2009

Last night and this morning I said goodbye to 2008 in a way that I will remember forever. For me, the change of the year presents an opportunity to begin anew. It is like being absolved of sin by confession without having to say penance of 10 Our Fathers and 5 Hail Marys.

Most holidays are superficial to me. Most of them stem from something of which I can not feel and have over the years been altered to an unappealing state. However, New Years eve remains as special today as it likely was at the creation of the modern calendar. It is truly a day to celebrate.

And celebrate we did in Cartagena. Within the walls of the old city, among the Spanish architecture, to the beat of salsa music, I rang in the new year with hostel friends from different corners of the world. Underneath the fireworks display we exchanged hugs and kisses, sharing the common bond of being foreigners to each other, in a foreign land, recognizing the completion of the year we all had just lived.

There is no ¨last call¨ in Colombia. At 7am we emerged from the nightclub directly into the beach sunlight. Of all the thoughts and emotions felt over the course of the festivities one thought continued to resonate in my head as we exited: That I will never enter a new year in any fashion less celebratory than the way I entered 2009.