Christmas Novel

Well, I did it!! I made it through Christmas here in Spain!!

Our Christmas festivities began on Monday night "La Noche Buena" with a very large meal at my host parent´s oldest daughter, Luisa´s, house. Luisa and her husband Jordi are wonderful, as are their two children, Maria and Ariadna. We got to their house around 7 PM on Monday night and I played with the girls for about an hour. Then we went back downstairs from the playroom and sang Christmas songs with Iaia (pronounced Yaya, which is what they call their grandma, my host mom). Eventually, around 8:45, we started the process of eating. After about 4 courses and lots and lots of turrón (the special Spanish Christmas sweet) it was almost 11 and my phone rang!! So I talked to my mom for about 20 minutes while posing for pictures because the girls kept running in with the camera to take pictures of me. A little after midnight my host parents decided it was time to go. So we made the 25 minute drive back into Barcelona in about 20 minutes and when we were parking my host mom all of a sudden turned to me and said that midnight mass was still going on if I would like to go and see. So she and I gave our things to my host dad and we ran to the church around the corner to go to the second half of the mass. It was in Catalan, but really beautiful. Because I am an emotional mess, when they started singing "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" I started crying because it made me really miss home and our Christmas Eve services at my church. This is the first one I have ever missed, and also the first one in many many years that I haven´t sung at! So when the service ended, we went out into the Plaça outside the church to watch the beginning of the festivities there, and my host dad was standing out there waiting for us!! He said he couldn´t get into the church because there were too many people. Anywho, after the service, a lot of people just hang out celebrating Christmas in the Plaça eating turrón and drinking coffee while standing around a big bonfire. My host parents and I were all pretty tired, so we walked back to our apartment and went to bed.

On Christmas morning I woke up and got ready for a full day. After showering and getting dressed I sat down and opened a Christmas card from one of the women at my church who gave me a package of cards for every month and holiday before I left the US. I also read the Christmas story so that I could sort of feel like I was home with my family doing our normal Christmas morning thing. We ended up leaving the apartment around noon to go to David (my host parents´ son) and Marta´s house. David and Marta also have two daughters named Alida and Ana. Alida is about 4 or 5 and Ana is about a year old. So after we got to their house, I played with Alida for two hours or so until it was time to eat. This meal was not quite as large as the one the night before, partly because I don´t eat seafood and the main course was very large shrimp which still had the eyes on them!! But, all of the other food was delicious. Right as we finished eating and were getting ready for the coffee or tea, my phone rang again! My family has perfect timing! So I excused myself and went to the other half of the room to talk to them. This phone call was probably the hardest part of my Christmas... I am pretty sure I cried at least 7 different times. First I talked to my little sister who told me that it was really hard not to have me at the Christmas Eve service the night before, which was the first time I cried. Then I talked to my mom and cried while telling her about the midnight mass I went to. Then I talked to my dad and cried while he said something else about the Christmas Eve service and me not being there. And finally I talked to my big sister and cried just because she said she missed me!! There was a lot of time on the phone, though, when I wasn´t crying, and it was nice to be able to talk to each of my family members. When I finally got off the phone and went back into the main room, Marta´s mom, two sisters, and brother were there! So we all sat around for a while eating turrón and other sweet things while my host mom and one of Marta´s sisters entertained us by singing and dancing! It was pretty fun. Finally, around 7:30 my host parents decided to leave, so we got home around 8. When we got home, my host mom was going to start on the canalones for the next day. I asked if she would like help, so I went into the kitchen and we had a really good conversation. She said that today was a good day but that it was a sad one for me. I told her that it was sad but really good too. I reassured her that I really love living with her and my host dad and that I love their family. I told her thank you for letting me participate in all of the family festivities. She understood that I was happy but also told me that "family is family and there is no replacing them" meaning that she knew it was also a hard time for me. So after our conversation I helped make all of the canalones and clean the kitchen and then we went and crashed on the sofa. Eventually she went to bed and I went shortly after that.

Then came yesterday. Yesterday ALL of the family came to our apartment, meaning including us and all the grandkids, there were 13 people in our apartment. They all got there right around 1:30 and we ate at 2:00. After some more turrón and other sweets we cleaned up and started the real fun! One of the things that is different here from home is that Santa doesn´t bring all the presents to the kids. Here, they have the "Caga Tio" which is a piece of wood with legs and a face and a santa hat which they have to feed and take care of in their own house until Christmas. When they got to their grandparents´ house, the Caga Tio had grown because he was full of presents. Really, we had taken the bigger one from David´s house the night before and set it up before the family came over. So the Caga Tio´s bottom half is covered with blankets to keep him warm. Each of the kids takes a stick and starts beating on the Caga Tio while singing a song to him (which I don´t remember the words to). Then, they lift up the blanket and he has left some gifts for each one of them! As they take the gifts and open them, all of the family distracts them while one person puts more gifts under the blanket. Then the kids to the whole routine again. They did it 5 times, and then when they turned around, the Caga Tio had changed into it´s smaller self again, which meant that it didn´t have any presents left for them. I took a few pictures, so I´ll see if I can get them on here. It is really a fun process, though, and afterwards there was a bag of gifts with one for all of the adults. My host parents got me some star earrings and a beautiful silver bracelet. After the Caga Tio, we pretty much just sat around and played with the girls and their gifts until about 6:30 when everyone started to leave. My host parents and I cleaned up a bit and then went on a walk since we had eaten so much and not left the house all day. Afterwards, we pretty much crashed and watched TV for the rest of the night until one by one we left for bed.

So, now that I truly have written a novel about my Christmas experiences which I´m not sure any of you will get all the way through, I think I should stop!! Only one more week until I leave for my trip, so I´ll definitely try to keep writing until then... Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your families!!