It’s December 31st and I’ll venture to guess that in just about every Cuban household the cry is going out, “Did you get the grapes?”
Because when the clock strikes twelve tonight and the ball drops in Times Square, Cuban families everywhere will begin the fabulous relajo that signals the end of the old year and the ringing in of the new.
Back to the grapes…
At midnight, we Cubans eat 12 grapes, one for each month of the past year. If you’re really serious, you attempt to eat one with every stroke of the clock.
You must wash each grape down with a gulp of hard cider (sidra).
Earlier in the day, you would have mopped your floors and saved the dirty water. At midnight, you toss that old, dirty water out into the street. Out with the old! I think many people may even skip the mopping and just fill a bucket of water for this one. The point is to be tossing out the old year and any bad juju with it.
If you hope to be traveling in the new year, grab your suitcase and take it for a walk. This symbolizes that you will be going places. For the lazy among us, you can just put the suitcase outside. If you opt for the suitcase-outside-the-door, don’t blame me if the farthest you get to this year is North Hialeah.
If you go for the midnight walk with your suitcase, be sure to bring an egg and throw it over your right shoulder at the first intersection…..for good luck, of course. (?)
The question of prosperity is also answered in the busy midnight hilarity. You have a couple of options for this:
- Place money in your mailbox. Money attracts more money, so you should be getting more money, presumably from unexpected sources.
- Have someone give you 3 garbanzo beans to keep in your wallet all year. I personally have never tried this one. Most of my friends in the O.C. don’t carry garbanzos with them on New Year’s Eve, or really at any time of year.
Then there’s the matter of the underwear. I’m not sure if this applies to both men and women, but I’m just going to throw it out there. You would presumably wear red underwear for luck, yellow for prosperity, or black for passion. I suppose you could wear all three at once to cover all your bases. (<–That works on two levels.) 😉
Don’t forget to start soaking your lentils to make a big pot of lentil soup for New Year’s Day.
If I missed any more Cuban New Year Superstitions Traditions please feel free to add them here to the comments section of this post.
Yes, I’ll be wearing my lucky red underwear, but that’s not important right now. So, until next year, Prospero Año Nuevo!
“You would presumably wear red underwear for luck, yellow for prosperity, or black for passion. I suppose you could wear all three at once to cover all your bases. (<–That works on two levels.)"
Marta, hunny, I'm thinking this has something to do with the 'end results' of this:
"At midnight, we Cubans eat 12 grapes, one for each month of the past year. If you're really serious, you attempt to eat one with every stroke of the clock.
You must wash each grape down with a gulp of hard cider (sidra)."
BTW, I'll take passion over luck, and I have that covered … ;^)
My family it's the much heralded kraut and pork (western ribs). I only make as much as will be completely consumed by the end of New Years Day. Also, my Hungarian Grandmother never allowed us to eat chicken or turkey on New Years Eve or Day. "Nothing that scratches backward", she'd say. And one year when I was in high school, my Uncle, who was a paraplegic,chased me out of his wheelchair I was sitting in just before midnight struck. I just thought he was pissed because I was sitting in it while he was perched on the couch. I was told later it's because he was superstitious that something would happen to me in the New Year that would put me in a wheelchair for real. I never sat in it again.
Happy New Year, Marta!
Happy New Year 2011 to everyone at Babalu…