Holiday Season Top 10

With the holiday season comes numerous best “........” lists: albums, sports highlights, books--you get the point.  So now that the holidays have come and gone here are my 10 favorite things about Costeño Christmas/New years.

10.  The Flags come out

Every year in December, the folks in La Boquilla start to drape little flags around town.  I will now forever associate these with costeño "winter."

9. Concerts

December and January seem to be the months where the most famous artists come to town.  This year 's lineup included: Tego Calderón, Carlos Vives, Marc Anthony, and Summerland (electronic music festival)

8. The burning of año viejo 

Starting in early december you can find these scarecrow type guys sitting around town.  At midnight on NYE they are burned to represent the start of a fresh new year.

7. Yellow Underwear:  It is said that by wearing yellow underwear on NYE you will have good luck in the upcoming year.  Couldn't really get a picture of this, you will just have to trust me on this one.

6. This racially insensitive Black friday advert (technically seen in november) 

Definitions of racial insensitivity in Colombia and the United States may be a bit different

5. New paint jobs: Every holiday season Boquilleros dust off their paint cans and brushes and repaint their homes.  This means lots of bright pink, orange, blue, and yellow in town.  

4.  Baseball season

Colombia's professional baseball season starts every "winter" and the Cartagena Tigres games are quite the bargain: $3.00 fist deck seats

3. Fireworks: Every NYE in the centro there is a spectacular fireworks display that attracts over 1,000 

people.

  

2.  Recycled Christmas trees

No evergreens here on the coast so the trees here are made with 2 liter bottles and plastic bags 

1.  The Breeze:  I can't believe I am about to say this, but with the breeze in December, January, and February I can walk around somewhat comfortable.