Celebrating New Year 2007 In Gibara, Cuba

It was early morning when we left the village of Huay Xai in Northern Laos for the Mekong River, planning to get to Luang Prabang the same day. The 150 km journey along the river by speedboat would take half a day, breaks included.

Contrary to the advice given by our Lonely Planet guidebook we had decided to take a speedboat, because our hostess at Chiang Mai had recommended this alternative. Traveling on a big, slow river boat would have taken two days and required an overnight stay at the village of Pak Peng.

There were a lot of people at the pier when we arrived and the small speedboats set out one by one as soon as they were full. We were among the last to board and when stepping on the boat we saw right away that we had made the wrong choice. There was no turning back however; the low, narrow boat was packed full of people and off we went.

The boat flew on the surface of the water at high speed, at times reaching 80 km/h, and we sat on the hard benches with our chins on our knees, space for each passenger being about 40 x 50 cm. Just before the New Year 2007 we (Liz and Andy, the Far And Further-team as we like to call ourselves) arrived in Gibara, a charming little seaside town on the northeast cost of Cuba, and we were invited to New Year Eve’s dinner by a Cuban family.
The New Year is celebrated in Cuba for three whole days. According to tradition a whole pig is barbecued on the last day of the year and it is the men who have the honour of carrying out this task.

We arrived around seven pm, and the men of the family welcomed us with flushed cheeks - they had been barbecuing the pig, as well as consuming lots of rum as is the custom, for seven hours. There were a lot of people present, four generations of the family.

We brought biscuits, juice and soft drinks for the children and a bottle of rum for our hosts. The tables groaned under foods and everybody really enjoyed eating. For us the crisp pig skin, the best part of the pig as we were told, was however almost too much. After the meal everyone left for the town's "Fish Square", the meeting place where all those who want to dance and have fun gather almost daily.

We asked what time it was and were told that no timepieces were needed, we would soon know. And sure enough, suddenly the church bells started chiming furiously - it was New Year! "Feliz nuevo año" was heard everywhere and salsa filled the air.

The music was captivating and before we knew it, we were dancing too, and although not known for our mastery of dance steps, kept dancing at the square until the small hours like everybody else. Kisses were exchanged; the young and the old were friends - hermanos - brothers and sisters. Everything was shared, the music, dancing and rum bottles. The rum was eventually sold out everywhere…

The families and their friends celebrated the New Year's Day together. In the streets people wished us a Happy New Year - there were only a handful of travelers in this town and the few ones we saw seemed to be shy of meeting the local people. After the eight o'clock Mass the Fish Square filled with people again. The popular band Eddy-K had come to entertain the townspeople with their very own reggaeton. The women wore glittering, eye-catching dresses and the men competed for their attention. We listened to the band with our new friends, dancing in a ring, a bottle of rum in the middle. It was a hilarious evening and there was no brawling, no drunken misbehaviour - the guards and the police were patrolling.

On the second of January the townspeople spent time at the squares and at the terraces of the bars. It was a nice and peaceful way of spending a holiday. After the evening Mass the Fish Square was empty, no music. During our five-day stay in Gibara this was the only evening when there was no activity there. We were told that this was due to the fact that the next day was a work day. But at the beach bar the musicians were playing and singing traditional songs and some people were dancing to the melancholy tunes.

Definitely a New Year we will never forget!