PROSPERO AÑO (Happy/Prosperous New Year)

I'm expecting a fantastic 2008 as I have now diligently observed a number of local traditions aimed at increasing my luck. I wore yellow underwear for 'general' luck, ate 12 grapes for month-specific luck, sat down in a chair 12 times in order to get myself a husband, and ran around the block (well, we walked so we could eat the grapes at the same time) to improve my travel prospects. (Oops, just realised that I forgot to put money in my shoe to improve my financial outlook. Never mind.) Needless to say, it was a busy night.

We also set fire to el Año Viejo (the old year) - a mannequin stuffed with fireworks. Oh how the Kiwi firefighters would shudder at this one.

Before...

El Año Viejo. Ex-president Fujimori apparently.

We had a little trouble getting it to burn until a friendly passerby threw some alcohol on it for us.

During...

After...

This is actually the one down the road. Ours wasn't really in any kind of recognizable shape after the local boys had played with it (while it was still burning, and, yes, I did try to stop them but they just looked at me like I was a crazy foreigner).

Question for the day: Can you change your luck?
There are all sorts of amulets and potions you can buy here to change your luck and I'm just wondering if that's actually possible. Luck, I would have thought, is, by definition, random. If you can do something to change it it's no longer luck. Comments welcome