Carnival Night
In Brazil, New Year is celebrated in the best traditions of the world-famous February carnival, just as brightly and cheerfully. Head straight to Rio de Janeiro for the New Year's carnival—tourists usually gather here. The epicenter of fun is the beaches of Copacabana: music, dancing, a grand fireworks display, and a huge crowd of up to 1.5 million people.
New Year in the Brazilian style is not only fun, but also interesting. In this country, Christian traditions coexist perfectly with Indian and African customs. So there is an opportunity to see foreign rituals and even participate in them. For example, it is still believed that every Brazilian should bring gifts to the goddess Imanzhe, the mistress of the seas, and to the god Oriks. Therefore, every year people come to the seashore, bringing flowers and candles with them. Both are sent on the waves: a burning candle is placed on a stand, lowered into the water, and a wish is made. The longer it burns and does not sink, the greater the chance that the gods will fulfill the request. Flowers are simply thrown into the sea, and if the wave throws them back onto the shore, then it is worth leaving the higher powers alone and repeating it all the next year.
Brazilian vodka cachaça is made from sugar cane. The cocktail 'Caipirinha' is made on its basis, adding ice, sugar, and lime to cachaça. In hot Brazil, 'Caipirinha' perfectly quenches thirst. It is consumed not only as an aperitif, but also throughout dinner, since the combination of alcohol and lime helps break down fats.
Friendship of Peoples
Venezuela is very far away. More precisely, in South America. But if you do get there, you can celebrate New Year with the Indians of the Warao tribe, which means 'people in canoes.' They live in huts on stilts; the great Orinoco River serves as their home and road. On the festive mystical night, you will sit by an Indian fire, listening to a song about the arrendaho bird. The children will dance the 'hummingbird dance'—there are no war dances in this tribe. The Indians will bring a huge sacred turtle from somewhere. They say it is a thousand years old, and you need to touch it for good luck. If it doesn't rain, closer to midnight a shaman-piache will appear. Piache appears no earlier than the fire in the hearth goes out, but never comes in the rain. Piache will drink palm juice infused with tobacco, and then call upon the spirit of Mauari or the spirit of the Great Jaguar. He will tell the legend that the Warao people once lived on beautiful islands, but one day they angered the gods and were forced to flee. They got into canoes and sailed across the ocean for a long time until they found a haven on the river...
And in the morning you will remember this magical night like a dream, and finally believe in its reality only when a black-and-yellow, as if varnished, arrendaho sings near your hut.
The main attraction of Venezuela is the great Orinoco River, which carries its waters for 2,730 km through plateaus, savannas, and jungles, plunges over Angel Falls from a height of 972 m, and spreads into an endless delta. You can't make out anything on this river: where is the bank of a channel, where is an island on the main course—everything is intertwined, overgrown with mangroves, and covered with bore. In the brown water a whirlpool appears—whether it's a caiman, an anaconda, or just a capybara?
Rhythms of Cuba
The inhabitants of the Island of Freedom are extremely musical. Signature rumba and Latin American rhythms are everyday entertainment. As soon as someone starts singing or playing a musical instrument, the neighbors pick up the melody, and soon the whole street is involved in the process. Can you imagine what goes on here on New Year's Eve?
Cubans have an interesting New Year's custom: a few hours before midnight, they fill all the dishes in the house with water—buckets, pots, and even coffee and tea cups—and with the arrival of the New Year, they pour it out of the windows. They believe this will make life as clean and bright as water. Whether their hopes come true is unknown, but this cool shower certainly makes life easier for those celebrating outside, where the temperature rarely drops below 30 degrees.
Catholic Christmas was once celebrated in grand style. But in 1969, the Cuban authorities banned its celebration, leaving only New Year for official festivities. Since then, locals have celebrated Christmas quietly, at home, setting a traditional table.