New Decade, New Traditions, New Struggles

New Years is not my favorite theme to write about especially this year. Probably everything that could have gone wrong… did. Not that anyone was to blame; just tons of mishaps and bad coincidences. For starters, I couldn’t make up my mind what I wanted to do. I wanted to travel to Naples, Italy to visit my friend, Brian who is stationed there in the US Navy. However, there are no direct flights from Madrid and I couldn’t be bothered to track down the different journeys I could take to get there. Most of my friends were still in their homelands for the long holiday vacation. Others that didn’t go home were travelling around Europe for the New Year.

I considered travelling but after I checked my bank funds, I realized that it wasn’t the best idea if I wanted to eat the last week of vacation. Luckily, I found out my friend Dave was intending to stay in Madrid after his cousin returned to the US. So we made plans to check out Madrid’s infamous New Year celebration. New Year’s Eve arrived and I woke up early to go but ‘supplies’: basically liquor and grapes. I took a nap and was awaken by my phone ringing. It was Dave telling me that he had come down with something terrible and wouldn’t be able to really do anything that night. I hoped he would come out for at least the countdown but Facebook chat around 9pm told me that he was staying in all night. Of course I wanted to be angry, but I knew it wasn’t his fault. So I scurried around calling anyone that I thought might be in the city… no replies. I complained to my roommates and they told me there plans to hit up a club later. However, when I found out that it cost over 50 euro that shot my hopes all the way down.

So I did the only thing I could think of; I called to cry my sorrows to my best guy friend here in Spain, Dani. We talked for the next hour about how things just happen and life has its ups and downs. He was stuck in his hometown for the night because of Strep throat. After talking to him I realized that things weren’t really that bad. I wasn’t alone on New Years because I had no one; I had had plenty of opportunities to have an amazing New Year. It just was fate that things turned out that way. This thought gave me loads of comfort.

I sat thinking for a bit of what to do. Drink a bottle of wine and watch the countdown on television. Skype with friends back in Chicago for my midnight celebration. Drink a bottle of wine and put in a chick flick. Go out to the streets and watch the madness for myself. I went with the last option. I may not have another New Years in Madrid. Therefore, I decided that fate would not get the best of me. I didn’t need a chaperone to walk around and watch the countdown. So I hurried up and got dressed, took my 12 grapes, my camera, a kick ass attitude and walked to La Puerta de Sol where Madrid’s (Spain’s for that matter) biggest New Years countdown takes place.

As I got closer, I knew I was in for a wild ride. Walking down the side streets a few blocks from Sol, I could already here the hoards of drunks, bottles breaking, fireworks bursting and street venders quaking. Once I turned onto the main street, I was met by thousands of people from all over the world. I tried to make my way through the shoulder to shoulder, sardine packed crowds. I got about 150 feet before I realized that I was in over my head. I found a corner just behind the El Corte Ingles entrance to La Puerta de Sol. I feverishly took pictures while I had a little extra personal space. But within minutes that space was overtaken by people. I can’t even explain the spectacle. Groups of drunks pushed their ways through the crowds causing quite a disturbance like that of a stampede. I saw one little girl, probably 6 years old, get separated from her parents in the crowd. I saw an old man fall and nearly get trampled. I saw a street vender get ripped off by 2 guys as he tried to push his cart through the swarms of people. Add 3 more fights, glass bottles getting shucked into the masses and a fallen police barricade then you can picture my first 30 minutes in Sol.

I really didn’t have time to be sad and wallow in self-pity because I was too worried about dying! Haha Suddenly, I heard big explosions of cheer as I looked at my watch and saw that it was 11:59 (23.59 in the European style). I quickly turned on my camera and took a video of the countdown. Midnight struck and complete chaos broke out; luckily it was happy, cheerful chaos. Champaign bottles burst open, fireworks exploded, music blared and people all embraced one another. I stood there for a few minutes and gazed around. It was going to be one eventful year… I knew it already. I then saw my chance to escape through the crowds and took it to walk around a bit more. Of course, even with the new decade I was cat-called and “Guapa-ed” galored by not only Spaniards but pretty much every drunken male in the vicinity. Why should anything be different in 2010?

Enjoy the video from youtube that I found:

I took a few more pictures and wandered back home. When I arrived it was about 1a.m already. One of my roommates and his friends were still at my place which made me happy to see some familiar faces. However, what surprised me was that I was met by a completely changed roommate.

Paul had shoulder length curly hair when I left for the night and when I came back, it was all gone. We had a good laugh for about 10 minutes. They left a bit after to hit the club after making sure I didn’t want to join. I was feeling quite content with life at this point so I happily declined. I had almost forgotten about my 12 uvas. I quickly took them out and ate each one slowly thinking of my New Year’s Resolutions. Dani called me a few minutes later and we talked about what I had just been through in Sol. After we hung up, I curled into bed and swiftly drifted off to sleep.

It wasn’t exactly the New Year I had envisioned. But I’m proud of myself for not letting a bad turn of events start the new decade off on the wrong foot. 2010 has a lot of hidden potential for me and I plan on not wasting a single second of it! Feliz Año Nuevo a Todos!