A South African New Year's!

Happy New Year!!! Feliz Año Nuevo!!! Gelukkig Nuwejaar!!!!

Wow.  Just wow.  I can honestly say that this was one of the most amazing New Year's I've ever had.  Can I say, South Africans don't play when it comes to New Year's.

We started off on New Year's Eve at the house of Noel and Karen.  Noel works with Aaron at the Museum and invited us over to celebrate with their extended family.  They were all so welcoming, kind, hilarious and fun!

We got there a bit early and Aaron helped Noel start the braai:

A braai, as I've mentioned before, is the South African equivalent of a barbeque, but, oh, SO much better.  Yeah.  I said it.  It's better.  First of all, it all starts with wood, real wood, which you gotta chop up sometimes; keep your axe handy:

The wood takes a long, looooong time to break down into usable coals:

Once they're ready, you load up cages full of deliciously marinated meats:

Ribs, chicken, pork steaks, and different kinds of sausages all go in:

And then you turn them very frequently:

Now all of this, as I mentioned, takes time.  A lot of time.  And that's what ultimately makes the braai so wonderful.  It's that it takes hours and hours and hours.  And in those hours you sit by the fire, talk, have some beers, get to know people, tell stupid jokes, talk politics, swap recipes -- in short, you interact and have some true human connection.  It makes you realize how little of that there is in today's world -- and I'm sorry, but we Americans seem to be particularly bad at it.  We're in too much of a hurry to even use charcoal to grill our food and can't think of what we'd do without our gas grills.  I tell you what you do, you saw a metal barrel in two, slap a grill on top and have yourself an amazing time.  That's what you do!

I'm sorry, I hope that doesn't sound ranty!  I'm not wanting to rant (there are plenty of other things to rant about these days) it's just that I love this tradition of braaing, and I wish we Americans would embrace slow food and all the human loveliness that it entails, and kick all the McDonald's out of our country (like Bolivia -- yey!)

Ahem ... back to New Year's!

So after about 5 hours of braaing, almost all the meat was ready, and it was almost midnight.  And I got my 12 grapes ready:

What grapes you ask?  Well, this is a tradition that you find throughout Latin America and Spain.  12 grapes at the 12 tolls of the bells at the end of the year = 12 months of good luck. Just because I'm over here doesn't mean I don't need my good luck!

And then, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!   GELUKKIG NUWEJAAR!  (That's Happy New Year in Afrikaans, Karen taught me how to say it.)

Amid all the hugs and kisses, this is the only picture I got, the champagne being sprayed:

Now it was time to eat!  Yup kids.  A feast at midnight.  And when I say feast ...

I can't even describe the amounts (there were 2 other full tables) of food and how incredibly good it all was; salads of all kinds, breads, sweets and, one of Aaron's favorites, an entire smoked snoek (a local fish):

And paella!  (Which is what I was gonna make for New Year's Eve before I knew we were going to go to Noel's):

Everything was so flipping good!  And look, it's about 1:30am and the kids are still up ... oh yeah ...

Then it was time to work some of that braai off with a little dancing!

We all danced for a few hours ... yeah, till like 3:30, 4am... uh huh ...

And then, right when I thought I would just find a corner to curl up and pass out, it was time to go back outside, where all the braai stuff was gone and a big bonfire was going:

Lots more chatting ... joking ... drinking ... yawning ... and around this time, Aaron and I started to wonder, "So, we're really not gonna sleep are we?"

NOPE.  That's how you do New Year's in South Africa.  You stay up all night to greet the first sunrise of the New Year.

They kept telling us to go to sleep if we wanted (they had a lovely room all ready for us), but gol durn it, if they were going to do it, so were we!

Faster than I would have thought, we started to see the first glimmers of dawn:

These pictures don't do it justice, but it was really beautiful ...

And then finally, the first sunrise of 2012:

No words, kids.  No words.  Just lots of feeling grateful and hopeful that 2012 will bring great things.

We kept talking for a while ...

Here we all are!  I'm totally banjaxed, but damn it I did it!:

Well, actually, not all of us made it.  Here are a few of the fallen warriors:

There may have been some artistic -- if somewhat cruel -- styling:

Nothing like the Little Mermaid to keep you warm:

All in all, one of the most amazing experiences ever.  Wouldn't you agree guys?

And that was that.  Right?

Pues claro que no chicos.  (No.)

Off we went home for an hour of sleep, showers and then we went to our next New Year's party!!!  Yeah.  Crazy.  Stupid.  Awesome.

Imagine jet lag + hangover and you can begin to comprehend my level of incoherentness.  It was like painful yet delighted delirium.

We went to the Glasses to celebrate with them and the Larsons.

Blame my delirium, but all I ended up taking pictures of was the food! 

Joyce's absolutely amazing Apple Cake:

And Gill's stunning Cherry Chocolate Trifle:

I'm working on getting both of those recipes kids, never fear!

I guess I did take a couple other pictures, of Storm, the most water-lovingest Rottweiler around:

A little while later, Gill caught this pic of Storm and I:

Though it looks like he's about to consume me, this is actually Storm's way of saying he loves you very much!  He grabs very lightly on to your arm as if to say, don't stop petting me ... I needs the love!

And here's the beautiful, gentle and uber-sweet Sky:

All in all, an AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING way to ring in 2012, surrounded by friends with lots of love and laughter.

I am still trying to recover of course (I am old and can't hang with the no sleep and feast at midnight thing) but it was all worth it! 

I hope you all had a great start to the year, whether you went out and partied or stayed home with some hot cocoa and a kitty on your lap.  And I wish nothing but the best for you all in this next year!