesting money to let you pass. The town streets were busier than I've ever seen them at night; not necessarily with car traffic, but pedestrians and bystanders everywhere. The feel of the town reminded me a bit of the 4th of July back in Texas,in that it was a whole town, on the street affair, mixed with what I've heard about Mardigras or Carnivál because of the night life and masks. Something different for us was the "burning of the 'Old Year' (Año Viejo)".  (see picture at the bottom). Everywhere you turned, there were paper-machet dummies representing last year, which are burned up on New Year's Eve. To add to the hilarity, it is common to "honor?" someone by making your dummy look like them. (The youth group leader, a celebrity...the nursing staff did one of the Docs at the hospital last year....etc.) After the celebration with our friends in the Church, we wound up taking several people home to Shell, as it was too late for the regular buses to run. We got back to our house at almost midnight; Nate crashed in bed while the rest of us watched the fireworks that started at midnight from our second floor.  In a town made of concrete situated on a jungle hillside, no one worried about the in-town fireworks displays any more than all the paper machet bonfires by (or in) the street. :) Our next door neighbor saw us on the balcony and brought over a HUGE plate of roast turkey and rice. We finally gave it up and went to bed, several hours before the Ecuadorians down the street did. :) Still, when I think about the burning up of the old year, I can't help but think it a fitting description. 

"Only one life, will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last."