Burning the old year. (Good riddance).

New Year's Eve is noisy, loud, smokey, and very social.  People take their muñecos, (piñata like figures)  into the street and burn them.  They represent the past year.  The president and I with our wives were invited to a dinner and new year eve celebration at a home we had visited twice before.  This time was different because the father had died last April. He had had a brain hemhorage and was still very much in the minds of the family.  He was a respected Doctor, temple worker, and patriarch.  He was still young (about 60), one of 10 children.  His mother especially misses him.  We had a good time visiting with members of the family and watching fireworks as well as the burning of the old year.