The traditional new year of this people group is a very
special time of the year. It’s one of
the few remaining cultural holiday that is celebrated and distinctly them. We love all the excitement and activity
around two specific days: March 20 and 21.
The 20th is new year’s eve.
There is a major road here that gets completely shut down and blocked
off. Starting mid afternoon people start
to come out in mass, all dressed up in traditional clothing. Everyone is in a great mood and the our boys
get dozens of pictures taken of them.
Scott even made it on the news this year!
It is beautiful to see a sea of color going down as far as
the eye can see. We were blessed this year
with perfect weather. It had been
raining for several days before, but by Tuesday it had cleared up and the sun
was out. The street was all decorated and
there were music groups, artists, poets and actors all displaying their skills
along about a mile stretch of the road.
As the day goes on you end up almost shoulder to shoulder with people as
you push through the crowds. At one point
this year one of my biggest fears was realized when Zeke disappeared on us for
a few minutes. We were crossing over a
median where Zeke went first. When we
turned to lift Ethan’s stroller over it we turned back and Zeke had continued
on. There were so many people I wasn’t
sure how to find him. I prayed as 4 of
us looked frantically for him. However,
after about 5 minutes he just showed back up where Ethan and friend of ours
were waiting. I don’t think he ever even
realized anything was wrong! So after
our heart rates calmed back down we continued on walking and enjoyed our
afternoon.
Into the early evening they light big fires here which is
part of the historical tradition of the holiday. We often only make it a couple hours because
the kids are tired and hungry, but we know that some year we’ll be able to go
for more than a few hours so we can enjoy that aspect. The neighbors by our former house used to
light their own fire, but the street we live on now doesn’t get into the
festivities in quite the same way! The
21st is the day that everyone heads out of the city for a big, all
day picnic. I will write about that in
part 2, so stay tuned for more pictures and stories of our new year’s
adventure!
No comments:
Post a Comment