It was about a month ago, when the winter rains finally dwindled to a halt and people started saying “It smells like Christmas” that I realized I had a problem. Born in England and having spent 30 years in Vancouver Canada, I was accustomed to short dark days, bright lights and everything indoors; not this feeling that summer holidays were about to begin! I mumbled “Nonsense, there’s no snow!” and left my friends dumbfounded.

I began to wonder how I would survive a holiday season far from home and family, where tamales rule as ‘haute cuisine’ and turkey doesn’t exist. I downloaded a “Survive the Season” guide for those far from home and bought all my gifts for family online.

Luckily there was no time to lament the differences! Everyone began cooking up a storm and preparing for the annual Fiesta de la Patronata on December 18th /19th. Our women’s group – MUCACHI accumulated handcrafts to sell including purses, scarves, bags, cushion covers as well as jewelry, garden plants and my peanut brittle (dulce y mani). At the same time people were feverishly preparing the ingredients for tamales – banana leaves, pork and the seasoned masa, and enjoying fiestas in neighboring villages.

We attended a Serenata de la Virgine in neighboring Rivas, but musically speaking I wasn’t touched until we arranged a serenata in our house and invited family and neighbors. Three local guitarists and singers shared their repertoire of traditional songs ranging from flamenco to ranchero. We had some great voices in the audience so the performance couldn’t have been better and we had an evening that stands to be repeated.

So for Christmas Day itself I had pulled a cultural bluff. Whilst having closer to 50 tamales in the fridge I had also bought a turkey and trimmings – turned out to be the most expensive turkey I’ve ever cooked! We had stockings to unpack and mimosas to sip with desayuno. To counter the alcohol we packed up some supplies and hiked high into the hills above our properties to enjoy the fresh mountain breezes on this Christmas Day of 25 degrees! Later we sat down with seven others and ate our fill of traditional Canadian fare and English sherry trifle – a real pot pori of a Christmas!

People keep popping in with more tamales as gifts, we share our Christmas cookies and turkey. I learn that Christmas is yet again far more about how you share your time and gifts with others than it is about what exactly are the ingredients. Sure, I missed out on Christmas crackers, mulled wine and snow filled days, but I did not miss the shopping frenzy, crazy car parks and general stress. Our 3-branch “Christmas Tree” looks fine to me, and though the butterflies look out of place while I listen to carols from Kings College Cambridge – what the hell. It’s Christmas with (some of) those you love that counts.

Happy New Year everyone! Keep reading!