Happy New Year and Welcome 2011!

It’s weird to say 2011. I was filling in my new day planner last week and it looked so odd to write 2011 on the page. This reminds me of every January in school, dating my papers with the new year and the strange feeling it brings. Only a week later, I’ll accidentally write 2010 somewhere :)
Well, I had a good time here in Boaco celebrating with my host bro and his friends. He was kind of last minute inviting people over (partly because he still doesn’t have a phone after it was stolen) so there weren’t that many people. We still had a great time dancing to really loud music with glow bracelets and glittery hats. At midnight, we got out sparkling cider and set off fireworks—something which gets pretty crazy here in Nicaragua! A lot of the fireworks are pretty much bombs and not very safe. My host bro set off one quickly and too close to the house, so I had to run away as a piece hit my leg. My first firework scar! Haha It’s tiny, but it hurt and scared me pretty good. We also lit sparklers which were fun (and a lot safer!). After setting off fireworks, we headed over to a friend’s house to continue the celebration. There were things burning in the streets as we walked by. A tradition here is to dress up a dummy like a person and burn it in the street at midnight to say goodbye to the old you. It was kind of weird to me though because it looked like burning people in the streets. A little morbid.

Anyway, we hung out with the friend and her family for awhile, while the older men were drinking and singing the night away. It was hilarious. The best part though was when the dad of Yasser’s friend went out to pour water on the burning pile in the street where people had been setting off bombs and other little fireworks on top of a dummy. He started pouring water and some sparks came up. Then he poured the rest of the bucket and part of a firework shot up and started going off and crackling. It certainly scared him. Then, he brought more water out to finish and this time, the mini bomb type things exploded when he poured the water. This was so funny to watch. I guess the water agitated the fireworks that were hidden in the pile that hadn’t exploded.

We came home late and then watched a little TV and ate some ice cream to celebrate before starting diets for the new year haha We then went to bed at 4am! Yikes! I finally had a legitimate excuse for sleeping in until 11:30am :)

with Yasser's best friend from school