Learning about different cultures and their traditions while visiting new places has always fascinated me.
It was one of the main reasons I decided to learn Spanish, study it in college and live overseas for a while. I have always found so much joy experiencing other cultures, especially when it comes to learning about and participating in their unique traditions and celebrations.
My family, friends and I have several of our own traditions — more than I can count. From family reunions every August to annual trips to Arizona to watch a basketball game or yearly December trips to Indianapolis to see Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on stage, we love our traditions.
One tradition that my family has never had, however, is on New Year’s Eve. Every now and then we all get together for a meal or to play some games, but it’s rare. Instead, we usually spend the evening at home watching various celebrations from around the country and world.
There is one New Year’s Eve tradition, however, that my wife and I try to do every year — one I learned about a long time ago when I was studying Spanish at school.
In Spain, each Dec. 31 at the stroke of midnight they welcome the New Year with a small plate or bowl of fruit. It’s called “Las 12 uvas de la suerte” — the 12 grapes of luck.
The tradition is to eat 12 grapes during the 12 strokes to midnight. Those who participate in the annual tradition are said to have good luck in the coming year.
Most people in Spain tend to eat the pale-green grapes that are harvested in November and December, and the tradition is more than 100 years old.
Our friends who live in northwestern Spain send us a picture each Dec. 31 as they prepare to celebrate the new year with their dozen thin-skinned pale-green grapes.
My wife and I always buy a bag of grapes on New Year’s Eve so we can eat 12 as the clock strikes midnight. (And we give the pooches 12 carrots since grapes don’t sit well with canines.)
We had to go with purple grapes this year, as the green ones at the store were so big that getting them all down during the 12 strokes to midnight would have been impossible even for Joey Chestnut.
It’s one of a plethora of traditions from Spain that make their culture so interesting.
There’s another New Year’s Eve tradition from a Spanish-speaking country that I need to try one of these years. I tried to talk Jen into doing it this year, but our muddy yard from all of the rain was too much of a deterrent.
In Colombia, they have a tradition that involves “una maleta” — a suitcase.
The tradition is to run or walk around the block or around your house with an empty suitcase so that you’ll have good luck and travel a lot during the new year.
Travel is one of our favorite pastimes — and one of the topics I most enjoy writing about in this space.
Perhaps we’ll embrace this Colombian tradition next year and run around the neighborhood with an empty suitcase while hoping the neighbors don’t think we’re a bit too merry. Sounds like a great — and fun — idea to me.
It’s never too early to start planning.
Happy New Year. Make 2024 a good one.
jdpeeper2@hotmail.com
