It's christmas, the seagulls and crying and it's 61 degrees outside. It's a very strange change to have beach weather on this holiday. Normally for I am all bundled up in pajamas and a pair of big furry christmas socks. This morning I woke up and put on the warmest pants I have, and the biggest pair of socks, which happen to be some big blue organic cotton socks from Whole Foods, but it's just not the same.
This is also the first year I haven't done the Canyon road Farolito walk, and I miss it dearly. But last night we went to the house of our friend Oscar, and celebrated with his parents, brother, aunts, uncle and cousin. It was really nice to be with a family during that time.
In Chile, families celebrate Christmas on the night of the 24th. Everyone gathers together and eats a big meal then at 12:00 AM they all get to open presents. And that is pretty much what we did last night. We arrived at their house and were offered some great beer, then we all sat down in the living room and snacked on olives and different cheeses, and ginger bread cookies made from the boxed mix Jane ans Skipp sent us. We also drank ponche, which is a very typical drink here made of red or white whine, fruit (in this case strawberry) and a bit of sugar. When we got to the table to eat we had turkey, and beef with a cherry dressing (it was delicious) or pineapple dressing.We also roasted potatoes, corn, tomatoes and more wine. Dessert was ice cream or tiramisu with strawberries, raspberries or cantaloupe. We also got to try some brandy that was older than us, which was really good.
Then at 12 AM, as promised we all went into the living room again and started to open presents. And to my surprise there were presents for Zach and I. Zach got a beautiful chess board and all the pieces are based on the stone figures that are on Easter Island. I got a beautiful earring and necklace set made from a stone called cross stone, because it naturally has a cross set in the middle. And we also got an indio picaro. Which I won't try and describe because it is so funny you just have to see it for yourself.
And that was our christmas eve in Concepción. Different but delightful. Although next year I will be glad to do christmas in snow.
No comments:
Post a Comment