Christmas Eve and New Years Eve -- South American style

The city woke up about 11:30 p.m. and everywhere people were setting off fireworks for the pleasure of everyone else. As the midnight hour arrived more families participated. They were as close as two floors beneath our apartment, where a family shot off several dozen red, green, yellow and white colorful flares and directly across the street from the roof top. Many across the horizon were filling the night sky with colors, whistles, cracks, kabooms and large bangs! The sporadic bursts of color came out of nowhere and lit up the sky for a few seconds, followed by another from a different direction. It was a continuous stream of colors visible for miles around.

At 12:00 it was like the finale of a fireworks display in our home town, where ever we looked, in all directions there were fireworks ascending to their maximum height with a whirl, dropping back down to earth only to be met by more of the same. The colors were brilliant and beautiful. There was no wasted time, as they continued, for about an hour! With the crisp night air, there was a deafening sound, so much so that we couldn’t talk to one another on our balcony! Words cannot fully describe what we heard and saw that very night.

On New Years Eve we went to the rooftop and it gave us a vantage point never before experienced anywhere we have seen fireworks. It was a 360 degree air show to the naked eye. Open bonfires in the streets, and the burning of manequins symbolizes getting rid of the old and starting over in the new year.

Both evenings were a true celebration occurrence traditional to the South American culture for which little children stay up and watch through bleary eyes, while holding their Mommy’s hand tight, some covered their ears, and held their breath, but none wanted to go to bed and miss the excitement!