There are many traditions in Peru for luck in the new year. Some of them are:
1. Wear yellow underpants. This is supposed to bring you luck in the new year so go out and add some color to your underwear. Note: all stores and kiosks on the street are chocked full of all different styles and sizes of yellow underwear.
2. A well known tradition is running around the block once with an empty suitcase as fast as you possibly can. Do this if you want to travel in the New Year.
3. Put a handful of lentils in your wallet. This will mean your wallet will never be empty (even if it is full of lentils and not money)
There are more listed at Living in Peru. There are many I haven't heard of, but they are pretty comical.
Since we haven't done any of these in the past, we decided not to add any "lucky traditions" this year. 2008 was fantastic! Maximo got stronger and stronger and turned into a real boy! (Sounds a bit like a line in Pinocchio.) We enjoyed another adventurous year in Peru with vacations to Argentina, the US, Columbia and Cusco. And we made the decision to move on after this school year and are heading to Japan in the fall of 2009.
Last night we went to our friend, Gilles' house down at the beach where a few couples with babies took over his gorgeous beach house. (What was he thinking?) We had sangria and sushi, lots of decadent appetizers and fish on the grill with the waves crashing just feet away. Once down there, I realized my camera battery was just about dead, so all I got was this little video of Maximo destroying enjoying the blue cheese dip! (Linda I'm sure got great photos, so I'll upload some of those later when she sends them to me - Max and Kate are super cute together!)
We had to head back to Lima before midnight because Maximo couldn't fall asleep with all the excitement going on. Which is fine with us because we haven't stayed up that late since before he was born! We were fast asleep but were awoken at midnight by a barrage of fireworks - something almost EVERYONE sets off on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Not beautiful fireworks that you wouldn't mind gazing out your window to watch, just loud bangs and booms.
I decided to go into Maximo's room when he started to cry with the first of the fireworks and stay there with him until they stopped. Unfortunately, also at 12:00 the cheap portable clock we bought at radio shack decided that it was going to celebrate the New Year by going off! It was not set to do so, it just wanted to get in on the celebration. I tried to turn it off multiple times, but only "snoozed" it. Finally I hit all the buttons at once, then stuck it between the two mattresses of the bed, then I put Max back in his crib and we peacefully slept through the first six hours of the new year.
Today, we'll have another lazy summer day, though it looks like the sun may not come out, to start 2009. We wish you all a Prospero Ano Nuevo!
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