¡felíz año Nuevo! From what im told, we’re celebrated a couple of hours earlier than the majority of people that read this blog, and in much better weather..i can only assume. The tradition here is very different from the one in the states but after having experienced it, I think it accords very much with their emphasis on family and tradition. Viã del mar is right on the beach, as ive mentioned, and so all of the families go to the apartment with the best view of the ocean, of stake out a place on the boardwalk with their families and bring in the new year together. They wear yellow underwear for goodluck, eat 12 uvas (grapes) at midnight for goodluck every month of the year and also hold a dollar, or more like 10,000mil (≈$20) for wealth in the new year. Theyre all little superstitions but its comical to see how widespread it is. EVERYONE HAD UVAS IN THEIR BASKET AT THE SUPERMARKET.
As an aside, im writing this in my room while cate is still asleep (rarity) and there is this fly in my room. Did you ever notice how malicious a fly appears- it does this thing with its two front feet(?) as if its rubbing its hands together and plotting revenge on the human population. TANGENT
After you bring in the new year with your family, all the kids go out and the parents go to bed. But the point is to be with your family when it turns into the new year, and no trying/failing at finding someone to swap spit with.

Eitherway though, the plan was not to spend new years with amandas homestay family (even though they had the best view) because we were not invited. However, the 4 hour pregame left us a bit behind schedule as we had wanted to make it closer to the venue we bought tickets for. Instead, we make it just outside amanads house and my blatter comes beckoning. I decide that the matter is too urgent and that ill just go knock on amandas door, blabber my way through an excuse, and get a good view of the fireworks. This all worked out well except for the explanatory portion, which failed miserably. I think the prayer position of my hands sufficiently handled the job, but only after some time. I didn’t feel as though I was intruding all that much in the end, becuas these were the people we had spent Christmas with.
Viña del mar is internationally known for its new year’s fireworks show, and this year, a panel of Guinness book judges came to see the fuegos. For what I could see, there were 6 different raft-y things that the fireworks were going off from. It was pretty breathtaking. The lights below from the people wearing light-up head-gear, the beautiful night, the 30 min fireworks show, the company, the champagne. The only thing was lacking was that traditional MTV countdown; I found myself a bit confused as to when it was 11:59..but its comes and goes.
Afterwards, cate and sarah came up to amandas house, also uninvited, to pee and refuel for the long night ahead. We basically stuffed ourselves silly with sodadillas (beleenie equivalents) with all types of dip. YUM. We left after we felt sufficiently bloated and started the trek towards Salinas, which we were already hearing mixed reviews about.
The night and the club turned out to the better than expected but its still annoying that places ON NEW YEARS claim to have open bar. First off, there was only ONE bar and people were basically slammed on top of eachother, not moving, as THREE bartenders tried to serve 6-8,000 people- or so we are told. The venue itself thought, was very cool. Upstairs,downstairs,”champagne room”,outdoor tent with live rappers and a reggaeton artist, right on the water/position into the rocks-. We went with a decent amount of people, but somehow that did not stop the guys for positioning us to dance. Too bad its so far from true what they say about latin guys and dancing- they might like caderas (hips) on girls, but they surely don’t know how to move theirs. All around though, we had an excellent time. Amanda was coma-tose for parts but suddenly revitalized during blackeyed peas or being positioned by the many men with mullets. Well, it’s the euro mullet, but revamped. Sometimes it’s the shaved sides with curls in the back, dreads in the back, and unidentifiable assortment of the two. The guys and girls were all very attractive, but very young- this is something we had been warned about but it’s still a bit confusing. All the people at this club with 19-23 but they all looked like they were still in highschool. Anyone we talked to immediately asked how old we were because we stood out that much.
We left at 5ish and took the bus home. Along the way, cate got a crazing for mcdonalds. Perhaps it was not a craving but the only appropriate response to spending new years together in a foreign place. Fortunately, I did not break my ten year record of no mcdonalds but I will agree with cate that the meat did not taste as processed or greasy as I remembered/could imagine them in the states. On our very short sprint back to the apartment at 6am, all of the bars were still incredibly packed, almost as if the sun was not RISING.
Now we’re on our way to amandas place because her family went to their weekend house so we have apartment to ourselves to cook and drink mamosas and probably go to her pool…oh the life.