Feliz Navidad

I can easily say that my first Christmas away from home was nothing I expected. For starters, Paraguay doesn’t seem to place quite as much importance in the holiday as the United States. And in my family at least, Christmas Eve resembled the holiday more than the day itself.

Due to my mom’s job as the top public defender in her office, she had to work the morning of the 24^th. That left me free to sleep in, fully enjoying the air conditioner strategically located above my bead. For lunch I completed the 2 minute walk to our “maid”, but more like family, Shirley’s house. We drank tereré while we waited for my mom to get back from work and join us. Her 5 year old son Gabriel ran about the house, exhibiting his normal behavior…slightly annoying, but also entertaining. After eating and a few hours spent chatting, my mom and I went back home and I took a cozy little nap while she ran to her office to sign some last minute paperwork.

When she got back we loaded up the car with sparkling cider and set off for my grandparents’ farm (about a 15 minute drive). Meat was thrown on the grill beside some traditional “chipa guazú” (the closest American food I can relate it to is cornbread) while my aunt stirred a pot of seasoned chicken hearts. They had decided that although the same amount of regular chicken cost the same, the hearts were so “rico” they couldn’t pass them up. I had already tried “corazon de pollo” on another occasion and they were a bit chewy for my taste, so I passed when the bowl made its rounds at the table. We ended up eating around 11:30 or so, finishing up in time for the big turn of the clock to officially begin Navidad. We all gathered around the tinseled X-mas tree and surrounding nativity scene while my mom led the family through some traditional Catholic prayers. When she finished we all exchanged hugs and my mom and I went home.

I woke up early the next morning (6 o’clock to be exact) in order to give Camp Ramp a proper Merry Christmas at the strike of 12 back home. The call was actually my Paraguayan mom’s idea and she was fairly persistent that I had to call exactly at midnight, which was adorable. Hearing all their voices (minus Hunter who was supposedly asleep downstairs anxiously awaiting Santy Claus) was great, but it also made me miss home. However, in all honesty, I think it’s fairly impossible to not miss your family on a day like Christmas. After I finished the call I crawled back in bed for an hour or so until my mom told me it was time to go. Our Christmas day was to be spent on the beach.

We picked up one of my mom’s coworkers, crossed the Brazilian border, and made our way towards a lake in the town of Santa Helena. It took about 2 hours to arrive, what with one wrong turn and all. By noon we had our sun block (or in their cases, tanning oil) on, towels laid out, and were soaking up some strong Brazilian rays. When the sun got too hot for us, we took a quick dip in the lake, reapplied our UV protection and laid back down. With the exception of a quick break to eat some Christmas fruitcake (VERY popular in Paraguay), we continued this routine until about 5 o’clock, packed up and started the return trip. Once back in Paraguay we made a quick stop for dinner…at Burger King of all places. The coworker had been wanting a Whopper all day, so my mom and I went along with her craving.

Needless to say, my Christmas celebration included many things it most certainly would not have back home: spending it in a bikini, working on my tan and grabbing a bite to eat at the BK lounge. In some ways it feels as though I skipped Christmas for a year. I did have a great day with my mom; it just wasn’t anything I expected. Yet another great addition to my experience…