"We're looking forward to a nice quiet Christmas in Vilcabamba, Ecuador"
This will be the third holiday season since Sue and I moved to Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Our first Christmas here we were still getting settled in.
We didn’t have the time or resources and our house was far from ready so, on Christmas Eve, we took our annual trip north to our respective hometowns in Wisconsin and Alberta.
Wow! Sue and I found that freezing to death in the cold and snow wasn’t nearly as much fun as it used to be, especially when we could be enjoying the wonderful weather in Ecuador.
We agreed that heading north for Christmas would never, ever happen again. Ever.
So last year we stayed home in Ecuador—we had to, as we were in the middle of our 14-month home renovation project. We had even less of a house than we had the previous year, but we had our work crew. The four young men became our “adopted” children as we worked with them every day.
The tradition here is for employers to give their employees gift boxes at the end of the last work day before Christmas. They’re available in stores everywhere and come in various sizes at different prices. But instead of toys and sweets, they usually contain kitchen staples like cooking oil, rice, beans and canned goods.
Sue added a loaf of banana bread for each worker, made with bananas grown on our property. Though simple, they were very much appreciated. It may have been the first time I fully understood the expression that “it’s better to give than to receive.”
For ourselves, we didn’t do anything special. Dinner consisted of black beans and rice. Nutritious, yes, but not high on the list of responses you’d hear when asking your family what they want for Christmas dinner. But then Christmas in our rural barrio is understated.
In fact, you’d hardly know it was Christmas around here, and we like it that way. In the States or Canada, the Christmas season seems to start the day after Halloween. And for us, the holiday hype is a real turnoff.
No worries about hype here. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the neighbors walk up the road to the monastery for mass. They have a quiet dinner with their families and the kids get a few new toys and maybe a ball.
This year, with our house renovation mostly behind us, we’ll be baking goodies and grilling something good in our fire pit. Other than that, we’ll probably have a nice quiet Christmas.
Editor’s note: John will be speaking at the Ultimate Event in Quito in February, sharing tales of his and Sue’s adventures so far in Ecuador. If you’re going to be there, make sure you catch his presentation. You’ll be able to knock a few years off your game plan when you hear how John retired at 44.
