Some other Ecuadorian traditions include running in the streets with your suitcase, to bring travel and adventure in the new year, and wearing red or yellow underwear, for love and wealth, respectively. Sometimes, Ecuadorian men get a head start on the wealth part by dressing up as viudas (vyoo-das, "widows") and stopping traffic. Men dress up as mourning women who grieve the death of the old year, and they ask people for money to help pay for the "funeral costs". They usually have colorful wigs, high heels and heavy makeup. They dance and run in the streets, even getting in front of cars to ask for money.
Monigotes are made in order to symbolically burn away the bad energy from the previous year. Whatever problems you had or whatever misfortune your community faced all burns away with the monigote. Typically, groups of people will share a single monigote, whether that's a family, a couple or even a local shop. To collect the bad energy, monigotes are finished and placed in businesses and homes for a couple of days before the new year. Making the monigotes can take a long time, so many people start the process early so that the dolls are finished in time to collect the bad energy.
Monigotes are made starting with a cardboard or wood frame in whatever shape you desire and then stuffed with old paper or cloth. After that, they are covered in paper mache and painted, or covered in clothes. Next December, I want to try to make my own at home! Not everyone has the time or materials to do so, though. This year, my friend Maite and her family bought a small monigote in the likeness of Shrek.
