Año Viejo

Año Viejo

Over the years I have been living in the United States (City of Chicago), I have been slowly losing my traditions.  At times it has made me feel homesick especially on certain holidays. Throughout the years living in another country I have been exposed to many different cultures and, therefore, new traditions and experiences. Seeing and experiencing all that life has given me in the United States, I still miss my Ecuadorian roots and traditions. There are many traditions that we have as Ecuadorians. One of them is Año Viejo which is an Ecuadorian, New Years.  In Ecuador Año Viejo is celebrated outdoors.  Since I moved to Chicago, it has been hard to practice our traditions because of the different law regulations and cultural differences. 

Ecuadorians have a unique celebration on Año Viejo(New Years), which is no longer possible to practice in this new land. At five minutes before twelve o’clock, we gather around a bon fire with human like figurines, which are made from paper or sawdust and old clothes. We place the human figurines in a bon fire and we burn them.  This represents the burning of failures, regrets and anger of the old year, and helps usher in hope and resolution of the New Year to come. A few years after I moved to Chicago, I remember one December 31^st when my family and I tried to celebrate New Year’s Eve with our Ecuadorian tradition.  As we started to burn the human figurines in our backyard, the Chicago Police Department showed up at our house.  The policeman almost arrested my father because he thought that we were putting ourselves at risk and also the people around our house. We wanted to explain to the policeman about what we were doing but it was difficult to communicate due to the language barrier. Soon after, the fire department showed up at our home and they put out the fire by wetting everything in sight including us.  We felt so frustrated because we were not familiar with the laws of this country which prevented us to follow our tradition. 

Another New Year’s tradition that we have not been able to follow is that of a traditional drink, because that the drink is not sold here. In Chicago, My dad and I cannot find chicha which is a tradition alcoholic beverage that Ecuadorians usually drink on this very special day.   Chicha is a fermented beverage often derived from maize (corn), grapes, apples and or other fruit. In Chicago, Ecuadorians replaced it with canelaso which is cinnamon tea with Vodka. This is a homemade beverage that was easy to make and that we were able to gather the ingredients to make.  The big difference in the tradition entails making the Chicha. In Ecuador, Chicha is a process and is made in certain containers that can take days to ferment.  It is like making wine here in the United States. Ecuadorian families have their own family recipes and that is what makes it unique to our traditions. Chicha and canelaso are usually hot so it can keep you warm throughout night.

There are several dishes that Ecuadorians usually have for New Years.  One of them is hornado which is fried pork, mashed potatoes (llapingachos), hot sauce (aji) and a little vegetable salad. Normally, my parents order our food from a Puerto Rican restaurant as it is very close to what we are accustomed to eating for the New Year.  The rest of the food including rice, mashed potatoes, aji (hot salsa) and the salad are prepared by the family members in the traditional Ecuadorian way.  There are always alternate or substitutions for drink or food but the biggest break in tradition is the family solidarity and companionship that has set and keep our traditions alive. Most of my close relatives are still back in Ecuador and not having their input or involvement has made the overall experiences seem fading away.

As I stated in the beginning, my experiences of living in United States have changed my Ecuadorian traditions. Ecuadorians living in the United States have learned to adjust and therefore, modify their traditions. It has been a rude awakening to what I was accustomed to via my homeland traditions. My life here in the United State has been very challenging because I want to continue passing on what my family has instilled in me and my siblings, and at the same time learn and experience what life in the States has to offer as traditions.