January 1, 2010

Happy New Year / Feliz Ano Novo

Last night was our first New Years Eve in Santos, and we had a great time on the beach watching the fireworks. The city put on a great fireworks show over the ocean, and it was one of the best we have seen. We had heard about a couple of strange customs and religious practices that some Brazilians practice, and we saw some of them last night. One was where some people or families go to the ocean and jump over 7 waves, which is supposed to bring you good luck and prosperity for the new year. Another is not so innocent; it is a form of African black magic and it involves burning sacrifices of chicken or other things to the spirits, and also some people throw flowers into the ocean as a sacrifice.

Here are some of the pictures we took of the great fireworks show. The first 2 I found on the internet and they are overhead shots that show the many thousands of people on the beach and the fireworks, and the rest are pics we took last night. We hope everyone has a great New Year.


2 comments:

Cathy said...

Great pictures. The fireworks look different from the ones we have in the U.S.

Kevin Bart said...

Cathy, thanks for visiting our blog and leaving a comment. I haven't seen fireworks in the US for quite awhile, so I am not sure if they are different here than there, but they sure were nice. Have a great New Year.