New Years Eve in Arequipa....don’t forget your yellow underwear!

2018 ended with a bang here in Peru. We are not really big party people, and most New Years Eves we spend time with family earlier in the day, and then are home early, and usually in bed well before midnight….yes, we are a bit boring….After how tired our children were during Christmas Eve  we figured we would have an early night as usual, well Peru managed to keep most of our family awake….some of us can’t stay awake no matter what.

December 31 we had a lazy morning, called my brother Alex to wish him a happy birthday, and then wandered down to Plaza de Armas in search for the Catholic University of Santa Maria’s Museum of Andean Santuaries, where a famous mummy called “ Juanita, the ice maiden” is displayed. This is one of Maija’s many bucket lists items, and she will write a little bit about it on a separe post. After a lot of walking as usual we headed home, and then went out to look for a Peruvian Chifa. It is a family tradition to always have Chinese food on New Years Eve, and we are lucky to have many chifas (Peruvian style Chinese food) near by.

Peru has a many interesting, and funny traditions during New Years. We read about them a little, and kept our eyes open for them. For example wearing new clothes in a specific color signifies your desires for the New Year: yellow for luck and happiness (the most popular), green for money, and red for love.

We saw street vendors everywhere selling yellow everything; hats, t-shirts, dresses, sun glasses, but specially underwear. I was tempted to get the kids some, but I have to stop myself from buying too many things since they all have to fit in our small carry ons.

The market is a happening place if you are looking  for yellow underwear.

Some other traditions include running around the block with an empty suitcase to bring good luck travelling in the new year….we probably should have done that one! Some of our downstairs neighbors were out there with their luggage.

One tradition we wished we had seen, but did not see was burning up the “año viejo” or old year. Dressing up a large doll or effigy with old clothes, filling it with fireworks, and burning it on the street signifies getting rid of the old and making a new start…particularly if these dolls are made to look like Peruvian politicians or other figures who are considered to have done the country wrong…..I’m sad we missed seeing that.

The kids did manage to eat grapes under the table. Eating twelve grapes under the table at midnight and saying the name of each month as they are consumed rapidly is meant to bring luck for each month of the year. Dropping a grape or bumbling over the month’s name forecasts bad luck for that particular month. A thirteenth grape must be eaten to seal the deal!....Terran only ate 5 grapes, he was a little sleepy, so I don’t know what that might mean for him.

We put the kids to bed at around 9 pm, and promised to wake them up for the big show. If it was anything like Christmas we did not want them to miss it.

A few minutes before midnight the show started. It is like a war zone, but beautiful. I think there are hundreds of fireworks going off throughout the city. We wished each other a happy New Year, and just enjoyed the show. Happy New Years Friends!!!

Here is another crazy fireworks video. It made me think that some of our fireworks loving friends in Woodbine would really love Peru.