It is the Ecuadorian tradition to build a dummy that represents the year that is finishing, and burn it just before midnight on Dec. 31st. This dummy used to be made with old clothes and filled with paper or sawdust. Now, they are made with wood and cardboard too, and they may represent anyone or anything, from a cartoon character to a politician, or even an event that occured during the year. There are contests around the country with prizes for the best dummy, or the best representation of a situation or event. There is also a contest for writing the old year's will.
In the picture above we can see a dummy built by myself, which looks like a neighbour, and others that were bought. (a turtle, WALL-E, and Pucca) The one with the Miami t-shirt is Not a dummy, just in case ;-) jejeje...
This year I made one of our President. Many people want to burn him. But not only that we burn the bad things that happened during the year, but sometimes people burn this or that character because they like them, or thay have been good, as some kind of recognition.
Comments
Anele:
The main point of burning the dummy is to burn the bad things that happened during the year that finishes. That's why it used to be just a simple dummy, and some people would disguise as widows and ask for a few coins on the streets. Others would write a will which includes the events that happened during the year, and what they left, and what they expect for the new year. Say... "For my daughter Anele, for having been a great hostess in MyEC, I leave her lots of warm feelings, so she can continue welcoming the new members." Of course there could be funny verses too.
Tradition has changed in the sense that now not only an old dummy is burnt, but people make dummies that represent anyone or anything. What does WALL-E have to do with what happened the year before? Nothing, but it was a famous character and people wanted to represent it. It looked cute to me, so I bought it in 2009. I usually make a simple dummy but sometimes I buy the head of somebody known. I once bought a Shrek head, Chicken little, Syth (from Ice Age), and now, "our president"
Politicians are very popular, especially presidents. Most of them don't consider it to be an ofense. And as for criminals, for treating them with too much "respect", is that we are living such insecure times in our country, reason for which many people wanted to burn the president.
thanks for your wishes, Nida.
Many people want to burn our president because there are certain things we don't like about him.
I never heard of this tradition before! Thanks a lot for this wonderful, interesting and informative blog!
By the way I didn't get the idea, why you want to burn your president? Because you like him or because you hate him. ^_^
Happy New Year to you and your family!