Do not be alarmed if your friends insist on wearing yellow underwear, sweeping dirt out the front door, walking around the block with their suitcases and then popping 12 grapes in their mouths on the stroke of midnight.
They are just assuring good fortune in the new year. According to Mexican tradition, if you wear red underwear as you ring in the new year you will find love. Yellow underwear brings financial security. Sweeping dirt out the front door gets rid of bad luck, and carrying your suitcases around the block will ensure many trips in the coming year. Finally, when the clock strikes midnight, you eat a grape for every chime and make a wish each time.
Celebrating the start of a new year goes back to the earliest civilizations, and all over the world different cultures have unique ways of making the New Year better than the last. New Year’s celebrations began in ancient Babylon around 4,000 years ago. New Year’s Day corresponded with the beginning of spring, and the parties lasted for 11 days. Babylonians were the first to make resolutions, but unlike the typical promises to quit smoking or loose weight of today, the most common Babylonian resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
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