New Years Trip to Ibarra

The following pictures are from New Years time and our new years trip to Ibarra. I will explain what some of the different pictures are. The first one is of a place where they sold fireworks and masks for the 'Ano Viejos.' (for some reason the first picture isn't working and being put on here, I will try to put it on later). Ano viejo means the old year, and these are figures that they make and then burn at the turn of the year at midnight. They do this to symbolize burning all the bad things from the old year, so good things can come in the new year. They will usually make figures out of wood chips, styrofoam or other materials and the put clothes and a mask on them. The masks are usually of famous people that made news in the previous year. They are usually political figures or other well known characters. Another part of the new years tradition, are the viudas or widows. These are guys that dress up as women and go in the streets to ask for money. They do this as their husband, the old man from the old year are going to be burned. The second picture illustrates this.
The third picture is of a nice sunset that we saw on the way to Ibarra. Ibarra is a town that is about two hours north of here and is where our friend Carmen is from. She still has a lot of family up there and that is who we visited.
This picture is of the 'ano viejo' of Fidel Castro. The written paper is his 'will.' It says, 'To my dear Cuban brothers, the time has come. Behave for my brother Raul but for Bush, you can give him a stick.' Following is a picture of the 'ano viejos' being burned at midnight.