Navidad.

It has been a tough first week getting a decent nights sleep in Magda’s house. There are a number of contributing factors:

1. Cockerels – it sounds as though there are hundreds of them in the vicinity of Magda’s home, ‘Cocka doodle doodling’, not only early in the morning, but also throughout the night.

2. Dogs, again, it sounds as though there are hundreds of the bloody things barking all night long.

3. Then we have the ‘fire crackers’, which have been going off throughout the day and night with increased regularity.

4. Lastly, my head is buzzing with all the Spanish that I have been learning.

Christmas in Gutemala doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as commercial as it is in the UK. That said, there are still plenty of decorations adorning the shops and houses, and of course each house has the obligatory Christmas tree.

There weren’t any Spanish classes on Christmas Eve, which allowed me to buy the rest of my presents for Magda and her family. I had purchased a few ‘typically British’ gifts back in the UK but needed to top these up. These gifts also required wrapping.

We have now been joined by Rebecca, a young medical student from Massachusetts (USA). Beca has proved to be a valuable asset during the meal time banter with Magda. She helps deflect some of the more difficult questions that get thrown my way. Beca and I are studying at the same Spanish school. However, she is a league or two ahead of me! Beca is a slim and very attractive young lady of about 23. She has a wonderful sense of humour and we get on well. 

Christmas Eve supper was at the normal time followed by a much needed siesta. 

At midnight Beca and I joined the family on their rooftop terrace to watch the plethora of fireworks that were fizzing up all around us. It was a very impressive sight indeed. We then returned to the living room to open our presents. As you can imagine, 3-year old Dulce was extremely excited. We then sat down to an unusual ‘spread’. 

The kitchen table was beautifully adorned. At each place setting there was a plate on which was strategically placed an apple, some grapes and various sweets and chocolates. The centre piece on the table was a huge jug of Punch – non-alcoholic, I sadly have to report!
I doubt anyone was going to have a hearty appetite at this time in the morning and so by 2am everybody was suitably full and suitably tired enough to bid each other goodnight. 

The following day Beca and I went on walk about and had lunch in town. It didn’t really feel like a Christmas Day, it was a scorching hot day, but folk were obviously in a jovial mood.

There was no Boxing Day, no Boxing Day Sales, and the ‘day after Christmas Day’ was like any other normal day –  just as it should be. Two days is enough to celebrate Christmas.

Next stage: a visit to Santiago de Atitlán and San Pedro.

   
    
 

About Richard Griffith

My first independent travel experience was a trip to Israel, in 1997, it was here that I caught the 'travel' bug! In 2001 I took an 8-month sabbatical and traveled around South East Asia. Since then I have managed to visit most of Eastern Europe along with India, Bangladesh, and a few other destinations in between. I love travel and I love meeting new people.
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