This is how Arizonans embrace their culture to ring in the New Year

The clock struck midnight on New Year's, and Ivette Jorge and her family were getting ready to run around their neighborhood with empty luggage in hand.

While her neighbors stared and thought she was ditching the New Year's party, Jorge was manifesting travel wishes and the hope for a good year with traditions and rituals that enabled the holiday as a predictor for the year to come.

"Whenever we do it here (in Arizona), we are the only ones, but in Miami, the whole neighborhood would be outside running with their suitcase," said Jorge

Arizona's Hispanic population far and wide celebrated the coming year often in ordinal ritualistic behavior, like the Spanish-rooted tradition of eating 12 grapes at the strike of midnight, a tradition still actively celebrated by Jorge, a Cuban-American who moved to Arizona from Miami 11 years ago.

Jorge said New Year’s was “kind of like a fresh start” for her and her family, who have carried on their cultural traditions since moving to Arizona.

Jorge recalled bringing the grape tradition to a New Year’s Eve wedding, bringing the newlyweds skewers of a pre-portioned amount of 12 grapes, to which the eater was to dedicate a wish for the coming year.

“My mom says you’re supposed to eat them all before the first minute (of midnight),” said Jorge.

Jorge’s family also implements water in two of their New Year traditions, first “cleansing” the doorway of the home at the stroke of midnight with a bucket of water, a tradition Jorge learned from her mother, who always had a bucket filled and ready to go before the clock hit midnight.

Jorge and her family also spent New Year’s Day traveling to a body of salt or freshwater and participating in the same idea of “cleansing” the year to come.

In the spirit of manifesting, Jorge says certain colors of underwear are believed to bring a wish for the New Year.

“To my understanding, white is for peace, blue is for good health, yellow is for prosperity, green is for money, I think red is for romance or passion," Jorge said. "You’re not supposed to wear black.

"Technically, if you go commando, you're just rolling the dice,” Jorge added, laughing.

Participants could, in theory, stack underwear colors for multiple wishes.

"Let me tell these you, these Latin people, they're optimistic," said Jorge, speaking of the people of her culture she shared the traditions with.

As a transplant from Miami, Jorge felt difficulty finding a community around her that celebrated the same traditions, providing her a place to carry on traditions that otherwise might not be shared.

“It gives you a sense of identity and a sense of belonging with a greater community,” said Jorge.

Even if that community was just among her immediate family, Jorge kept the traditions active every New Year, reminding those in her family who didn’t live in Arizona to participate.

Food and tradition unite small towns like Globe

The population of the eastern Arizona mining town of Globe, which was the hometown of Arizona State University Chicano studies professor Christine Marin.

The tight community of Globe had kept its residents united, usually with food throughout the holiday season and until New Year’s.

After a busy Christmas season of making tamales, Globe’s Mexican community was ready to enjoy menudo that would be served on New Year’s as a regular tradition.

The Mexican soup was ready for consumption after what might have been a celebratory night with plenty of alcohol, which gave menudo the association as a hangover cure.

“We would have tamales for Christmas, make our menudo during the Christmas holiday then have the menudo ready for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Then, in January, we'd always have menudo throughout,” said Marin.

Marin would continue the holiday tradition by sharing menudo with her faculty members near the New Year.

Another tradition the community would celebrate was that of the firstborn baby of the year, effectively called the “New Year’s Baby.”

After certifying the first birth of the year, the local hospital would provide a prize, which was usually followed by the baby's family being lavished with homemade food from the community.

“The family would be recognized with an article in the newspaper and would be given a prize and money awarded. There would be a lot of publicity that would honor this family,” said Marin of the local hospital in Globe that honored the tradition.

Marin, much like Jorge, felt the holidays offered the importance of community and traditions only enabled that as a way to stay connected.

Irish community finds a place to call home in Arizona

For the Irish community in Phoenix, finding a place to welcome in the New Year wasn't much of a challenge with local pubs that gathered a diverse community on the holiday, according to Ciara Archer, the operations director of the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library who shared traditions celebrated by those of Irish heritage.

People in Dublin, Ireland, would go outside at midnight to greet neighbors and wish each other well in the first minutes of the New Year. They would be accompanied by bells ringing from individuals, churches and cathedrals, she said.

Some would cross arms, link hands and sing the popular New Year chant of Auld Lang Syng.

Archer also shared a traditional Irish ritual where at 11:55 p.m. on Dec. 31, all the men in the house exit the home. At midnight, they return to bring good luck for the New Year.

Michelle McNamara, the Irish owner of Mountain View Pub in Cave Creek, opened the restaurant to share the same Irish recipes she learned from her family, like shepherd's pie and fish and chips.

McNamara was excited to spend her New Year’s Eve alongside what she described as a “melting pot” of local and seasonal residents who enjoyed traditional Irish food.

"The patrons become your life; it's a real melting pot of people enjoying the Midwest flair," said McNamara.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How Arizonans ring in the New Year and honor culture