Feliz Año Nuevo...

Happy New Year!

Well, from my last update you probably read that on New Year's Eve we took Woody and Marla to the airport for their trip back to Kansas. Later that evening I was ready to go to Gloria's house. I took a taxi over there at about 9:00pm. From there, we all loaded up their truck and went to the Cathedral. On the way over, Gloria and Roberto were pointing out a lot of the old men. At the parque central, they had music, vendors, etc. going on. Plus, the clock was running! That was very cool to see. We didn't stay very long because Roberto and the kids needed to buy more fireworks. I was kind of glad for that because I had picked up Lissy to see the singers a little better. She fell asleep in my arms, and was starting to get a bit heavy.

We walked back to the truck and Lissy crawled up onto my lap and fell right back to sleep. Roberto drove behind the Cathedral to where all the fireworks stands were. When we stopped, I didn't get out of the truck so that I didn't disturb Lissy, but I still got to see plenty. There must have been 20 different fireworks stands, each one had pretty much the same thing for the same price. It was just a matter of seeing if one of your friends had a stand and you wanted to give them your business.

After buying fireworks, we stopped by to visit Roberto's mother. Sure, twist my arm with some torrejas. Yennsi was keeping a constant eye on the time. She wanted to make sure we were back at home well before midnight. The kids were outside, setting off some of the fireworks, but saving the good ones for later. As we drove home, we stopped at one house in particular, just to look in the living room window. The entire living room had been cleared of furniture and a nativity scene set up. But what's different about nativity scenes here is that in addition to the Holy Family, Wise Men and Angels, an entire village and more is set up. Many of the nativity scenes I saw this year included models of the Cathedral, various local streets, stores and vendors, etc. This one we were looking at was, by far, the most elaborate. It filled the entire living room an included murals on the walls and stars and lights on the ceiling. It was incredible.

Before getting back in the truck, we stopped next door and talked to a guy who was putting the finishing touches on his old man. He was stuffing strings and strings of firecrackers in the old man's pants, in his shirt, under his cap, in his shoes, anywhere he could put them.

Now, before you think that this was some type of elder abuse, let me explain. For New Year's, one of the traditions here is to end the year by blowing up a dummy old man, kind of like a scarecrow. It's a way to get rid of the old and bring in the new. I had been seeing lots of old men propped up on the roadside for the past few days as we were driving and I knew what they were since I had been told about them. Some years, they have themes for the old men. Hermes told me that a few years ago, the old man was Osama bin Laden. (Because of the timing of Hussein's death, I wondered if there would be a push to turn the old men into Hussein, but they didn't.)

We got back to Gloria's and the children, okay, the adults, too, started lighting some of the fireworks. We were all anxious for midnight! At midnight, it started. Fireworks! Firecrackers! And exploding men! We ran to the corner to watch the old man there go up with a bang. I turned around and ran back the other way. Someone else had already finished blowing up their dude and now they were burning the remants. It was a huge bonfire! The first old man soon met the same fate. And firecrackers and fireworks everywhere ~~ for at least a solid half hour. Huge, colorful fireworks were lighting up the sky from the direction of the Cathedral. The streets were filled with bright light, smoke, and the sounds of laughter. After a while, I walked with Hermes as we stopped at about a dozen houses to say, "Happy New Year." People were everywhere, walking as families, groups of girls, and groups of guys. Doors were open. The streets were full. I commented to Hermes that I thought in many respects it was one of the safest nights of the year, that anyone could be out walking and nothing would happen ~~ except maybe having to dodge some firecrackers!

Back at Hermes' house I talked with his mother for a few minutes. Then a few other friends arrived. This whole time, there was wave after wave of fireworks going off.

Gloria and Roberto brought me home about 1:30am. Things were quieting down a little, but I knew that fireworks would be going off pretty much all night long. When I got back, I checked on Kezia, the dog. She's a Honduran dog and wasn't scared one bit. Afterall firecrackers go off pretty much every night.

By about 6:30 the next morning, there was another pretty big burst of firecrackers. There was more than the normal amount of firecrackers going off pretty much all day. Yeah, that sounds about right.

¡Feliz año nuevo!