Christmas in a Pandemic

At the entrance of the house, hanging on the door are a Christmas wreath and a stocking welcoming the guests. Inside there is a Christmas tree that almost touches the ceiling decorated with red and gold colored light bulbs. The lights around the tree flash intermittently with small fabric decorations. At the back of the room, on a rectangular piece of furniture, there is a manger decorated with grass and lights. There are many figurines; the wise men, Maria, Jose, some animals and Jesus. The smell of freshly baked cookies comes from the kitchen filling the room. In a circle a family is holding hands praying the novena, a nine-day religious tradition to thank God for all the year’s blessings.

For Ecuadorians the pandemic has been tough and has taken away so much; businesses have shut down, companies have fired their employees and households could barely afford what to eat. In all this chaos, desperation and uncertainty near the end of the year families have hung on to hope for the holidays. Most families have opted to keep their reunions small.

The Torres family, Carmen Amelia and her two children Victoria and Ignacio, won’t be praying the novena this year since it involves too much contact. Also, they will be doing a small reunion on Dec.24 when they will share traditional cookies. 

 “We have a family tradition of making candy bags with all the family, which we did until last year but I think this year we are going to call it off,” said Carmen. “We will get together with my parents for the 24th for dinner but this year there won’t be any big celebration.”

The government has implemented new regulations for how Ecuadrians will be able to spend their holidays. First, malls and public spaces for Christmas shopping will only allow half their capacity. During the entire month of December no parties, events or big occasions will be allowed. There won’t be a curfew since both the 24th and 31st are celebrated past midnight in Ecuador but the plate circulation and the prohibition of buying or consuming alcoholic beverages will be demanded. The beaches will be closed to the public on both the 24th and 31st starting noon to avoid big crowds. 

The Cornejo Family, Santiago, Monica and their single child Santiiago Jr. hope the holidays will not be suspended by the government. At this point the government controls what can and can’t be done. They will be getting together with their families to celebrate Christmas but with this year economic struggles they won’t be doing anything big or spending money on gifts.

“Something that I always remember about the 24th was when I was little, my uncle used to dress up as Santa. He would pull my ears so hard, almost painful but I couldn’t complain he was Santa and I didn’t want him to take my presents away,” Santiago Jr.

Many businesses were terribly affected by the pandemic, some of them are still getting back on their feet from all the losses. For this family the pandemic struck hard their family business and turned it into a liability more than a help for them. The Pecklers Family, Cathia and Santiago, and elderly couple have fought with tears and sweat to keep their Catering Service open for business.They manage to sell some goods like cookies and small orders but they lost over 80 per cent of sales. They had to use all of their savings in order to stay afloat. Regardless of this huge loss, they are hopeful to see their children and grandchildren during the holidays. Cathia and Santiago miss their family, who they haven’t seen for over 8 months.

“Our business opened 15 years ago, at first it was a restaurant but then it evolved into a catering service. It was really hard profiting from the pandemic since our major events were cancelled,” said Cathia. “It’s so worth it to see the gratitud of our clients shining all over their face after tasting our services; it’s more than just a catering service, it’s bringing joyful moments to people.”

All the families long for a Christmas Eve, the radio is playing “Noche de Paz” while the kids play around the tree waiting to open their gifts. Dinner is being served on a rectangle shaped table, there are side dishes like rice, potatoes and salad; in the center there is a huge and toasted turkey. The grown ups exchange laughs and anecdotes; everyone is wearing Santa’s hat. There’s a little girl running around trying to get the dog to wear a reindeer sweater.