Happy New Year and Welcome 2013

Its New Year's Eve and a lot or should I say most Filipinos are so excited about it. On the day of Christmas Eve is the busiest time for most of us. For me and my friend we woke up really early in the morning of December 31st to go to the wet market to buy all the things we need for "Medya Notche". At 5 AM the streets going to Pasay Public Market is already crowded. Vendors and market goers are almost everywhere. It is practically chaotic!

Filipinos normally triple their expenses during this time of the year maybe because we have a lot of superstitious beliefs that we religiously follow. Here are some that I have observed:

• 12 Round Shaped Fruits which will represents one for each month of the coming year. It is believed that it brings luck in the house.Also, you have to make sure that the fruits are sweet to some the fruit should not also contain black seeds.
• Firecrackers to through out bad luck or make too much noise to scare away evil/bad spirits.
• Serve and eat noodles (pancit, sphaghetti) at the stroke of midnight. The longer the noodles are the better. It signifies long life.
• Make sure that all debt are paid before the new years eve. It is bad luck to have debt during the new year because it would mean you would have financial problem the whole year. 
• Don't prepare milk fish and chicken for "medya notche". This two are symbols of scarcity of food. Accordingly, if this is served during "medya notche" you would have food problem during the year.
• Wear polka dots on New Years Eve. The polka dots signifies abundance of money.
• Prepare sticky foods such as maja blanka, palitaw, sapin sapin. Palitaw and sapin sapin are made up of gluttonous rice. They are believed that it brings good fortune on the New Year.
• Scatter coins around the house like drawers, bedroom, table tops etc. This signifies prosperity on the coming year.
• Open all windows and doors to bring good fortune in and turn on all lights so the coming year would be bright and light.
• It is also believed that you shouldn't be cleaning on the first day of the new year as you may swept good fortune. Also, during the first day of the new year you shouldn't be spending anything as it is believed that your thriftiness foretells your financial capability and money management for the whole year.

And the list goes on and on depending on the region or island. Sometimes beliefs would vary because it would tailor fit the culture within a certain group. This is also the reason why Filipinos flocks on shopping malls and public market to buy all these things and to make sure that they have something prepared on the new years eve.

For me at some point this is good because it helps the cash flow in the country going. One of the reason why I would consider it as a good practice because somehow it brings hope to the people. It brings about the optimism to every Filipino that the New Year somehow is a better year for all of them. This maybe the reason why Filipinos try so hard to have the grandest new year celebration because they believed that if they would have everything set on their table it brings them luck and good fortune on the new year.

What about in your country or in your place? Do you have beliefs during New Year? what are your experiences? Tell me more...

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2013-A New Hope