A New Year. As that fateful moment rolls across the globe from Kiribati to American Samoa a multitudinous collection of traditions dot the human landscape. Fireworks burn sulfur and charcoal across the skies, the ball drops in Times Square, “The Blue Danube” pours through the streets of Vienna, and 108 strikes ring from the gongs of Buddhist temples across Japan. People seize on the changing of that last little number in the date to update themselves, to refresh their goals and molt the accumulation of misdeeds, heartache, apprehension, and plain old ill luck. Latin people are especially fond of a number of superstitions to birth an auspicious new year, Mexicans being no exception.
Across the country, families and friends gather to eat traditional meals of turkey and mole and to drink and stay up to all hours of the night. They are also said to:
- Eat 12 grapes at midnight. They make a wish for each grape and try to down them all (in succession) in a minute.
- Choose lingerie colors for luck. Red for love, yellow for more general success, green for money, etc. (although there seems to be some disagreement over the actual color code).
- Throw a bucket of water out the window to get rid of the old.
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