Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Though I have been here for nearly 9 years in Argentina, many of you often ask me how we celebrate Christmas here. Differently!

When you think about the things that make Christmas feel like Christmas, you must first imagine that none of it exists here. There are no slay bells jingling. No here comes Santa Clause in a one horse open sleigh wishing for a White Christmas blaring from ever store front. There are not Candy Cane Lanes to be strolled down. There are few decorations hung in the streets, a straggling bell or two, a holly branch here or there, maybe even a tree but that is as far as it goes. 

People do not take part in the drinking of hot coco or warm apple cider by a log lit fire. Quite the opposite in fact. 

It doesn't feel like Christmas when you are scantly clad in loose fitting clothes to avoid the sticky and sweaty effect of Summer taking its tole on you. Today it will be upwards of 100 degrees with 40% humidity at the very least. Without all of the sing songs and decor, the bundling up and the staying in to bake, one forgets it is Christmas. Or, perhaps they remember what Christmas is really about. 

On the day of the 24th, the Eve of Christmas, we prepare food and buy last minute gifts. In Argentina Papa Noel arrives at midnight and every little kid in the nation stays up late to see his arrival. Wait, SEE his arrival? Yep. There is typically a large spectacle of fire works announcing his landing and someone in the family often dresses up as good ole Saint Nick to cause a bit of commotion inside the house while everyone is conveniently in the street staring at the sky. Suddenly he appears on a rooftop or you see the traces of his fleeting red coat as you race to catch a glimpse, which of course, happens either from a distance or not at all. 

Finally, there is a distribution of gifts, but all gifts given on this day are from Santa - 1 per person - so one must be careful not to talk to much about who gave who what and where they purchased said what. 

After the hoopla of present opening is over, a bottle, or two or three, of champagne is opened and we cheers to the holiday, to health, to new unions and new comers - and usually sit around talking or playing for an hour or so before retiring to bed. 

On the 25th, as no one ever sleeps too well due to having over eaten (or drunken) too much, that is unless you are 25 weeks pregnant or 4 years old, the day is built to be lazy - left overs in the park and around the pool.

Somewhere around 22 weeks

22 weeks. Man, time goes by quickly.

As I sit here typing this, my body feels tired, worn out, heavy and sloth-like. I feel like going back to bed and I yet just woke up from an afternoon nap. This is the life. 

The school year has ended which means I am working much less which is a perfect blessing and yet, this seems to make me feel even more lethargic in the end. Juani had a nice end of the year presentation where he had to dress up like an elf - costume by yours truly.

Juani has started Summer camp, of which he loves because, while he was born in the sign of air, he is a true water-bearer. He spends nearly 3 hours a day in the pool, weather providing, and returns home beyond tired. This opens the door for us to take naps together. A brilliant invention fully embraced by Latin America.

You should really try it USers!! 

So, beyond this, we are preparing for the holidays, and enjoying the arrival of warm days and long nights. Juani and I put the tree up together and with my help, he adorned it with the star, which nearly ended with both of us, on top of a fallen tree, but we saved the fall at the last minute. 

He has written his letter to Santa and we plan to deliver it personally to, "one of his friends dressed up like him in the shopping mall" because my kid is way too smart to believe that Santa can be in all the malls the same time. I had to think of something fast when he noticed that the snow wasn't real and that Santa didn't look exactly like Santa. This year has been really special as he is learning to write and so we worked on writing the card together and he is so very proud of his front facing "p's and q's" though his "j's and s's" are dyslexic, he is learning quickly and shows a real desire to learn to read. I wonder where he gets that? 

As for my little bun in the oven, I am not so sure the words little and bun are the most suitable ways of referring to him/her. For 5 months I my stomach is enormous and yet, I have gained very little weight. But that doesn't seem to phase the little one at all. When baby books and doctors talk about "beginning to feel the butterfly movements" of the baby around this time, I would like to elaborate by saying, "this ain't no butterfly!" He/she is kicking like a national league football kicker!! This leads me to believe even more and more that he is really a she, a little lady taking after my own fiery heart, Let's just hope she doesn't come out kicking like I did. I rather like my scar free tummy as it is. 

And finally, for my lovey honey, well he is doing wonderfully as always, though we have had a few life changes taking place. It seems he has hit mid-age and a result, our entire family has begun eating salt free. According to the lab coats, he is on the cusp of hypertension due to slightly elevated blood pressure. I am sure we can get that under control via diet change so we are all making an effort to accompany him down that road.