New Year's Eve Celebrations

I have been preoccupied with family and haven’t thought a bit about New Year’s Eve. The one thing that I have heard is that everybody drives to the coast to see an amazing display of fireworks in Valparaiso. A good reason to avoid the coast right now!

There is also a countdown in downtown Santiago with fireworks and because it is summer there are a lot of asados (barbeques) and family gatherings well into the night/early morning.

Traditionally, Chileans have a lot of superstitions and from my brief google search this proves true with their New Year’s traditions.

Chile New Years Traditions taken completely from somebody else's blog:

• Empty Suit Case: Walk around the block with an empty suit case, doing this will mean that you will take a trip in the incoming year. [I may walk around with a full one - I will have had enough trips for a while after this year!]
• 12 grapes, one for each month: Eat one grape at a time and while you make a wish with each one. 
• Lentils: Eat a spoon full of lentils, this means you will have money this new year. 
• Dollars in Right Shoe: This means you will have money this next year. 
• New Clothes: Wear only new clothes this will bring on new changes for the new year [sounds like Rosh Hashanah]
• Yellow Underwear: This will make you engaged in the New Year. 
• 12 Candles: Light the 12 different colored candles that have different meanings each. 
• Gold Ring in the Champagne: Toast with a gold ring in the glass, this means you will get a marriage proposal this new year. 

A few more from one of the blogs I read a lot - cachandochile:

• Wheat for Abundance: ribbon-wrapped sprigs of wheat are commonly sold on the streets of Santiago at Christmas time and some people distribute them to each guest at midnight on New Year’s Eve to bring abundance.
• Burning the bad: this fun and even emotional ceremony requires tying a life-sized stuffed dummy to a stake and shortly after midnight, all the participants write something they want to change in the coming year, attach it to the dummy, which is then set it on fire. The bad things in your life go up in flames!

I’ll see how many we actually observe but I may put money in my shoe just in case. Although everybody is wearing sandals so I am not sure how that will work. I’ll keep yellow underwear and the ring away from my children.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!