World welcomes New Year
January 2, 2007
Hundreds of thousands of revellers flooded New York’s Times Square to watch the famed crystal ball as it dropped to mark the New Year.
It was a scene repeated, with some variations, around the world as millions cheered impressive fireworks celebrations while others saw 2006 capped with bombings and death.
Preparations for the Times Square countdown had begun days in advance, complete with the cheering and the kisses. Partygoers, projected to reach a million, were in high spirits, cheering and joking in the unseasonably warm evening. The New York festivities include a star-studded line-up, including performances by singers Christina Aguilera and Toni Braxton, rap group Three 6 Mafia and country band Rascal Flatts.
Security was tight in and around Times Square and spectators passed through police checkpoints while bomb-sniffing dogs roamed the crowd. Texas band Radiant kicked off the event, when the famously flashy New Year’s Eve ball was raised to the top of a flagpole.
Across the globe, the countdown to the New Year was marked, in parts, with a combination of joy, tears, prayers and hopes.
In Rio de Janeiro, nearly 21,000 police officers fanned out across the Brazilian city, many patrolling impoverished slums ruled by gangs, to guarantee the safety of tourists and revellers at a huge New Year’s Eve bash on the famed Copacabana beach. The show of force comes after gang attacks left 19 dead last week in Rio.
In Sydney, fireworks exploded over Harbour Bridge as a million onlookers celebrated the New Year. The display was to celebrate the bridge’s 75th anniversary.
Hundreds of thousands of others cheered in London as Big Ben rang in 2007. The chimes were relayed by sound systems along the River Thames and the onlookers lined its banks near the Houses of Parliament to watch a light show countdown projected on to the 443ft London Eye wheel. The countdown was followed by a 10-minute fireworks display “big enough and loud enough to be seen … all over the capital”, mayor Ken Livingstone said.
In India, police arrested two suspected Islamic militants about half a mile from the site of New Delhi’s main public New Year’s Eve celebrations, a report said.
Pope Benedict XVI prayed at a New Year’s Eve service at the Vatican City in Rome that 2007 would bring the world “peace, comfort, justice”.
In Romania and Bulgaria, midnight marked a historic milestone, with the two countries becoming the newest members of the European Union. Fireworks thundered through the sky in the Romanian and Bulgarian capitals, which were decorated with the EU’s blue-and-gold flags.
Bad weather dampened celebrations in other parts of Europe. In Belfast, an outdoor concert that was to feature soul singer Beverley Knight and rock band The Thrills was called off because of the threat of gale-force winds. In Glasgow high winds and rain had forced officials to cancel traditional Hogmanay New Year’s celebrations.
No official celebrations were planned in Paris, but thousands were expected to congregate around the city’s most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysees, to welcome 2007.
In the Philippines, where many believe noisy New Year celebrations drive away evil and misfortune, police threatened to arrest anyone setting off oversized firecrackers.
In Japan, thousands climbed mountains, some scaling famed Mount Fuji, to greet the first dawn of the year. Police expected crowds at the summits to reach 15,000.
In Iraq, New Year’s Eve was another day marked by death, following the burial of executed former leader Saddam Hussein. The US military announced the death of a US soldier in Iraq, raising to 3,000 the American death toll in the country since the war began.
From Sydney to Bucharest, fireworks welcome new year
January 1, 2007
The world welcomed 2007 with skyrockets and rock concerts. But in some corners of the globe, the new year was marked by bombings.
Fireworks exploded over Sydney Harbour Bridge as a million onlookers greeted the new year. In London, thousands of revelers gathered to cheer as Big Ben rang in 2007.
But the Thai capital of Bangkok canceled the main celebration after nine bombs exploded across the city, many in crowded tourist areas. Two people were killed and 34 were injured.
In Sydney, one of the world’s first major cities to usher in the new year, people crammed the harbor shore for the lavish fireworks display celebrating the 75th anniversary of the iconic bridge.
Thousands of would-be revelers who had gathered at Bangkok’s Central World Plaza shopping mall complex for the event were sent home, officials said. Festivities continued in other parts of the city, though, including the famous Patpong Road red light district. Police and army troops with assault rifles, meanwhile, guarded some tourist sites, mass transit stations and traffic circles.
In India, police arrested two suspected Islamic militants about 1 kilometer, half a mile, from the site of New Delhi’s main public New Year’s Eve celebrations, a report cited police as saying.
Pope Benedict XVI prayed at a New Year’s Eve service at the Vatican City in Rome that 2007 would bring the world “peace, comfort, justice.”
In London, Big Ben’s chimes were relayed by sound systems along the banks of the great, gray River Thames. Crowds flocked to the banks near the Houses of Parliament to watch a light show countdown projected onto the 443-foot London Eye Ferris wheel, followed by a 10-minute fireworks display “big enough and loud enough to be seen … all over the capital,” Mayor Ken Livingstone said.
At least a million revelers were expected to flood Times Square in unseasonably warm New York City to see performances by singers Christina Aguilera and Toni Braxton. The crowd will also cheer and watch a 1,070-pound Waterford Crystal ball fall at midnight.
In North Korea, an editorial carried in all three state-controlled newspapers celebrated the new year by boasting that the country’s possession of nuclear weapons “serves as a powerful force for defending peace and security… and guaranteeing the victorious advance of the cause of independence.” The editorial exhorted North Koreans to “mercilessly defeat any invasion of the U.S. imperialists.”
Meanwhile, two former Communist Eastern bloc states, Romania and Bulgaria, took another step toward the West as they became the newest members of the European Union at midnight. Fireworks thundered through the sky in the Romanian and Bulgarian capitals, which were decorated with the EU’s blue-and-gold flags.
Bad weather dampened celebrations in other parts of Europe. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, an outdoor concert that was to feature soul singer Beverley Knight and rock band The Thrills was called off due to the threat of gale-force winds. Glasgow officials said high winds and rain had forced them to cancel traditional Hogmanay New Year’s celebrations in the Scottish city. Edinburgh at the last minute also canceled its Hogmanay party, which was to be headlined by the Pet Shop Boys.
In Belgium, several fireworks displays were canceled after two party tents set up for celebrations in northern Belgium blew away on Saturday. No official celebrations were planned in Paris, but thousands were expected to congregate around the city’s most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysees, to welcome 2007.
In the Philippines, where many believe noisy New Year’s celebrations drive away evil and misfortune, police threatened to arrest anyone setting off oversized firecrackers. Despite the warning, 284 people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire in the two weeks before New Year’s Day, a 75 percent rise from last year, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
In Japan, thousands climbed mountains, some scaling famed Mount Fuji, to greet the first dawn of the year. Police expected crowds at the summits to reach 15,000. Many Japanese, ranging from families with children to elderly couples, usually start climbing at night so they can reach the top in time for sunrise. Police anticipated 95 million visitors to the country’s major Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines over the first three days of the new year, as people offer prayers for peace, health and prosperity in one of the few religious rites in which most Japanese regularly take part.
The South African city of Cape Town prepared to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a show by the Cape Minstrels.
From Sydney to Bucharest, fireworks welcome New Year
January 1, 2007
Fireworks exploded over Sydney’s Harbor Bridge as a million onlookers celebrated the New Year. In London, hundreds of thousands of revelers cheered as Big Ben rang in 2007, but the Thai capital canceled its main event after a series of deadly bombings.
In the Australian capital, one of the world’s first major cities to usher in the new year, people crammed the harbor shore for the lavish fireworks display celebrating the 25th anniversary of the iconic bridge.
But in Thailand, city officials canceled Bangkok’s main New Year’s Eve celebration Sunday after a series of bombs killed two people and wounded more than 30. Thousands of revelers who had gathered at the Central World Plaza shopping mall complex for the event were sent home, officials said.
In India, police arrested two suspected Islamic militants about 1 kilometer (half a mile) from the site of New Delhi’s main public New Year’s Eve celebrations, a report cited police as saying.
Pope Benedict XVI prayed at a New Year’s Eve service at the Vatican City in Rome that 2007 would bring the world “peace, comfort, justice.”
In London, Big Ben’s chimes were relayed by sound systems along the River Thames. Hundreds of thousands of people crowded the river’s banks banks near the Houses of Parliament to watch a light show countdown projected onto the 443-foot (135-meter) London Eye Ferris wheel, followed by a 10-minute fireworks display, “big enough and loud enough to be seen … all over the capital,” Mayor Ken Livingstone said.
At least a million revelers were expected to flood Times Square in unseasonably warm New York City to see performances by singers Christina Aguilera and Toni Braxton.
Police said everything was going according to plan, and there had been no reports of unruly onlookers. Security was tight in and around Times Square. Spectators, expected to number about a million by midnight, passed through police checkpoints, no big bags or backpacks were permitted and bomb-sniffing dogs roamed the crowd.
The Texas band Radiant kicked off the event, when the famously flashy New Year’s Eve ball was raised to the top of a flagpole.
Revelers practiced several countdowns to 2007 in the hours before the show, complete with cheers and New Year’s kisses.
In Romania and Bulgaria, midnight marked a historic milestone, with the two countries becoming the newest members of the European Union. Fireworks thundered through the sky in the Romanian and Bulgarian capitals, which were decorated with the EU’s blue-and-gold flags.
“Welcome to the EU,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told a crowd of tens of thousands at a celebration in Bucharest, where he was joined on stage by Romania’s president and European foreign ministers from Germany, Denmark, Austria and Hungary. Officials were flying later Monday to Sofia for celebrations there.
Bad weather dampened celebrations in other parts of Europe. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, an outdoor concert that was to feature soul singer Beverley Knight and rock band The Thrills was called off due to the threat of gale-force winds.
Glasgow officials said high winds and rain had forced them to cancel traditional Hogmanay New Year’s celebrations in the Scottish city. Edinburgh at the last minute also canceled its Hogmanay party, which was to be headlined by the Pet Shop Boys.
In Belgium, several fireworks displays were canceled after two party tents set up for celebrations in northern Belgium blew away on Saturday.
No official celebrations were planned in Paris, but thousands were expected to congregate around the city’s most famous avenue, the Champs-Elysees, to welcome 2007.
In the Philippines, where many believe noisy New Year celebrations drive away evil and misfortune, police threatened to arrest anyone setting off oversized firecrackers.
Despite the warning, 284 people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire in the two weeks before New Year’s Day, a 75 percent rise from last year, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
“I have campaigned every day against firecrackers,” Duque said. “But this has become a deeply rooted part of our culture.”
In Japan, thousands climbed mountains, some scaling famed Mount Fuji, to greet the first dawn of the year. Police expected crowds at the summits to reach 15,000.
Many Japanese, ranging from families with children to elderly couples, usually start climbing at night so they can reach the top in time for sunrise.
Police anticipated 95 million visitors to the country’s major Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines over the first three days of the new year, as people offer prayers for peace, health and prosperity in one of the few religious rites in which most Japanese regularly take part.
The South African city of Cape Town prepared to celebrate New Year’s Eve with a show by the Cape Minstrels.
Violence erupts in Brazil ahead of New Year’s Eve
December 31, 2006
Gunmen sprayed police stations with bullets before dawn Sunday in the latest eruption of gang violence, but authorities insisted they were restoring order ahead of a huge New Year’s Eve bash on Copacabana beach.
Also on Sunday, suspected gang members hurled grenades at a firefighters’ station, according to Agencia Brasil, the nation’s official news agency.
No one was killed or hurt in Sunday’s attacks, Brazilian media said, quoting authorities who cited that as evidence that they were regaining control of the city.
The attacks came three days after a wave of assaults by suspected gang members left 19 dead, including eight killed after the bus they were riding was set ablaze.
Nearly 21,000 police officers fanned out across the city, many of them patrolling Rio slums where gangs rule neighborhoods and can be better armed than authorities. On Saturday, officers killed 6 suspected gang members in shootouts, but it was not clear whether those who died had any links to the initial violence outbreak.
Castro issues New Year’s message to Cubans
December 31, 2006
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro says his recuperation will be a long process but “the battle is far from lost”.
President Castro broke his silence over his health in a statement issued to mark the 48th anniversary of Cuba’s revolution as well as the coming new year.
“I had always warned that my recuperation will be a prolonged process but the battle is far from lost,” he said in the statement.
Thanking Cubans for their “affection and support,” President Castro said he was cooperating as a “disciplined patient” with a dedicated team of doctors. He said he had not stopped being informed “of the most important events and information,” adding: “I discuss with my closest comrades subjects of vital importance that require cooperation”.
President Castro, who has deputised his brother Raul as interim leader, also praised the Cuban people for their “maturity and serenity” and the work of the Communist Party, the Government and the armed forces. It is the first message from President Castro addressed to the Cuban people since October 28, when he appeared weak in a video segment.
On Tuesday, a prominent Spanish doctor who examined President Castro said the leader was not suffering from a “malignant” illness and denied that he had cancer. President Castro, who is 80 and underwent an operation on July 27, is “in a process of slow but progressive recovery” and does not need further surgery, Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido told reporters in Madrid after returning from the Communist island state.
Dr Garcia Sabrido, who heads a surgery unit at a major Madrid hospital and is described by the Spanish media as a top gastroenterologist, described President Castro’s condition as “fine”.
The Cuban leader, who has been in power since 1959, has not been seen in public for five months and few medical updates have been made public since his reported intestinal surgery in July. In Cuba, President Castro’s health is being treated as a state secret.
But in the year marking the 48th anniversary of President Castro’s ousting of dictator Fulgencio Batista, his absence at a December 2 military parade stunned people and sparked speculation he might be seriously ill, or near death. On Friday he was absent from the National Assembly’s last session of the year, only the second time in 30 years that he had missed an assembly meeting.
New Year’s Celebrations > around the world
December 30, 2006
At the stroke of midnight on Sunday night, tall flutes of sparkling champagne will be poured and sipped as people the world over toast the arrival of the New Year.
Kisses, hugs and well-wishes will be exchanged as colorful streamers and gold and silver confetti flutter in the air and fireworks illuminate the sky.
Starting from the east, the celebration of new beginnings will commence and continue till the clocks ring in 12 all over the globe. Different cultures usher in the new year in different ways. Some gather to watch the famous glittering ball drop in New York City’s Times Square, while others will meet to watch the spectacular fireworks at Sydney harbor in Australia.
Although the celebrations and traditions may vary, the energy that’s sparked by New Year’s Eve will be present no matter where the party.
Beachfront in Brazil > More than 2 million people gather on candlelit Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a couple of hours before midnight on December 31.
Each will bring a bottle of champagne and most will wear white, says 24-year-old Shana Claudio, a public relations professional living in New York City. As a Brazilian native, no matter where Claudio has lived, each year she has gone back to her home country to ring in the new year.
Although a few might deviate from white clothes, “mostly everyone wears white because people in Brazil are superstitious,” she explains. “They believe it will bring peace, happiness and health.”
Looking down from a balcony of the bordering Copacabana Palace hotel, the masses drawn together on the beach will look like “a sea of white.”
Underneath the white, it’s even traditional for women to wear different colored underwear depending on what they want in the coming year. For money, ladies choose yellow; for peace, white; and those longing for love will wear pink, Claudio says.
After a family dinner, people meet friends and walk together to Copacabana. Everyone usually gathers early because they know there will be hordes of people and nobody wants to miss the fireworks. The revelers sit on the beach drinking and talking or dancing while they wait.
People also buy white flowers from nearby sellers and step barefoot into the dark Atlantic, make a wish and throw the flowers into the ocean as an offering to Yemanja, goddess of the sea. And when the clock strikes midnight, everyone uncorks their bottles.
“You see the corks flying everywhere as white flowers wash up on the sand,” Claudio reminisces. “It’s really beautiful.”
After midnight and the fireworks, some take their shoes off, step into the water with their right foot and jump three waves for good luck, she says. Some also eat grapes and keep the seeds in their wallets for good luck, until they are replaced the following year.
The Rio New Year’s Eve is often a time spent with family; most parties don’t get started until after the clock strikes 12. People living in apartments bordering the beach will typically host parties and watch the fireworks from their apartment balconies. Others head to dance clubs after the beach.
“One of the big takeaways is that Rio’s not only this gorgeous metropolitan city, but there’s also tradition ingrained,” Claudio says. “Everyone has a lot of beliefs, and at the end of the day it’s about family and tradition, that’s what makes it really beautiful.”
Ushering In Shogatsu > Hours earlier, in the eastern half of the world, Tokyo will be one of the first cities to ring in the new year, literally. At midnight, crowds gather at the “watch-night bell” in Tokyo, which will be struck 108 times to rid people of the 108 earthly sins they are said to possess, according to Buddhist scriptures.
As the old year passes, the chimes and peals of temple bells reverberate all over Japan as millions of people line up to ring the bells to summon the new year, says a 28-year-old Japan native who has been living in Manhattan for more than two years. The lines, she recalls, can be up to two hours long.
On the streets of Tokyo, people gather to watch dezomeshiki, a stunt-filled parade of the city’s firemen. Before calling in the new year, the Japanese will spend the night of December 31, also called omisoka, watching Kohaku Uta Gassen, an annual televised music show.
Toward the end of the night, people eat buckwheat noodles called toshikoshi soba, also known as “year-crossing” noodles, for a prosperous and long life.
The New Year, or Shogatsu, is considered by many the most important holiday in Japan, and accordingly, preparations for the celebration begin weeks in advance: The Japanese clean their homes, put up rice-straw and bamboo decorations, send out New Year’s cards and hold bonenkai, or “year-forgetting,” parties.
On the first day of the year, many awake early to view the first sunrise, as it is traditionally considered the right way to start the year. During the day, people also visit temples and shrines to pray for a good and healthy year.
On the night of January 2, the Japanese go to sleep hoping to dream of Mt. Fuji, hawks or eggplants, as dreaming of these is considered an omen for a lucky year ahead. These are regarded as lucky because Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan, hawks fly high, and eggplants were highly priced in ancient Japan, when the tradition was first enacted.
During this time, Japanese children receive otoshidama, or little envelopes with pocket money, and celebrate by flying kites, spinning wooden tops and playing cards.
Locals feast on special New Year’s dishes called osechi, consisting of yellow fish eggs marinated in a dashi, sake and soy-sauce broth; sweet black beans; and umami-rich kombu rolls stuffed with salmon and simmered in dashi, mirin, sugar and soy sauce.
Japanese businesses remain closed through January 3, and the “whole city is very quiet” for the first three days of the year, the native says. As the days are said to be representative of the year to come, people generally gather with family and friends and spend the time in tranquil celebration.
Wherever your New Year’s Eve is spent, it will be a memorable night of festivities with family and friends, in which everyone can rejoice in the year past and look forward to a new beginning. Happy New 2007 everyone!
Año Nuevo! New Year’s Celebrations Transcend Cultures
December 29, 2006
The anticipation builds up, with only a short time left in an old year. The music from a large block party blares, the smell of roasted pork fills the air and the countdown begins, cinco, cuatro, tres, dos, uno … ¡Año Nuevo!
Though folks from the South have plenty of New Year’s traditions and superstitions such as cooking black-eyed peas, eating collards and refraining from washing clothes, area residents with Latino backgrounds know how to welcome 2007 as well.
According to Angier resident Alex Jimenez, a native of the southern portion of Mexico, Hispanic culture celebrates New Year’s Eve with the same vigor as America, though traditions are different.
“Down there everyone goes out and has a party,” Ms. Jimenez said. “Everyone hears your music and you hear everyone else’s music and everyone is out dancing in the street.”
She said in America, where parties rarely grow larger than extended family and friends, it’s hard to understand the block-wide celebrations.
“Here, the people don’t go out because it’s so different,” she said. “In Mexico everyone is a family. All of the people are more together.”
Ms. Jimenez said one more New Year’s practice transcends the Rio Grande, and is common in Southern culture as well as southern Mexico.
“There is something they will do for sure, at 12 o’clock that night they will shoot guns into the sky,” she said.
Eddie Hernandez, manager of the Angier International Market, has been in town for about two years. He said in his homeland of the Dominican Republic, many people celebrate New Year’s in the same way they would in America, but with more zest.
“Most of the people, after dinner they go to a night club,” he said. “Some stay home, blow off fireworks and drink a lot of beer.”
Alfonso Cumes is from Tecpan Chimaltenago, Guatemala, and works at MiCasita in Dunn. He said New Year’s celebrations there lean heavily on Catholic and Mayan traditions.
“In the traditionally Mayan areas people gather at the pyramids and Mayan priests burn incense and conduct Mayan ceremonies,” he said. “All over the country they have parades where they carry images from the church, images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, San Jan and San Pedro, whoever the local saints are.”
In Costa Rica the celebration lasts for more than one night and is much more intense than the American favorite of Times Square.
“We start celebrating around Dec. 16,” said Vanessa Gomez Soles of Dunn, originally from Zapote, Costa Rica. “We have three parades during that time, one called El Carnival, one called El Tope, and another called El Destile de Luces.
“El Carnival is like a carnival, and El Tope is a parade of horses,” she said. “In it the most beautiful women dress like Spanish ladies and they decorate their horses with braids in their hair and they pull beautiful carriages.
“El Destile de Luces is the most beautiful, though,” she said. “It’s at night and all the big companies decorate their trucks with lights.”
Costa Rica also celebrates the end of the year with a tradition brought over by the Spanish bullfights.
“It’s very beautiful, very elegant,” Mrs. Soles said. “But we don’t kill the bull. Another thing people do is called Las Corridas. Everybody gathers in La Plaza de Torros and they let the bull run free. They run around the bull and it chases everybody. Every year they do it and people get hurt, but they do it every year.”
Food > Latino New Year’s celebrations are all culinary events, but foods differ from place to place, according to Ms. Jimenez.
“The same way America does their different types of food, as far as the North and the South, it’s like that in Mexico too,” she said. “They try to do some sort of meat, as far as lamb or pork. Or steamed beef.”
She said in the southern part of the country, where she is from, tamalés are a popular dish. In central and northern regions of the country, pasolé, a dish made with hominy and chicken or pork, is a more traditional New Year’s dish.
Beverages are also an important part of the yearly tradition in Southern Mexico. Atole, a warm drink consisting of chocolate and corn pudding, is popular.
A drink is made from guava, sugar cane, apples, pineapple and dried plums. Ms. Jimenez said a little alcohol is sometimes also added to spice things up.
Sol Osorio of Lillington is originally from Caguas, Puerto Rico. She said New Year’s in her country is a time of celebration with friends, family and food.
“We used to have fireworks, but this year the government outlawed fireworks,” she said. “But that’s always been a big tradition.
“Then, after fireworks we eat asopao. It’s like a chicken stew,” she said. “You can’t miss with it. After 12 everybody kisses everybody, and you know the asopao is coming.”
One of the most enjoyable traditions, Ms. Osorio said, was “Las Parrandas.” To understand what Las Parrandas are, think of a cross between festive Christmas caroling with bongos, guitars and other local instruments, and a roving block party.
“They start around Dec. 1, but we really do it at New Year’s,” she said. “You go from house to house singing and every house has food and you eat. And every house has ‘coquito,’ a rum and coconut drink and a lot spices.”
“And then there’s arroz con dulce, it’s like a rice pudding. You can’t forget that,” she said. “It’s a traditional food.”
Superstitions > As in American culture, Latinos have several superstitions meant to bring good luck or prevent bad fortune in the coming months.
“Some of the people, what they do is they take all their luggage and carry it around the house - for more travels,” said Mr. Hernandez of the Dominican Republic. “Some people, they clean everything and throw away all the old stuff, so they will get new things in the new year.”
Love and prosperity are also common themes for New Year’s superstitions.
“People wear red clothes and red pants to find some new love in the new year,” Mr. Hernandez said. “Some people eat 12 grapes at 12 o’clock, and make 12 wishes.”
Irma Salas, who co-owns Universal Wireless in Angier with her husband Mario, is from the Zacatecas region of Mexico, south of Mexico City. She said Mexican tradition holds many of the same superstitions.
“You have to eat the grapes in less than a minute,” she said. “We wear new clothes; anything we wear has to be new.”
She said whatever you are doing to bring in the New Year is how you will spend the rest of your year.
“It’s how your year is going to be,” she said. “If you are working that day, you will be working for the rest of the year.”
Mrs. Soles said people in Costa Rica also have traditions they celebrate on New Year’s and New Year’s Eve to bring good luck, travel, and putting the old year behind them.
“Some people take water and put it in a pan and then throw it over their shoulder,” she said. “That means all the bad things of the year are behind you.”
“Another thing people do is cross the street with their suitcases,” she said. “That means you’ll travel in the next year.
Yellow Underwear > “But there is one thing people do that is kind of funny,” she said laughing. “On New Year’s day, they wear yellow underwear for good luck.”
Ms. Jimenez said in Mexico, New Year’s isn’t the end of the holiday celebrations; there is still another day to look forward to. Los Tres Reyes, literally meaning “the three kings,” celebrates the gifts brought to Jesus by the wise men, nearly two weeks after American Christmas is long gone.
“Christmas is not actually a time to give gifts to the children,” she said. “The children actually receive gifts on the fifth night of January, so when they wake up on Jan. 6 they get gifts.”
Ms. Osorio said in Puerto Rico the celebration can go on even longer.
“Christmas in Puerto Rico doesn’t end on Dec. 25,” she said. “We celebrate Tres Reyes and then it goes eight more days after that called Las Octavitas. That ends with more parrandas (music and parties) and more food.
“When it’s all over, you need vacation,” she said, laughing.
