It’s 2012. I’m happy to report that I was back in my apartment and in my pajamas by 1 am last night, enjoying some time alone before my roommate Liz arrived an hour-and-a-half later telling me about the horror of trying to get her drunk friend home. (Yeah, thank God I left when I did.)
My New Year’s Eve was a nice mix of being at home and going out (and by “nice,” I mean the part being at home was nice). Liz and I were home, and four of our friends joined us for mini-pizza-and-alcohol festivities. I even used an oven! (This is a big deal.) The mini-pizzas came out great and perfectly crispy, but I tried following the directions to make croquettes in a pan, and this was the result:
We ate like half of this anyway. I would’ve eaten more if I weren’t so full from mini-pizzas.
I’d bought a bunch of grapes (actually two bunches… haha!), but Actual Spaniard Jordi suggested that we de-seed them before midnight because they would be much easier to consume. Of course, being a red-blooded American, I didn’t think that these grapes would be seeded in the first place. Hmph! Here we are de-seeding the grapes like a bunch of animals:
I noticed yesterday that the supermarket was selling little packs of 12 grapes each. So at least we weren’t that lazy. When we arrived at Sol, there were also vendors selling similar packs of grapes.
Ugh, yes, we went to Sol. It was just as terrible as I expected it to be, but at least it was a new experience for me, so it wasn’t quite as abysmal since I could at least observe. Also, we only had to arrive like an hour before midnight, which wasn’t too bad. Actual Spaniard Jordi led us all the way to the center, right by the “tree”:
Of course, there was a drunk guy in a wig trying to climb it, but I don’t think he was successful. But he didn’t fall or get arrested right away, so I lost interest in him. Anyway, when it was midnight, I dropped one of my 12 grapes on the ground, so I’m obviously doomed to have bad luck in 2012. Oops.
After we consumed our grapes, leaving Sol was awful. At one point, it felt like a mosh pit (not that I’ve ever been in a mosh pit), and there were just bodies all around me. It was disgusting. I would’ve gone home immediately, but I had to go to the bathroom, so we found a bar or a club or something where I waited to use the bathroom with many other women.
I found my friends and danced for maybe two songs (including that “Baby, Tonight!” song — wait, I’m going to look it up — okay, it’s called “DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again” by Usher and Pitbull… no wonder I hate that song) before yelling above the music, “That’s it! I’ve hit my limit! I’m going home! Don’t follow me, I’ll be okay!” (I really wanted to leave before that Black Eyed Peas song would inevitably play.) It was 12:45 am, and I walked home in 15 minutes. It was wonderful… I love my bed.
It reminds me of a new resolution, which I try to do anyway: don’t waste my time doing stuff that I don’t want to do, like dance to terrible songs in a bar where there are four scantily clad girls dancing atop a table. I’m way too old for that. But I did have an excellent time with my friends!
HAPPY OFFICIAL NEW YEAR!
(PS – Four blog posts in 24 hours? This must be a record!)
What’s the story with these grapes. Is this some sort of Spanish tradition? Also, what is Sol? Is that like the equivalent of Madrid’s Time Square on NYE?