New Year Novelty

Elizabeth and Miki, taking their lives into their own hands :)

New Year's is the biggest celebration of the year for Bosnians. Communism forbade the celebration of Christmas and other religious holidays, so New Year's sort of became all holidays packed into one. And boy, do the Bosnians celebrate! I have to admit I've never really celebrated New Year's the way most people do--usually the most I do on New Year's Eve is rent a movie and play games with my family, and maybe stay up until midnight and watch the New York countdown on TV, then pop open a bottle of $10 champagne from Rite Aid. So wow, did I get an eyeful Sunday night-Monday morning!

People started showing up at my place at around 7, and in the end 20+ people were crowded in: the bedroom doubled as a coat and shoe closet, a nearly five foot mound of scarves and coats on the bed, people spilling into the hallway and kitchen.

I think all the boys each brought a mess of fireworks that they started throwing off my balcony at 10. As the evening progressed, the guys got more creative with the method of throwing them. A couple of the fireworks detonated without ever having left the balcony, making the girls shriek and the guys laugh hysterically. The more cautious among us rebuked them and told them to quit letting them explode so close to human appendages.

A couple of minutes before midnight the entire crowd, champagne, cups, and fireworks in hand, raced downstairs and outside to ring in the new year. The display over and around us was awesome; fireworks exploded from buildings, mountains, on streets...Everywhere you looked there was noisy popping and explosions and smoke and color. It went on with intensity for 15 minutes--we threw our share of them and laughed and hugged and drank champagne and wished each other a Happy New Year. We went back inside but the fireworks went on well into the early hours of the morning. So, it seemed like New Year's celebration was starting to wind down. But oh no, what I didn't realize was that the partying had just begun.

I really don't want to go too much into the next four hours, but let's just say that for me, it was a baptism of fire into the whole clubbing scene. I'd honestly had no prior idea that clubbing was the intention of the group going downtown. I probably wouldn't have gone had I known that. It was enjoyable for the first couple of hours, though insanely hot, loud, and filled with drunk Bosnians. I was thrown up on as I was leaving the bathroom in the first place we went to.

Shortly after that, we decided this club was a little too much to take, and we left and went to another club, equally as loud and crowded, but thankfully with couches not covered with half passed out horizontal partiers. I was so tired my eyes were crossing, and it was only when I realized that half of the group intended to stay out all night that I asked for a ride home from those who were leaving. At 5 AM I collapsed into bed, the techno beat still pulsating in my head.

So, two days later, having mostly physically recovered from the beating I gave my body all Sunday night, I've come to the conclusion that I don't think I've missed out on much on the "party scene" aspect of New Year's Eve celebrations. But it was a wonderful evening that will be remembered for many New Year's Eves to come. And I have high respect for those who've had the endurance to make an entire night of it each year.

So I posted some pictures of the countdown party below:

The "Coat Closet"--see the bed under there?

The Swedish girls: queens of the dance floor

Enisa and Hanna

Miki getting ready to launch one off the balcony

Boro and Devin

Kat and Elena

Enisa and me

Boro, Miki, Srdjan, and Alden serenading us. A couple of seconds after this picture Boro pretended to light a dud firework; horrified shrieks ensued

One of the inventive ways discovered to detonate fireworks; I'd wondered why there was a big black hole in the middle of my candle the next morning!

A third of us

Traditional New Year's food tray--the Bosnians really know their meats and cheeses!

Srdjan won the most creative firework thrower of the night award--just look at that smirk :)