Christmas in Brasil
..what an interesting holiday it was.
since the beginning of november, theree has beeen christmas decorations like this was the north pole which troubled me because before christmas, its always thanksgiving but considering this isnt north america, they skipped straight to natal.
it never felt like christmas to me; no snow, no snow days, no snow angels, no hot chocolate, no sledding, no christmas caroling, no sneaking into my parents room to have a litttle peak..
instead, it was replaced by bikkinis, swimming everyday, sweating like i have never before, going to the beach and seeing one of the most beauitful cities ever, hearing american christmas music in stores and finding all of this rather oddd
in my family, cant speak for every family in brasil, we had a big dinnner late on christmas eve night, gathering at 9pm, eating at 12, leaving at 3am; woke up to open presents on christmas morning with my family then had a small lunch on christmas day with everyone from the night before.
dia 24 de dezembro:
around 25 people on my mothers side of my family gathered at my grandmas house to have dinner. it was catered, meaning we had a full-on service of a waitor &alll. it was niceeee :D
before dinner, we played white elephant and i actually got a sweet present, cosisas de bahia !
then my 8yr old cousin, marie vitora, said, "everyone, i would like to sing you a song."
she started singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" in english and then translating it for everyone in portuguese.
it was the sweetest thing everrrr
then my mom started to play the piano, Silent Night & Night in Bethlehem.
Right then and there, i started struggling to be there.
I dont know if it was the music or if because i am a girl therefore emotional, i just wanted to be back in Pa, just for one night.
in my head, i was having a full on argument with myself, trying to stay positive &failing.
positive: come on, ariana, youre fine, relax, breathe, everything is all right.
negative: no it's not all right! i dont want to be here right now. who am i kiddding, i dont know these people?
positive: yes, you do. they're your family and you just neeed to get through this and you will be just fine, be strong.
negative: shuttup, i wanna be in pennsylvania. i wanna be with my grandparents, eating grandma judys sweet potatoes and getting a card from uncle norman without his name in it and exchanging presents with my cousins. i cant do this.
positive: no, you shutup. you only have one christmas in brasil, enjoy it! next year, youre going to be wishing you were in brasil rather than Pa.
guess who won the argument?
the negative side, ofcourse.
i started crying, getting emotional and irrational. im the kinda person who hates when people see me cry so i quietly went to the bathrooom to have a moment to just let it all out.
my brother, being the bestbrother in the world, saw my eyes get red and came looking after me, trying to comfort. he did and i love him for that.
we had dinner, salmon, steak, chicken, potatoes, and ooh who could forget the rice&beans!
it was reallly goood foood :D
Dia 25 de Dezembro:
since we came home so late the previous night and none of us are under the age of 10, we woke up at the beauitful hour of 10am, had breakfast and went to open presents. i got a lot of things, a lot of special things and it was reallly speical time with my family. since my presents that my parents where sending me from Pa didnt arrive on time, i wrote them a card (in português) and they looked so touched :D my sister even got a car ! wowowow
we went to my grandmas for a late lunch that was left overs from the previous evening, everyone showed off their presents and we just hung out all day long.
so even though it wasnt a white christmas and even though i misssed my family so much, i had a christmas in brasil, a christmas that i will never forget..
