Since my last post, we here in the Azuero (and all around the country) have been through the gamut of holidays and festivals. Starting back during fiestas patrias, we managed to have one, maybe two full weeks of school. November and December, for students, is like April and May for kids in the US. Everyone is just waiting anxiously for the year to be over, to graduate, to start going to the beach and the river. Couple that with ample distractions every weekend and you have a couple of months that are hard for educators. Two days before Christmas, I attended the last graduation ceremony in my town (for the night school. My librarian counterpart graduated this year.), and tuna-ed the night away at a "presentation" ceremony for a neighborhood queen for the upcoming Reyes festival we have during the first week of January. I spent Christmas (actually Christmas Eve, which is the date they celebrate here) dancing (are you surprised?) with a few girlfriends who were invited to a nearby community. Christmas Day was a marathon of eating leftovers from Christmas Eve dinners, which included turkey, ham, and many different types of salad. And now, after a week off to visit a fellow volunteer and climb up to the highest point in Panama, I've have come back to town just in time to ring in the New Year with my friends and surrogate families.
As the end of the year approached, I had a lot of conversations about what people do to celebrate the end of one year and the entry of another. In Spain you put on red panties and try to stuff twelve grapes in your mouth before the clock stops chiming. In Colombia people generally ring in the year with their families, often leaving the house at the stroke of midnight to talk to neighbors in the street and walk around the block. Here are a few traditions I’ve stumbled upon in my conversations here:
Throw money (just change), rice, or corn into the street to represent the wishes you have for the coming year (riches, a good harvest, etc.). I’ve even heard that some people throw a suitcase full of clothes into the street if they want to get out a lot.
Put money in your pockets so that in the coming year you never find yourself strapped for cash.
If you want to travel in the coming year, pack a suitcase, and when the clock strikes twelve, act like you’re going off to travel. Wave goodbye to your family, walk around the house or up the street, and come back before the clock starts chiming. It’s a way of manifesting the wish, setting the right tone for the year so the universe knows that’s what you’ll be doing.
Write your wishes/goals/desires on little pieces of paper and seal them up in a red bag. Don’t look at them or tell anyone about them for the next twelve months. On the next New Year, open up the bag. See if your wishes came true.
Put dry foodstuffs (lentils, beans, rice, corn) in a bowl with change and set it aside to assure that you’re not left wanting for these things in the coming year.
Wear yellow underwear.
Eat an orange or a grape and count the seeds. That’s your lucky number for the next year.
All of the traditions having to do with wishes and desires also have to do with keeping them to yourself! If you want to travel, don’t talk about it, just peace out of the house with your suitcase. Don’t tell anyone what you write on those little papers in the red bag. Your wishes are for you to think about, and in sharing them with the universe, it’s like you’ve made this sacred commitment to live up to what you want.
Most New Year's Eve celebrations are at home, celebrated with family and a big, big dinner. Everyone waits together for midnight, and then...dancing. Were you surprised? I invite you to sprinkle in some Panamanian customs for your New Year's celebrations.
FELIZ AÑO NUEVO! See all you readers in 2012.
