Hello everybody! How are you all going?

Today I want to talk about the Holidays. You know that Christmas is almost near. So to get into the spirit of the holidays, why not talk about it. I want to talk about how do I celebrate my holidays. Because I live in the Caribbean, Christmas isn’t celebrated the same way as in the States. For a difference it is a lot warmer here. Cause it is a tropical area, it doesn’t snow here. I’ve never seen nor touched snow before. The only thing I know is that is it white and cold. Well, from what I’ve seen on TV and movies.

So how do I celebrate my holidays? For me and the people here in Puerto Rico, the holidays are much longer than you think. It starts right after Thanksgiving and is lasts till San Sebastian Street Festival (Fiestas de las calles de San Sebastian). That means that our holidays lasts from mid November till mid January. That is kinda long…and I like it. There is no Holidays like any other. Enough time to do a lot of things.

We are in the middle of December. So I have already spent Thanksgiving with my family. I participated for the first time on Black Friday. It feels like a huge mall party. Bought all my gifts, so my Christmas shopping is complete. Now the outdoor air feels colder. I had my winter beanie hand knitted. Now I started wearing my Christmas hat and humming Christmas songs. The Christmas tree is up and I’ve been taking pictures of all the decorated trees I’ve seen. At work I am participating in a gift exchange. I wonder who is going to gift me. Would they get me what I wished for? Not to forget, I bought my new daily planner for 2017.

That is what I have done so far. But there are a lot of things that are still left to do. Like going to the fair, or going ice skating. I also want to go through Old San Juan, it is like a thing I do during holidays. I think I will go there during the San Sebastian Street Festival. I am still waiting to make some “coquito”, instead of Eggnog we drink that. It’s prepared with coconut milk, cinnamon and rum. To make it “special” I add red wine to it, it turns it pink. If you put it on the freezer, it becomes thick like a milkshake. Right now I am still wondering what else do I want to do during the holidays. Most of my family wont be for Christmas or Christmas Eve. I want to do something exciting on those days. Maybe I will celebrate it with someone? I don’t know. I know for sure that I might work on New Years Eve or on New Years. But I usually celebrate it at home. We don’t do much, so I spend it with the neighbors. This year I want to do something new. I got kinda tired of doing the same things over and over again. I will ask my friends if they have something in mind. My birthday is coming soon, so I already have planned what I want to do.

In Puerto Rico, our holidays are dedicated to the family. It is the time of year where we spend the most with our families. We also celebrate Epiphany (Three Kings Day), on January 6th. It is like Christmas, but three Magi visits you at night and leaves you presents. We do something that resembles to caroling. But a group of people (friends or family) gathers together. They go to your house at night and they surprise you with singing. They sing until you wake up and let them in. Then you have to host them all night or until they leave. I remember a few Christmases back, a neighbor got one and I couldn’t sleep. Almost forgot about the rockets and fireworks. Those are a huge thing during New Years Eve. You can’t celebrate the new year without them. People go crazy with them, I also have a thing for explosives. There is a firework called Thunder Strings. So near midnight I use four sets of strings to write the number of the new year. It leaves the street with burned numbers. For example, if I do it this year there will be a 2017 burned on the floor. It is fun but it is also dangerous. So be careful out there. After midnight you can still hear people setting off explosives for more than half and hour. I just go inside to watch New Years in Time Square. They always have a one hour delay. I think there are more things to do during the holidays but I have to go around and find out.

There you have it, a sample of what is the Holidays like in Puerto Rico. I think there is so much more. But I don’t go out that much. I am only telling you what I know by experience. That means that I have to go out more and do more things. There has to be more things to do, I am sure. So I’ll keep on working and you all take care. And remember to keep a watch for my next post.

See you all later and Happy Holidays,

from Ijiserure.