Mind
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New Year's Eve Rituals I am not doing any more!!!
Boy oh boy!!

Another New Year's Eve in my lifetime, and guess what? Like all the previous years; I am still alone, i.e. with no companion; in other words; I am still single, you know what I mean, *sigh*

I remember when this night used to be so much fun. Me, my sisters and friends used to have rituals that we do every New Year's Eve, partly because we did not have the privilege of going out and at the same time; we did not have companions (boyfriends, fiances, husbands) to celebrate with.

Sitting here now and thinking of the good old days; I would love to share these rituals with you in an attempt to make fun of myself and prove to poor me one more time that I am finally mature!!

       

Now, these were important ingredients for the long night. We used to give each one of us a task to do, so one would bring the potato chips (she has to bring several flavors), and another would bring the popcorn; whether ready-made microwave type or the good old dried corn in the pan; it is her responsibility and she has to do it.


   


Fruits, juices and milkshakes are the next in the line when it comes to New Year's Eve rituals. Again, all this effort is shared and divided by all.



Good old homemade cake ... nothing beats that. Mom used to put it on the heater (el9oba) and the smell would be all over the house. We used to do it in different flavors as well, but I did not like the nuts that mom used to put inside, I love my cakes plain.



And how can we pass the night without some lebanese appetizers (Mazat)? It was fun preparing them; especially the "yallanji"

Then we would wash it all down with the good old Pepsi ... nothing beats it!!



We would play lots of games together and dance to the sound of the latest albums of famous singers at that time, like Ragheb 3alameh, 3amr Diab and others.



Now we reached the final and most peculiar ritual of all. I don't know who planted the myth in our heads, but this ritual is about an orange skin!



The myth states that if you peel the orange without breaking the skin, just like the picture, and then place it under your pillow, so when you sleep, you will dream of your future husband ... DUH!!

These things sound so far now. My friends and sisters are all married and have their own lives; I don't see my old friends any more, and I guess that our relations died with these rituals, and to tell you the truth; I do miss them both!

Hope you will all have a lovely New Year's Eve with those that you love and care for!
On December, 29, 2005 6:03 PM , wael said:

It's hard to do your rituals, 7'ososan eza el rateb et2a7'ar we e7na be a7'er el shahar.. so i guess am going to spend the night fasting ;) kol 3am we enty be7'eer... we Allah yehdak ya sharoon

On December, 29, 2005 6:27 PM , Khalidah said:

Wael, you don't have to buy much if you already have most of the ingredients at home .. ba3den the beauty of it is that it is divided by everyone .. so you end up buying one or 2 things bas ..
Anyway, even I am not doing these rituals any more .. yer7am ayyam zaman
kol 3am w inta b 7'eer

On December, 29, 2005 8:45 PM , jameed said:

I can never peel an orange, PERIOD. wait, why do i care? i am not looking for a husband...or a wife for that matter.

"habby new years"

On December, 29, 2005 10:21 PM , Khalidah said:

I guess I am past that stage too Jameed ... Happy new year to you too

On December, 29, 2005 10:57 PM , Nas said:

best new years (for guys) is to go to duwar abdoon and watch the 7afartali guys shoot firecrackers at people 5 minutes before it's actually new years but based on someone screaming out that it's new years.

then you take a walk and have some arabic coffee on the side of the road

On December, 30, 2005 1:45 AM , Diva said:

What wonderful memories - thank you for sharing. They remind me of the New Year's Eves that I spent with my family growing up.

On December, 30, 2005 6:40 AM , Mili said:

My favorite new year's eve ritual that we would do in Finland is to buy small horse-shoes made of tin. You melt them on the stove in a small skillet, then pour the molten metal into a bucket of water or snow. The shape it makes is supposed to tell how your future year will be. Some patterns mean money, sometimes they are in the shape of ships, sometimes I even got a bicycle! I miss this!

On December, 30, 2005 1:06 PM , kinzi said:

Ya Kalideh, kiif fakarit inno inti mitzowji wa um kamaan? Mumkin ruya mustakbalik? :)

On December, 31, 2005 9:49 AM , salam said:

Happy New Year to you and your friends khalida,hope the coming year brings you all the best.