El dia de los disfuntos

Howard and I were invited, along with Ryan and Erica fellow team members, to the home of the Santos brothers (I blogged about Esteban's baptism) to celebrate El dia de los disfuntos.  We were so blessed when Esteban said they wanted to share this time with us to thank us for our friendship and being their family in Christ.

Left to right:  Mariana, Gloria, (the boys mom), their Grandma, Uncle,  Danny ( he works with the programming with El Refugio), Santiago, Esteban, Jonaton, Ryan, Erica and Wilmar

Danny feeding his baby gua gua, ( we said he had to practice because he is getting married next July :)

To quote my friend Cameron Vivanco, "'El Dia de los Disfuntos' is a national holiday here in Ecuador.  October 31, no one bats an eyelash. November 1, All Saint's Day, isn't mentioned.  But Nov.2, known as All Soul's Day, is an obligatory national holiday."

For those of you interested here is a little history about this national holiday, which was also provided by Cameron.

The Ecuadorian Day of the Ancestors isn't quite like the Mexican Day of the Dead, nor is it like American Halloween. El día de los difuntos is a time to celebrate one's dead ancestors. In the small country villages, families dress in their finest clothes and carry a meal to the cemetery, where they dine on top of the grave of their ancestors. One plate is always left for the dead ancestor. This traditional meal includes guaguas de pan and the colada morada.

Guaguas de pan are bread babies. (The word guagua, pronounced wa-wa, is Quechuan.) Some families make their own guaguas de pan at home, but most buy them from the panaderías, or bakeries, which only make them during this time of the year. These bread babies can be up to 12 inches long and are shaped with a ball of dough for the head and a long, tapering ball of dough for the body. They are decorated with icing and may have jam or some other sweet inside.

The colada morada (translated as the purple colada, or oatmeal drink) is a drink made from cooking blackberries, blueberries, cinnamon, cloves, and other fruits and spices with a little oatmeal in the water until thick. The drink is then blended until smooth. From the middle of October until the second of November, cafés and restaurants try to outdo each other in offering the best guaguas de pan andcoladas moradas.

In the larger towns and cities, families no longer eat with their ancestors. They spend the day visiting the cemetery and laying flowers on the graves. They may make guaguas de pan and colada morada, but only for eating with their family at home. Nevertheless, the spirit of the día de los difuntos carries on as one of the important traditions of Ecuador.

(http://www.rocketlanguages.com/spanish/resources/culture_ec_holidays.php )