Ringing in the New Year

I wish I could describe for you what New Year's Eve was like here. I will try, but I know already that I will fall woefully short and you will leave still not being able to comprehend what a spectacle it was. The day before yesterday, the city (I suppose) came around and set up tents all along the beach at regular intervals. When yesterday dawned bright and beautiful, people began flocking to the beach in their usual summertime fashion and nothing seemed remotely odd. At 5:00 pm I began to notice cotton candy vendors cruising up and down the beach, which I have never seen before. And before long they were joined by many other vendors of every kind. By 7:00, I could visibly tell the beach was filling up. By 8:30, people were shooting off fireworks and firing up their grills. By 9:00, I knew that this was going to be a party of epic proportions. Ruth and I left the apartment at that time to attend a dinner party, while the boys settled in for a little nap to ensure a peaceful ringing in of the New Year at the New Year's service at the church. We arrived at the church at 10:30 for the 10:45 service, and found the place packed. People continued to flock into the service even long after it had begun, and I think there ended up being about 750 people there, where there are usually about half that many in a really large service. The women were all dressed in fancy after-five attire, the men had on suits and the children were done up just the same, only in miniature. The entire sanctuary was packed and extra seating was set up in a Sunday school room with a video feed. That room was also filled to overflowing, and there was literally standing room only. It was a beautiful service and, as always, a blessing to begin the New Year in the presence of the Lord. The service ended just after midnight, but after many hugs and well-wishes we didn't make it home until about 12:30 or 12:40. On our way home, we ran into a sea of humanity streaming away from the beach and thought the party was probably wrapping up. WRONG! From our eighth-floor perch we could see (and hear) that the party was still very much in full-swing. Honestly, I have never seen anything like what we had going on here. I took some video (around 1:00 am), but still I don't think I captured the true essence of the scene. There was barely a square foot of beach, sidewalk or one lane of the street free. There was dancing, drinking, singing, laughing, screaming and who knows what all else. There were whole families (including very small children) and large groups of friends celebrating with all they had. Once again, I found myself gawking and thoroughly engaged in the people-watching. At 2:00, I thought I noticed a slight decrease in the number of people on the beach, but certainly not in the noise level. At 3:00, I decided to call it a night, though surely I must have been one of the few in all of Praia da Costa to do so, and without a doubt the only mother to have put her children to bed at the very sensible hour of 1:00. At 7:00 this morning, most of the crowd was gone--though certainly there were still a few stragglers--and the the city clean-up crew was out in force. And now, at a quarter to 10:00, the beach is eerily quiet and still, though there are a few out and about. It was a New Year's Eve to remember, for sure. I wish you all could have been here. Happy New Year to all of you. May this year be full of peace, joy and blessings for you all.