Ringin’ in the New Year

  So, I have been rolling over in my mind how I go about explaining my Nica New Year's celebration to many people that only have American New Year's to which they can compare my descriptions. First,  let me say that New Years was incredibly fun and definitely interesting. Secondly, although I'm sure my words in fall short I am going to attempt to paint a picture of the night for you…

    First of all Nicaraguans love to dress up, especially for special occasions. Which means that I had to get all dressed up (high heels included) even though we had a 40 minute walk through dirt roads before we would reach our destination. My feet hurt so badly by the time we arrived that I had to change into flip flops (of course, in retrospect it would have been much smarter to wear the flip flops TO the park and change into the heels when I arrived… hindsight is 20/20 as they say).
   Upon arriving to the park, I was amazed at the number of people crammed into such a small area… literally thousands of people (I mean it wasn't Times Square on New Year's but it was crowded nonetheless). We spent some time wandering aimlessly looking for a place to sit while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive. I loved just having some chill out time with some of my youth especially since I had just returned from 3 weeks away. Once everyone arrived, we decided to walk over to the carnival rides that are set up in the park at nearly every major holiday. We decided to ride the biggest ride in the place which is a basically a ferris wheel, but you are seated in a metal cage that you can spin completely upside down as the ferris wheel circle turns.
   Now, before you start picturing any amusement park you've ever been to remember that this is Nicaragua. These are not amusement park rides; they are fair rides (and I'm fairly certain they are fair rides that have been retired from use in the States). And lines are not like lines in the States. You can more closely relate the experience to trying to push your way towards the stage at a big outdoor concert than to actually standing in a typical line. We stuck to the people in front of us as closely as possible so that we didn't lose our spots (which caused me to get elbowed in the face by the guys in front of me 7 times- yes, I counted) as everyone pushed forward in mass and tried to avoid stepping on the man who was already passed out drunk in the middle of the lines. Then when we finally reached the front of the "line" I kept leaning back as far as possible because the ferris wheel was whirling by only inches from my face. Rosita and I finally climbed into our little blue cage and which was held closed by what appears to be a broken coat hanger, but I couldn't be sure. The ride itself was really fun, especially seeing how scared my Nica teens are screaming at the top of their lungs "Ay! Dios mio! Oh Santo Dios!" Hilarious!!
   After our ride on the ferris wheel we returned to the main part of the park where we just sat on the sidewalk laughing, talking, and eating pan and refresco from one of the food-selling carts set up on the outskirts of the park. We just sat there enjoying one another's company until nearly midnight.
   At about ten minutes until midnight we started walking back to Candelaria. I know it sounds strange to leave the park just minutes before midnight, but best "ringing in the new year" moments happen in the streets. There is a tradition in Nicaragua that everyone builds these large scarecrow-type dolls that represent the old year and at midnight they burn the dolls in the street (which I imagine is quite cathartic if you've had a bad year). The burning of the dolls is simply a dramatic way (dramatic in Nicaragua… who would have guessed?) to say goodbye to the previous year. Oh and I should mention that many of the dolls are filled with fireworks in the middle so that when the fire reaches down far enough little fireworks begin exploding from the dolls (pictured above left). Needless to say, this makes walking the streets an interesting experience.  If dodging burning dolls exploding from within weren't enough, the streets are also filled with people throwing fireworks to welcome in the new year.
   I, of course, didn't want to miss out on any of the cultural experiences so I insisted that we buy fireworks to throw at midnight. So here we are a group of about 15 Americans and Nicaraguans standing in the middle of the road, dolls burning and fireworks popping all around us. Anthony borrowed a candle from a kid sitting near by so that he could light our fireworks. Fireworks here are really a little paper-wrapped firecracker attached to a long, thin stick. You hold the paper between your fingers as someone ignites the firework and then when it's ready to be released you just throw it straight up in the air. I'll admit that those couple of seconds that I was just holding a lit firework were a little scary, but I really LOVED the experience! (It's hard to describe the experience in words so I'm attaching below a one minute video to show you what it was like). It was so fun!! It was an amazingly fun night and definitely not like any new year's eve I've ever experienced!