{"id":1988,"date":"2019-10-23T16:05:53","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T16:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=1988"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:28:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:28:37","slug":"beauty-queen-competes-in-ecuador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/beauty-queen-competes-in-ecuador\/","title":{"rendered":"Beauty queen competes in Ecuador"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

When she began competing in beauty pageants almost five years ago, the ultimate goal of Maria Manzo of Madera was to represent the United States in an international pageant.<\/p>

Manzo\u2019s dream came true last month, competing in the Miss Continents Pageant representing the United States in Ecuador.<\/p>

\u201cFrom the first day I thought about competing in pageants, my goal was to be Miss USA,\u201d she said. \u201cIt brought me so much pride. At the National level, when I was crowned Miss United Continents USA, I felt like I won everything I wanted to win. I finally got to say, \u2018I\u2019m Miss USA.\u2019 This was the cherry on top. This was a win. It doesn\u2019t matter about winning or losing the pageant. This was my goal and I did it. I got to go to another country with a bunch of other contestants. I got to go on multiple stages and say, \u2018Maria Manzo, USA\u2019 or \u2018Maria Manzo from the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, Miss USA.\u2019 I think that\u2019s something you can\u2019t explain the feeling of. It\u2019s so empowering. I don\u2019t think you can ever explain it. You have USA across your chest. It\u2019s not only about representing you and what you\u2019ve done to prepare. It\u2019s about representing your country.\u201d<\/p>

Although it was her first time representing the United States at an international pageant, she previously represented Cuba in the Miss Grand International Pageant in 2015.<\/p>

Manzo recently spent three weeks in Ecuador and came back with an affinity for Ecuadorian food and culture. She competed on Sept. 28 in Guayaquil and came home the following week.<\/p>

\u201cThe pastries, which are my favorite thing, are the absolute best thing in the world,\u201d she said. \u201cThey pride themselves on chocolate and coffee. I got to visit a chocolate factory and had a one-on-one experience with a chocolatier. She creates chocolate liquors and chocolate ice cream from scratch. She\u2019s a big commodity there and for me to get invited was a huge honor. She cooked for us, made homemade chocolate for us, which unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t being much back.\u201d<\/p>

Although Manzo didn\u2019t get the finish she wanted, she was able to soak in as much of the experience as she could and came away with a great sense of pride for the United States.<\/p>

\u201cYou don\u2019t appreciate your country until you go to a third-world country who doesn\u2019t have what we have with the freedom,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are who we say \u2014 the land of the free. I felt that a lot. I am so thankful to come back to this soil and ground. It meant the world to me.\u201d<\/p>

Miss Columbia won the pageant while Miss Ecuador was the runner-up.<\/p>

One of the advantages Manzo had in Ecuador was she spoke Spanish and it allowed her to get to know many of the people surrounding the Miss Continents Pageant.<\/p>

\u201cI was very thankful that I went for the experience and became friends with all of the contestants,\u201d she said. \u201cI can honestly tell you that I am friends with all of the staff. My roommates most of the time were Miss Japan, Miss New Zealand and Miss Mexico. I was close to Miss Denmark and Miss Ecuador. The thing that allowed me to get close to them was I spoke English and Spanish. A lot of the girls who competed were from Latin countries that spoke Spanish. I did a lot of translating for contestants and staff. We already have plans. I am planning on visiting Miss Japan during the Olympics. She invited me. I will visit Miss Mexico soon and some of the other girls will meet too.\u201d<\/p>

With her experience in pageants, Manzo was the go-to contestant for advice. She also became aware early on that she wasn\u2019t the type of girl the pageant organizers were looking for in a beauty queen.<\/p>

\u201cI feel like they were looking for something who wasn\u2019t who I was,\u201d she said. \u201cI kind of got a feel for that at the beginning. Like I said, different day, different judge. It was a little hard for this pageant. Unfortunately, I think they were looking for someone young and lively. They, unfortunately, didn\u2019t get to know me as an individual. They wanted to know about Donald Trump and the immigration policy. Other girls got questions about who they are. It was a little hard. I stood my ground and did what I could and kept the positivity of our country. It wasn\u2019t what they were looking for and that\u2019s okay.\u201d<\/p>

One of the best events for Manzo was the international costume event in which Manzo wore a bald eagle costume, which received some awards and placed in the top 10 for best national costume.<\/p>

\u201cI wanted an image that represents who we are,\u201d she said. \u201cI wanted the bald eagle because it represents freedom and strength, on top of the majestic beauty of the bald eagle. It represents how far we\u2019ve come as a country. My costume was definitely a show stopper.\u201d<\/p>

Throughout the competition, the beauty queens were treated to many trips within Ecuador and visited sponsors and other cities where they were treated like royalty.<\/p>

\u201cThe competition starts when you arrive,\u201d Manzo said. \u201cWe\u2019re visiting sponsors. A lot of it is awesome and it\u2019s a great experience. We visited a lot of restaurants so the food was amazing. We got pampered and spoiled a lot there. I miss the food. I thought I ate a lot, but these girls were competition.<\/p>

\u201cThere was a lot of visiting sponsors and venues. Every city we went to, they welcomed us with activities with dances or cultural dance. They still have tribes there. Tribes that have never made contact with other people, as well. They would welcome us with their traditional music and dances. We visited a lot of spas, as well. It is a competition so they want to make sure you are social and can speak to sponsors.\u201d<\/p>

Despite the outcome of the competition, Manzo wanted to make sure she soaked in every bit of experience she could.<\/p>

\u201cI thought this was going to be my last international pageant and I told myself this wasn\u2019t my first one. I wanted to go in there and enjoy every single day and person you meet to cherish everything. These aren\u2019t opportunities that just come out of nowhere. You have to train and work really hard for them.\u201d<\/p>

While talking to other delegates, Manzo was constantly asked questions because she is very independent of her career and others were envious of that.<\/p>

\u201cI knew, up front, the United States women are very strong,\u201d she said. \u201cI am very happy and it brings me so much joy how far we\u2019ve come as women. In other countries, it\u2019s not that way. A lot of the women were asking me questions because they thought it was amusing how we live in the United States. The girls were amused with how independent with how I am. I have my career, I do acting, I do modeling and I\u2019m on TV. I\u2019m independent. To them, they are used to their culture. They depend on other people to care for them. In the united States, we pride ourselves in independence and freedom. It\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>

After the pageant, Manzo spent a few more days in Ecuador visiting other cities, including a rain forest.<\/p>

\u201cI visited a little more of Guayaquil, but I wanted to see a rain forest,\u201d she said. \u201cI also wanted to see the diversity. I plan to go back, not just for the coffee and chocolate. I want to go back and eat everything again.\u201d<\/p>

When Manzo arrived back in the United States, one of the first things she was able to do was sleep.<\/p>

\u201cI slept for three to four hours a night in Ecuador and four hours was a good night,\u201d she said. \u201c It\u2019s beauty 100 percent of the time. When you come back home and you don\u2019t live like that. I get to sleep and breathe. I spent a lot of time with my family. You appreciate when you are away from them for a while. They were probably worried about me most of the time.\u201d<\/p>

Manzo was also able to indulge on her favorite post-pageant snacks \u2014 donuts, Hot Cheetos and pizza \u2014 in addition to attending the Fresno Fair.<\/p>

\u201cThose are my go-tos,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t gorge on them. I was more excited about going to the fair. They have the cinnamon rolls and the experience of being at home. That\u2019s when you know you\u2019re home is when you can go to the fair and eat whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When she began competing in beauty pageants almost five years ago, the ultimate goal of Maria Manzo of Madera was to represent the United States in an international pageant. Manzo\u2019s dream came true last month, competing in the Miss Continents Pageant representing the United States in Ecuador. \u201cFrom the first day I thought about competing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":41330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[32,46],"class_list":["post-1988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-culture","tag-organizations"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}