Happy New Years!

Isaac, Carlos, myself and Luis Fernando
at the New Year's celebration

New Year's tradition here at NPH Honduras consists of a dance party and enormous bonfire, which lasts until somewhere around 4am. At this party, it is apparent that we all forget anything we ever learned about safety, when children and fire are mixed. While sitting around the bonfire, children are given sparklers, which normally would be fine, but when there are a total of 600 kids and young adults in one small area with sparklers, it can get a little messy. So, the sparklers are chucked in every which direction, with no regard as to who might be sitting right in your line of fire. So, most sparklers either land in trees, or just feet away from innocent bystanders.

Once midnight strikes, the music stops, the lights go on, and everybody wishes each other a happy new year. Shortly thereafter, the "muneca" is lit (doll made of old clothes, stuffed with newspaper and a ridiculous amount of fireworks). This is a tradition to say good bye to the old year, and to welcome in the new year. After the poor doll has fully exploded, the "torro" comes out. This is a wooden box loaded with fireworks that is placed on some poor souls head, and they trot through the crowd of people, as fireworks shoot off. Everybody runs like mad, so as not to get hit by one. Safe? No, not really, but really invigorating to experience. Please do not be disturbed by the photo of the doll. It IS just a doll, not a human, as it may appear.

The volunteers generally take off from the party around 1am or so, and head back to our house to have a little fiesta of our own until the sun comes up. So, here's a pic of some of us girls hanging by the bonfire in our garden.



I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and I wish you all a wonderful 2008!

Within the next week I'm going to try to get a post up about Christmas...so keep your eyes out.