Christmas was warm, sunny and mellow in Vilcabamba. They do not have Santa Clauses walking in the streets. It is mostly a joyful and simple time, just what we like.
On the 24th, all the students of Vilcabamba gathered at the church.
A lot of work was put into the costumes and the scheduling of events.
Inside the school "13 de Abril" all the kids are dressed up colourfully, unlike the usual grey and black morning lineup.
All the kids looked like they were having fun.
Louis spoke in Spanish on the microphone in front of the whole school. He seemed to be at ease. Angelina was singing in Loja that day. She missed a very nice celebration.
After all the presentations, we enjoyed a nice lunch inside the classrooms. We had a great time at school, so friendly.
Angelina had been selected to be on the Vilcabamba school choir with about a dozen other kids. They started rehearsing in October.
At the very last minute, this seamstress offered to sew all the blouses for the choir.
Nice and elaborate blouses indeed.
There was one last rehearsal just before the tour.
People just do not lose a single minute to have fun here.
By Christmas the choir was ready and they toured in the churches of Cisne, Loja, and Vilcabamba. This is the tour bus. They came back from Cisne at 12:30 am. Happy kids.
On Christmas eve, the Vilcabamba church was full.
The symphonic orchestra of Loja played for a long time and accompanied the choir too.
The songs were very lively.
Then came New Year's
A band played some Colombian music in front of the church.
People build their own effigies which will be burnt at 11:59 to celebrate the ending of the year and the beginning of the new one.
We did not stay up that late so we did not witness the burning of effigies in town.
They buy the heads for their effigies at different places in town.
The local volley-ball team cooked enough pork on the sidewalk to feed 50 people. They killed the pork early that morning.
What else happened over the holidays? Louis got to play with locals for the first time. He did great.
The zapote season starts again. 10 zapotes for one dollar.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY
A few days later, we celebrated Christelle's 52nd birthday. The home-made cake by Peter was excellent. The icing was made from raw cacao.
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