New Year’s came and New Year’s past
Many hope it won’t be our last
But things are always gonna be the same
Teenagers getting drunk, playing liquor games
Parents at home watching television
Waiting for a guy to tell them his visions
But this year there was a new twist
That only in Lebanon it can exist.
Many are
speculating that this may be our last NYE since the Mayan calendar indicates
that the world will end on the 21st of December 2012, well since I do
not believe in this theory I consider 2012 to be just like any other 366 day cycle.
I decided to start this New Year by a little poem and a little article to share
with you some of the Lebanese NYE traditions. The first time the NYE topic pops
out it is usually in the beginning of December, when every Lebanese starts to
figure out that he has a lot of month at the end of his money. The ritual of
the New Year’s Eve starts to take place two weeks before the 31st of
December.
Step 1:
Denial (2 weeks before the 31st)
At this
point everyone is saying that they will not go to Faraya this year; peaking at 1500m
and despite the snow and ice, Faraya is the local hotspot for the NYE raves and
parties. And why is it that they don’t want to go; because it is full of
children, very crowded, ridiculously expensive and a bit cliché.
Step 2: Empowerment (10 days before the 31st)
At this stage
our subject is still walking on the path that does not take him to Faraya, and
even if all his attempts to organize and plan a proper NYE party have failed he
is stating clearly that he would rather stay at home and watch a wannabe
fortune teller work his way into the naïve minds of society than go to Faraya.
Step 3:
Acceptance (1 week before the 31st)
By that
time, about three quarters of the samples we were talking about have reached
this level; the other 25% are determined to refuse to go to Faraya at NYE. The
75% we are talking about have bowed to the champagne drinking, chalets renting,
caviar eating, 300$ paying way of life. Even if it is too crowded or if it is filled
with younger people, whether it is too cold or freezing, you’ll find them
there, drinking to forget the problems of yesterday. And why is it they
surrendered; because it is cool to be at Faraya for NYE. It is THE place to be.
Step 4:
Surrender (36 hours before the New Year)
All of them
have this unscheduled meeting at Bou Khalil (a local supermarket) to get their
needs for the party. Needless to say that on the 30th of December this
supermarket ends its year with a register full of cash. Happy New Year indeed.
However not
everyone goes to Faraya for NYE, there is a small portion who stays home at
switches from TV channel to TV channel, hearing meaningless predictions about
what is going to happen in the year that is awaiting us. Another portion of
society finds an empty house in which they can get drunk on the smoothing lyrics
of Tirachrach and drink their memories away. Finally there is this part of
society that enjoys going to raves in clubs; I cannot elaborate on this subject
since I have never been to a nightclub on NYE.
You know how
everyone celebrates the New Year for about ten minutes because they do not know
which one of their clocks have the right time, and they argue about it. Well
this year to my enormous surprise the government has decided to unify us and
point out to us the exact moment when the national clock strikes midnight. How
did they do that without being ignored? Well they shut down the electricity at
midnight leaving us in a total blackout. This year the people in the big chairs
decided to wish us a happy new year and demonstrated a wind of change
concerning 2012.
It is hilarious that we think we can light up very house in Lebanon, yet the building of the Lebanese electricity is not properly lit
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