The Guaguas are here (and they're so cute!)

As soon as the calendar turned over into October, the rain picked up, and the guaguas began to appear. And now guaguas seem to be popping up everywhere!

Guagua (pronounced wa-wa in English) is a Kichwa word, and along with a few other Kichwa words, it is used with relative frequency here in Ecuador. It means "baby" or "little one". You hear parents and others refer lovingly to their baby as the guagua, or the guaguita, just as you hear siblings call each other ñaño and ñaña (Kichwa words for brother and sister). Guagua Pichincha is also the name of one of the twin-peaked volcanoes that stands 4,794 meters (15,728 feet) over Quito.

But the guaguas I am talking about are seasonal. They are cute. And they are yummy! These guaguas are special breads that are baked in Ecuador for Día de Los Difuntos (Day of the Dead), also known as Finados, on November 2. The bakers apparently like to get an early start on the holiday, and October is the time to make babies (at least babies out of bread). We caught our first glimpse of the guaguas as we rolled into La Maná last week from our Cuenca road trip, and the very next day, guaguas appeared in two home bakeries in La Josefina.

Like most food items in Ecuador, guaguas do not come from pre-made kits. These are homemade sweet breads made by individual bakers, all different, shaped to look like babies -- with an obvious head and body and varying degrees of painted decoration (eyes, nose, mouth, dress) to accentuate their guagua-ness. I have seen some pictures online of super fancy guagua breads but the ones here are relatively simple.

As I was trying to understand the meaning behind the guaguas (are they dead babies? are they reincarnated babies? why in the world are they babies??), I came across a reference to the Ecuadorian Newspaper, El Comercio, who reported a few years ago that guaguas de pan actually have pre-Spanish origins. The Quito-Cara people, an indigenous tribe that lived in the Quito area for centuries before colonization, made small human-like figures from corn-based dough in celebration of Aya Marcay Quilla, an Incan holiday that honored dead ancestors. Like many traditions in Latin America, rituals of indigenous peoples intermixed with traditions of Spanish colonialists, particularly those of the Catholic Church, in this case All Hallows' Eve, All Saint's Day, and All Soul's Day. And voila! Guaguas.

I have been conducting an informal survey of my Ecuadorian friends to better understand the meaning behind the guaguas, but it turns out that the the connection between the babies and the Day of the Dead is up for interpretation. Everyone agrees that this is the time of year for the guaguas, but no one can give me a consistent answer about how the guaguas relate to honoring the ancestors. Some say that the guaguas are a symbol of the dead, and that eating them is a way of honoring them. Others say the guaguas are merely the traditional bread that is customary to feed the ancestors. Others believe the guaguas are a representation of the Incan tradition of mummification (they do look like little mummies!). Still others think that the baby represents an ancient Incan belief in the purity of a newborn infant and the return to this same innocence with death.

Whatever the connection, they are fun and tasty! My family of breaditarians is thoroughly enjoying the guaguas, and I cannot seem to convince anyone to put peanut butter on them. They just love them pure and simple. Headfirst.