Not so "Silent Night"

***THIS IS FOR YOU R.B.***

At the start of December, I had my first real “pangs” of missing home. Christmas was coming...my favorite time of year and the kids were outside playing in the pool!  Something didn’t feel right. I was missing SNOW!  For years, Marc said SNOW was a four letter word, so we all had to quietly wish for it. But even Marc had to admit that it didn’t feel the same without it.

So, I spent an afternoon cutting out paper snowflakes. I was determined to bring a little bit of Idaho to Uruguay. I taped snowflakes onto the windows (got alot of looks from the people passing by). I hung snowflakes from the ceiling and turned the air conditioning on full blast (we are one of the few homes to have air conditioning- in one room only though, but I am not complaining). And every now and then, if you waited long enough, a piece of tape would give way and a snowflake would fall. 

About two weeks before Christmas, stores began to advertise and signs of Christmas began to appear.  One indicator (though we didn't understand at the time) was the appearance of sheep in our neighbor's yard.  Another indicator was the vast array of fireworks being sold by vendors. We purchased a 3 ft. tall plastic Christmas tree for $5 and some plastic ornaments. For the first time ever- I let the kids decorate it by themselves!  I downloaded some familiar Christmas tunes- a little Bing Crosby, Michael Buble, and the guy who sings “Santa Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and voila- it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, I prepared my traditional meatballs and spaghetti, but from our patio you could smell the eucalyptus wood burning in the Uruguayan barbeques. Here, the people traditionally grill a whole lamb (our neighbors sheep were gone). It takes them about four to six hours to complete it and it smelled DIVINE! 

After Christmas Eve dinner, everyone waited for the arrival of “Papa Noel."  In Uruguay, Santa Claus appears at the stroke of midnight.  In anticipation, the Uruguayans set off fireworks, starting sometime around 11:30.  *Keep in mind, there are no regulations here and anyone is allowed to launch fireworks from just about anywhere.*  The intensity of lights and sounds increased and by 11:55 (on the top of our roof) we had witnessed the best firework display we had ever seen. It was really magical. 

During all the commotion, "Papa Noel" had time to place the presents under the tree and when the kids came inside they opened their presents. I was afraid that Christmas this year would feel "different" and it did, but it was still beautiful.  Hoping you all had a magical Christmas and best of luck in 2012!

P.S. Marc did participate and set off a few fireworks, but he only managed to send them into our neighbor’s yard!