Holiday Cheer

Luckily, I have rebounded from the tough weekend last week. A few things have happened which have helped this along.

First, school ended and I don't have to work until Feb. 18. Yeah!

Second, I've been hanging out more with my friend Kim. This has been a great outlet to feel like I have my own life here. We went Christmas shopping together, have been walking on the weekends when we can, and talk on the phone regularly. It's starting to feel less like we're getting to know each other and more like we're just friends. Which is really, really nice.

Third, and most important, I went with Arturo to two reuniones (see below for more info.) and had a great time at both of them. One was with his close friends from school, grades K-12, and the other was with some friends from his university. Everyone was friendly and Spanish was flowing off my tongue (ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it was much easier). For the first time, I wasn't even aware of where Arturo was in the room. I just sat and talked...and it felt wonderful. Above is a photo of me deep in conversation -- in Spanish!


Along with this Holiday Cheer, I've realized that while the holiday season here is filled with much of the same commercial stuff, there are several Peruvians holiday traditions that continue to amaze me:

1) Reuniones
Reunion in Spanish means a meeting or gathering, but I think this isn't descriptive enough. It means you get together with friends/relatives and stay with each other until there is some major reason why you need to leave. Time is not an acceptable reason. If it's 3:00 a.m. and you don't have another reunion to go to, you just stay and talk. This idea is not only with close friends. If, for example, your company's holiday reunion is a lunch, you must go prepared to stay for many hours, possibly through dinner and into the night. (This idea extends to weddings where young and old stay out all night and the bride and groom must provide both dinner and breakfast for their guests)

2) Panetón
According to Wikipedia, panetón originated in Milan and comes with several different legends, many including romantic love, of course. I haven't heard any legends told, but I have realized that, whatever the reason, Peruvians are obsessed with getting their Christmas panetón. The dome-shaped bread is sweet and usually has some dried fruit or other delicious ingredients. However, it's just a sweet bread. I have been struggling to find out what the obsession is all about. For example, Arturo often receives clients from taxi drivers (they pick up foreigners at the airport and they need a place to stay). So, yesterday, we bought 20 panetónes for each driver. Every taxi driver I've had in the last two weeks has asked me if I've had panetón and if I love it.

3) Christmas Turkey
For the most part, people don't cook full, big turkeys in their house. It's something that is done for a special occasion. Here, everyone receives a voucher for a free turkey from the company they work for (yes, I received one from my school). There are special areas set up throughout Lima where you can go and claim your free turkey. Many people at school told me they give this voucher to their maids, as a big, frozen turkey can be more of a hassle than anything else. We went yesterday and the system is really incredible. In fact, it's one of the most organized things I've seen in Peru. Of course, my voucher (called a valet here) was for a 9 kg turkey and they only had 7 kg or 13 kg, for which you had to pay extra. Tricky, eh? Anyway, I think the most interesting part about the whole system is that most people don't actually cook the turkeys themselves. After you defrost the turkey, you bring it - in your own pan - to special turkey-baking places and pick it up about five hours later.

Now, I'm off to take a nap. At 5:00 we're having a Christmas dinner (complete with the turkey I got from my school) at the hostel, and then at 10:00 the family Christmas reunion begins. That's right: 10:00 p.m. is when it starts! Arturo told me we will most likely be finished around 2 or 3 in the morning...I think after my nap I'm going to get coffee!