Did you ever see a really, really shiny star near the moon like for the last 2 weeks!?

I was in El Salvador with my family and it was new years when i looked into the sky and i saw this really shiny star, i know that normally when i see a star shining really bright it's not really a star, it's a planet, but this one was like BIG and EXTREMELY SHINY!! I don't know if it was a planet, but i also noticed that every night it was a little bit more down from the moon then the night before. Did anyone else see this star, and if you know what it was, I would like to know!! I'm actually even getting the idea that it might have been a UFO but that's crazy so...please let me know if u saw it. ONLY if you saw it. 'Cause my mom saw it to, and people from El Salvador saw it to. WHAT IS IT? AND WHY ISN'T IT UP THERE ANYMORE?