Christmas In Quito

Christmas Dinner

Christmas came so quickly. I couldn´t believe it was Christmas day when it arrived. A few days before, my work put on a fantastic party. It was in Pete and Patricia´s house. They live about 40 minutes away, outside of Quito. Their land could be described as a well trimmed jungle. The plants they have there are incredible - it really feels as though your in another world. About 50 people turned up and most of them brought family members along too. It was sweltering hot, and most of us enjoyed playing football or volleyball across the huge land-scape.

Then we had our christmas dinner. I don´t think I have seen so much food before, as everyone had brought something, be it a dish or a bottle. Hugo, our boss, brought three giant turkeys. The food was incredible, which included these amazing mango´s for desert. You dont eat them. You just poke a whole in them at one end and then sqeeze them at all angles to get the juice. They only grow for a few months of the year. I will wait a lifetime to eat another.

We then did our secret santa. Everyone stood up in turn and anounced who their gift was for before they then passed on their present to the next person. I was given a calenda with Ecuador pictures to help me get my bearing of the country - thank you Pete. Everone was also given a fantastic jumper (with removable sleeves), which had the IG logo on it - I now feel like a real volcanologist. By the end of the night, everyone was drunk and dancing salsa - it was a lot of fun.

Christmas is pretty similar to home apart from the fact that the big family day is on Christmas Eve, when everyone in England would be getting drunk in the pub. Ecuador is like Continental Europe in that respect. The food and the traditions are much like in England however, except that no-one jumps into an icy cold lake here. They do have lots of turkey though, so I was happy. My Christmas Day was actually very busy. I was invited to my boss, Mario´s family - for lunch. While Mario lives in Quito, his family doesn´t. They live two and a half hours north of the capital, in a small town called Cotacachi. It took me two local buses and a lot of searching to get there.

Cotacahci is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and has been termed the city of peace. It´s an incredible town, well known for it´s leather shoe and bag stores. When you walk down the street you can smell the leather sweeping out the shop doors. Mario´s family were very hospitable. We had a fantastic meal, which started off very familiar to me. There were some salad dishes which I had never seen before, but generally it was like my Christmas meal at home. However, once we had finished our ice-cream, they then brought out another dish. it was meant to be desert but I wouldn´t of placed it there. It was like a sweet pastry, but inside was vegetables and chicken. Thats the last thing they eat - after the ice-cream. It was deliceous though. Being with Mario´s family was a great way to see traditional Christmas in Ecuador and practice my poor Spanish.

I then headed back to Quito for Christmas dinner round two. This one was with 50 or more backpackers from all around the world, now gathered in The Secret Garden hostal. The food was great, though I was already stuffed like a turkey by that stage. The hostal-made mulled wine came out and everyone drank happily through the night.

I remember last year, spending my Christmas in Taupo, New Zealand. That felt like yesterday. I had a great time there too, though I remember feeling, along with the other backpackers, that in some ways it was a bit depressing. Christmas is when you are supposed to be with your family and we weren´t. I looked around this time, here in Ecuador for those missing their families. The faces were everywhere, but we made the best of it anyway and everyone had fun. It´s the one day when you have the right to feel a little lonely as a backpacker, the rest of the year makes up for it though. I did manage to Skype home again, and see all the family enjoying their Christmas on another continent. That made me happy. You never know, one day I may be back for a Christmas at home again.........but it will have to wait at least one more year!!!