...and Happy New Year!

On the last post I spoke about Christmas in the U.S. vs. in Spain. On this post I will talk about New Years eve in both countries.

This year I stayed in Spain for New Years and had a great time. I went to my friend´s house for dinner around 20:00 and we started dinner around 22:00. We ate a lot of food this night, I think it was more than on Christmas! We ate more typical food like shrimp (prawns), almonds, bread, ham rolls with something sweet inside, soup, small bird, carmalized onions, tenderloin/sirloin steak, mashed potatoes and later we had dessert. After we a ALL of that food we had to get ready to eat the grapes. We waited until the bells started and then began to eat the grapes. I didn´t finish all mine because they had seeds inside and it was difficult to chew but I tried! We also had some champagne after it turned midnight and watched some tv.

At around 1:00 in the morning I went to my friend´s house and then we went to a big new years party. We danced until 8:00 and then went to eat churros. After I got home I slept all day!

In Seattle we celebrate new years and it is similar but also different. First, we eat dinner with my family around 18:00. We usually eat honey-baked ham, mashed potatoes, bread, salad and some other vegetable. After we eat dinner I start to get ready because I go out with my friends around 20:00. Sometimes we go to a house to celebrate and other times we go to a club. We don´t have the tradition of eating grapes at midnight...instead we find someone to kiss! People who don´t have someone to kiss are usually sad about it. We also drink some champagne to celebrate new years. We stay out until about 2:00 (when the clubs close) or 3:00 if we go to someones house. The next day we also rest and everyone stays at home.

I think New Years eve is a big party all over the world! I hope you had a wonderful New Years celebration!