Feliz Navidad!

Wow what a Feliz Navidad did I have!

It was the most traditional Christmas celebration I’ve ever experienced.
The days in advance I told everyone I knew that I would love to make tamales. Those dough filled packages were my favorite street food in Mexico and here they make them only with special occasions. My hospedaje asked his mother and I was more then welcome to come over and help out. So there I went, up the roads of San Pedro to Horacio’s parent’s house.
The little dark house was full with the normal decorations: fake flowers, a few ugly paintings, an altar for Maria, a couch or two, a table with six chairs, a bed in another room and maybe a closet. The cubical that was the kitchen was black with smoke and the walls were hung with pots, pans, different cooking materials and spider webs. She had a wood oven going in the kitchen and in the back an open fire was burning with a huge kettle. Straight away I was done a traditional apron, and sitting on a tiny chair (not even big enough for a doll), I had to stir a gooey substance in a tub big enough to wash your baby, with a spoon that could easily be used to row across the lake.

It was fantastic, Katarina told me all the ingredients and how it was made. She already had stirred up the red sauce that goes in the middle and the tub I was stirring would turn into the dough. A bit later I got put on the floor to clean the leaves which were gonna be used for packing up the tamales. And eventually we put it all together: two leaves, two spoons of gooey, a spoon of red sauce, a piece of chicken and as extra a raisin and a dade. Then the whole package gets folded and tide with a string from a leave. We made 80 tamales that night. All of the packages went back in an even bigger tub, with some water, on the open fire, and two hours later they would be steamed and ready.

Now it was time to relax and wait until it was midnight. So we did what everyone did.
Four of us walked the streets where it was incredible busy. The whole town was visiting in the streets and alleyways. There was a little parade with another saint on a table, carried by several man. The woman that followed were so pretty, like angels. Everyone was eating candy and the church was packed until over-capacity. With Katarina I visited this really old lady that was dying; her children were keeping watch until she would breathe her last breath. Life, happiness, death and tears are so close together sometimes. And to fill the last hour we watched Titanic (of course in Spanish) with the whole family.

And there it was, midnight. It totally felt like new years! The whole town went off in a blast of fireworks. I thought I had heard them all in the weeks before, but no, this was definably a lot stronger. Everyone was hugging each other and a little keg with beer got opened for a toast. So we sat with the family at the table, Saluting with beer and coffee and two tamales on our plate. They were delicious and I managed to eat both of them.

Satisfied I put my fork down when dad said: “Entonces, vamanos visitar mis primos!’ We had to visit his family in the other house. Not a problem I thought, until I walked into the room and noticed the huge tub with tamales, and the keg with sweet rum drink. It turns out that you visit your whole family and eat tamales in every house, kreun! It was impossible, there was no more room. No problems, then you take them home. So for the next three days the whole town eats tamales, until its new years and it starts all over again, hahaha

On the way home I stopped in the street to see all the teenagers dancing on their reggeaton music, just huge speakers in the middle of the street for one night. What a party.
The next day the town was nice and quiet in the morning…….

For the 25th I had a really nice time with my friends at the BackStreet Bakery, my favorite lounge spot in San Pedro. In the night we had a little swing party at Boodha; it was good to dance again and stay awake into the early morning, eating croissants with Margie in her back street garden.

Really, I can say that it was one of my best Christmases ever!