December 30, 2016
It’s almost 2017 and, for many of us, January 1st can’t come soon enough. We’re happy to put behind all the problems of yaad and abroad and start a new chapter of our lives.
A new year is a great time to adopt a fresh outlook, to try something a little different and see if it works. As you prepare for a brand new year and a brand new you – you’re going to achieve your New Year’s resolutions this year, I can feel it! – there are many alternative ways to greet the New Year, and so we offer a few:
In nearby Colombia, it’s common to run around the block with empty suitcases that will bring travel to your new year. The colour of your underwear will also inform the kind of luck you will have in the coming year: red for luck in love, yellow for luck in money and white for peace.
Really mad at 2016? Then set it on fire! No, not literally. In many Latin American countries, effigies that represent the old year, such as animated characters or even sitting political figures, are created and paraded around until midnight, when they are destroyed in a blazing fire.
And you know we couldn’t leave out the food. In Spain, a grape is eaten at each stroke of midnight, each grape representing one month of the coming year. If you get all your grapes down in time, your year will be a prosperous one. But woe is he who scorns this time-honoured tradition: he has an unlucky year ahead.
The Jewish practice of Rosh Hashanah (which translates to "beginning of the year”) is celebrated in September and involves eating apple slices dipped in honey. Talk about a sweet start!
Looking into our own past for ideas we find a remnant of our English colonial days in the practice of saying a variation of “Rabbit, rabbit, white rabbit” before you say anything else on the first of every month. Make sure to have a glass of water right after on international hangover day though!
In Jamaica today, we ring in the New Year in church or while celebrating with friends. So whether you’re in the Lord’s house or at a raving party when the ball drops, we hope you’re ready to become the best version of you that you can be…or you could stay exactly the way you are now. You’re pretty great as is!
Best of luck and Happy New Year from Panmedia!
