by Jeremy Quinton
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Take, for example, a pair of big and baggy yellow tracksuit [chándal] bottoms that I bought on the Kilburn High Road. I think that an ex-girlfriend really did take them – literally – and did “I don’t know whatâ€? with them. They disappeared, together with other bizarre items of clothing that…“en su momentoâ€?... I had lovingly purchased. But I wasn’t exactly happy to see that they had gone. You have to understand that together with football, cricket, drinking tea & – according to my colleague Dónal in a recent article [Article posted 5-1-06] gardening, another major English sport is “collecting thingsâ€?. I keep everything, even if I no longer need it. The big problem is that I hate throwing things away! It’s a habit that I’m more and more aware of every time a New Year starts.
Meanwhile, let’s change continents. New Year’s Eve is an occasion when the people of most cultures celebrate the coming of the New Year. Ecuador is unique in having a ceremony to say goodbye to the Old Year. All over the country on the 31st of December, people of all ages form groups, and go to extraordinary efforts to maintain one of the magical traditions of Ecuador.
Symbolism is rife [If “…is rifeâ€?, it means “there is a lot of …â€?]. The Old Year, or “Año Viejo” is represented by various creations. A model house is made of branches and is then burnt to ashes. Life-size dummies (similar to the English figure “Guy Fawkesâ€? celebrated on November 5th), made of sawdust. [Literally “el polvo de una sierraâ€? = serrÃn] and dressed in old clothes, are sold in the streets. Ornate masks are sold for adornment of themodels.
The idea is to represent some happening, activity, or person, that has resulted in a negative impact on your community, or on your own well-being. Often this is a politician, judge, army leader etc, whose actions you disapprove of. The appropriate mask is worn by the dummy. The creativity of the people is encouraged by a competition for the best effort. You have to register your creation and explain what or who it represents and why you give it importance. Prizes are given. “At about midnight the groups light their bonfires. Sparks are flying from a particularly big construction one block away. I watch them beat the dummies with sticks and then hurl them onto the bonfire. There is great cheering and revelry as the dummies burst into flames and fireworks soar into the nightâ€? explains a friend who witnessed the event last year…
The outcome of the burning is that it releases a great euphoria. Misfortunes and bad memories of the past year are burned away. There is a purification of one’s thoughts. The path ahead is made clear for new hope and happiness. In this moment, resolutions for the New year are made. The old year has gone. There is hugging and kissing and tears of happiness. This is how many Ecuadorians celebrate on New Year’s Eve. Returning to Europe….
We hope the new year has started well for you & yours, and that the negative things of the past (like my old clothes) are now well and truly forgotten.
As I was saying, I’d like to get into the habit of not collecting so many things! And you? Is “improve my Englishâ€? on your list of New Year’s Resolutions? ☺Perhaps now is a fantastic time to start experimenting with some new habits & activities regarding your English learning… In the meantime…Happy New Year!
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Posted on http://www.weeklyletter.com at 2006-01-19 13:00:00 +0100
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If you have started 2006 seems to 2005’s end, it will be a good signal. Perhaps you haven’t necessity to change your life! Anyway it’s good to start a new year being positive.
While I’ve been reading Ecuatorian custom I’ve found some similar aspects with our San Juan’s fire costum. We use to throw all our old clothes, old forniture, bad thoughts… to burn in the fire.
But how many times in a year do you think you need to start again?
Frankly I think you are lucky to be able to say that those garments disappeared. I can look at pictures from quite a few years back and I know exactly where all that trendy apparel is…
Every year I decide that I am going to organise my life and home but it never happens. The accumulation continues because hey, you never know when you might need the box that the electric mixer came in. And those jam jars could be great for all the nails and screws when you finally get around to organising the tool box. And what about the memories? The souvenirs? What about all those damn shells gathered from the beaches of the world? Can we throw away that which we lovingly acquired while discovering the world? I think not.
I suppose I’ll just have to continue to take full advantage of those cold, unsentimental moments when all of my possessions become useless pieces of rubbish. It’s too bad those moments are so scarce. Or perhaps it’s not so bad…I wonder if that “stuff” accumulation syndrome says anything about one’s personality…something good?
So there are other people out there who collect jam jars too? How many are you up to just now? I reckon I’ve got oh…at least 15. In different places around the home. Different sizes. Some with labels, some with lids. Most of them washed. Even…would you believe…some with shells in that I’ve collected from beaches here and there across Europe. And rocks ,pebbles, bits of stuff. That sort of thing!
The stuff that’s been lovingly accumlated I can’t throw away. Like you say…I wouldn’t want to. But as far as the jam jars go right now…I think I’ll be putting a few in the green “vidrio” recycling bin as, for the moment at least, I’m doing ok on jam jars!
...As our “anonymous” writer (“Anne” !) says…perhaps the idea of “making changes” is foolish if everything seems to be going well. Even if it’s “the thing that a lot of other people are doing”.
“If it ain’t broken don’t try to fix it!” says the well-known expression!
“How many times in a year do we need to start again?” is a great question… Every Monday morning – the start of most people’s working week? Every Friday afternoon – the start of most people’s weekend? Or simply every morning?