Learn Spanish, Avoid Festive Songs and Enjoy Christmas (part I)

When I came to South America to learn Spanish and spend a few weeks seeing the sights I didn’t expect to still be here several years later and be the proud owner of a house, a dog and several pigs.
Strange things happen in life when you decide to do something different, and while I have managed to learn Spanish reasonably well there are still some things which take me by surprise. Christmas time on a different continent is one of those.

My First Christmas Away

In the UK Christmas time was always about the cold weather, big trees and shops filled with agitated customers looking for last minute gifts and listening to that song about driving home for Christmas yet again. My first Christmas here was completely different. I didn’t see a single Christmas tree, saw no one really buying presents in earnest and didn’t even hear that familiar rum pum pum tune being played anywhere. Things have changed a little in the last few years and I can definitely see a more commercial edge creeping in but it is still nothing like running around Woolworths on the 24th of December with a glazed expression and a red hot credit card.