Christmas in La Paz

Early birthday celebration in Hollywood, FL

I haven't blogged for several weeks as I have been out of Mexico and had little available internet access.  It was necessary for me to visit the States for medical tests (all of which turned out to be fine, thank you very much!) and I took that opportunity to visit as many friends and family members as I could.. I stayed with a dear friend in South Florida for about a week then drove to North Carolina for brief visits with children and grandchildren.  It was so good to see everyone but a whirlwind trip as I interspersed doctors' visits with visits to family and friends.  Wonderful as it was I was happy to return to Mexico, Larry and Milagro just before Christmas.  
Larry and I hadn't really made plans for what we would do for Christmas.  We knew there were activities available but as neither of us had "signed up" for the Eve and Day dinners we were out of luck on that score. 

Jose and his lovely mother and father along with the Americanos

Enter an even better idea.  A young man named Jose had been looking for work back in November and Larry hired him to help with a couple of projects.  He turned out to be  charming man and a good worker and we enjoyed his company.  Imagine our surprise when he invited to us to spend Christmas Eve with his family.  We have been told that while the locals are quite friendly they are very family oriented and don't often include "gringos" in their family activities.

We were quite excited to have this opportunity.  We learned there would be four children there so we went shopping for small gifts for each of them and I made sugar cookies, cut out stars with white icing and colored sprinkles. I found myself wiping the occasional tear as memories of baking Christmas cookies with my own small children flooded my mind.

What a wonderful evening.  We picked up Jose in front of WalMart then headed to his family's home on the outskirts of La Paz.  As we arrived the entire family came out to greet us and welcomed us with hugs.  Jose speaks excellent English and one brother has a fair command of  the language so there was a lot of translating, and sign language going on. The family included Jose's father and step-mother, a brother and sister-in-law and a sister and brother-in-law. and two of the promised children, Mario and Luis Angel.  I have never seen a host and hostess make more effort to make their guests feel a home. After showing us their house which had Christmas decorations in every nook and cranny and a least three nativity scenes, we all sat down to eat.

Plates were served already filled and it wasn't until that moment that I realized that Jose had probably not passed on the information that I am a vegetarian.  In truth, I have eased up on being a strict lacto-ovo vegetarian and begun eating some fish in recent months in deference to the knowledge that as we begin cruising it may be wise if not necessary to supplement my diet with fish.  But here I was faced with a plate filled with white meat turkey, some sort of rice dish which most assuredly had ground beef in it, macaroni salad with cubes of ham and cheese and the ever-present frijoles; on this occasion the dish was translated as beans with pig.  Larry and I looked at each other (he with sympathy in his eyes) and I made the decision right then and there to eat it all.  I haven't had poultry, pork or beef in over 20 years (except for one barbeque sandwich in Texas over 16 years ago) and I feared it might make me sick.  Truth be told, these people were so kind and generous and I felt unable to explain my feelings on the subject.  I just blanked my mind to what I was really eating, smiled and complimented the cook and concentrated on the conversation. I have no intention of becoming a carnivore but I did not believe they would understand and I could not insult this family by not sharing a lovingly prepared meal.

My sweetheart! Luis Angel who sang Jingle Bells in Spanish with Larry

Mario blowing kisses

After the plates were cleared we went into the living room  where first the children then the adults opened gifts.  I was so surprised to be handed a package by Lolita, Jose's mother.  Inside was a lovely Carolina Herrera scarf.  Larry kept pretending that he might be able to borrow the shirts given to the men and everybody got a huge charge out of that.  My Larry, the life of the party!
After gifts we sat down and Larry got out his guitar and we joined in singing Jingle Bells and Silent Night (in English and Spanish) as well as some Mexican carols.  The Dad said he liked country music (we think!) and Larry played a Willie Nelson and then an Emmy Lou song.  They served us "punche" or a hot punch with juice and local fruits and white wine with a sugar cane stirrer.  Delicious!!


We left around 10:30 with hugs all around to the accompaniment of very loud firecrackers ( it sounded like guns being fired!).
What a wonderful experience.  This family shared their family holiday with us in the most generous way and we hope they accept our invitation to to visit our new home,  Milagro. 

Hoping all our friends and family had blessed Christmas and look forward to health and happiness in the new year.