The holiday season in Guatemala

In Guatemala, there are so many parties! I am invited to Christmas parties and events practically every single night of each week, starting towards mid-November.  Christmas "convivios" (gatherings or parties), friendly get-together, concerts on old churches, art exhibit openings, bazaars, special plays and screenings and the closer to Christmas, the more people drop by one's home to "give the Christmas hug" and often come bearing a cake, a bottle of wine, cookies, things like that. Then there are all the Catholic processions called "posadas", very picturesque, which inevitably end up in a long party with lots of rum punch. The weather is chill and lovely, clear and cold enough in the evenings for a light jacket or sweater.

We are Jewish, so we do not celebrate the Christmas holiday at our home. And so we don't get homesick, because we attach no special sentiment to the holiday either, no fond childhood memories, or religious significance, or anything of the sort. We don't stress about gift-giving either. I assume other expats have to worry about gifts for relatives or miss spending these days with their relatives in their home countries. We don't suffer homesickness attached to these holidays. In fact, we go to almost everything we get invited to, because everything is just so fun in a social kind of way.  I like it that Christmas here is 2 full days of non stop celebration starting on the 24th. Almost no sleeping!  Of course, between the 25th and New Years', one best just sleep because nothing else is going on and then New Years is coming up, with more celebration. In my experience, these holidays are definitely much more fun in Latin America than in the U.S. In the U.S. they are just kind of totally nuclear family oriented, the holiday lasts one day, there are not as many events, either, and to me, it's just sort of boring.  No firecrackers, for instance, no staying awake all night. 

Anyhow, that is my experience of the holidays in Guatemala. As Jews we have Hannukah but Hannukah is just a minor holiday in the Jewish religion and except for the U.S., where for some reason it seems to compete with Christmas, it really isn't celebrated in any grand way. It's smaller and more intimate, and that is nice too. Plus, it's for children.  We no longer have children at home.  If it weren't for the holidays, Christmas and New Years, and the Day of the Dead in November, these months would not be the fun they are.