Yet another warm christmas.....

This is going to be my 10^th Christmas below the Ecuador line. I thought it would get easier over time. But I am still not used to the idea of decorating a palm tree instead of a pine. Call me old fashioned. I really don't care. For the infidels like me 24th of December is a celebration of good times, with good friends and it is a winter thing. I  guess you can this Turk out of the Northern hemisphere but can’t take the homey feeling of a real cold December out of her!

My home for the last 5 years, Paris of South America (a.k.a Buenos Aires), prepares for Christmas around November, as most cities do. Yet, for me, a lonely expat/agnostic international party girl,  aside from Jesus and Immaculate Conception scenes decorated here and there (not that I mind seeing them so much when it is contained in the house of God, but have issues with it in shopping malls and even inside public buses) it feels more like a pseudo-religious ceremony while getting ready for summer season. 

Comes November to this part of the continent, with the first sight of the sunlight, people flock to one among 100s of  parks around town to get a tan,  kids skip school, newly acquired pair of breasts (approx 20 thousand women get fake tits a year in this town) eagerly demonstrated in skimpy tank tops, yuppy narcisistic portenos hit the gym to built last minute six packs, etc. But by far the worst part of being an outsider witness to this hype,  those who have neither a family or enough money to escape Baires’ excruciating heat at this period,  is to see that most businesses around town start placing “we will be closed from December 24^th to January 15^th” signs on their front door.

 

The backdrop of celebrating Christmas in Buenos Aires, aside from not being able to eat good food, drink and be merry with friends and family, is having to be stuck in a city that totally shuts down as soon as the clock hits 12 pm on 24^{th ---} and does not come back to life until approximately end of February.  

I was lucky enough to escape this torture for the first couple of years in this country (I did not have a regular job, and I went to Uruguay). But since I do have professional obligations for the last 2 years, after starving during 2010, this year, in order to survive the week after the 25^th, I decided to stock up on groceries as I’d do before a hurricane, download as many movies I can (internet and electricity is not at all reliable during this period of time), and hope I will be invited to a house far enough from the city (and I can go with my dog Vinicius) or that the Christmas will go away fast!