A New Beginning...

The New Year is here! Oh!...How fun!...

2006 found us having a late snack at home and enjoying my personal creation of mint cocktail (I wanted to use the glasses I got for X-Mas!), while we heard the sounds of firecrackers around the neighbourhood.

We watched the movie "I,Robot" on 'Star Movies' channel and I chatted with my family in CR as the clock turned midnight. And so ... the Chinese 'Year of the Dog' began...

Picture: Fabi waited for 2006 to start....but he fell asleep!

Today is also a special day because it's the octave day of Christmas and the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God.

Many friends have asked me about the celebrations that take place here in India. There are all kinds of New Year celebrations here in Mumbai: from great dinner parties at 5-star hotels, to dance parties in discotheques, to family and friends getting together to wait for the New Year with firecrackers while they listen to music. We went for a walk around our neighbourhood and we saw children dancing on the street to the sound of music coming out of their computer speakers that they had set outside their window. On the other hand, I also saw something that has caught my attention since the first time I welcomed a New Year in India: for some people it's just another day...shops are open, vegetable sellers pushing their carts, people heading home after a normal day at work, etc. Very different from other places - like Costa Rica - where it seems like everyone is in a festive mood and celebrate - or at least, acknowledge that a New Beginning is taking place.