Our house is quiet and peaceful. Outside the rainstorm is roaring and the humidity is clouding my mind. On the TV all the news channels can talk about is the weather. It is hot, it is humid, it is basically uncomfortable. British weather people would call the climate “close”, but I am not a fan of this term. "It's rather close out int it??"
......It makes my face screw up slightly.
I am feeling the effects of the dear climate very well indeed, so I decide it’s probably best I turn off the television, as to not get annoyed.
The scene:
It is 6pm, and the parrot is talking and singing over the pattering sounds of rain hitting the roof. This is his hour you see. Let me explain, we have a bit of an animal farm in our house at the moment. We have a parrot, a dog, a bunny rabbit, a tortoise (my favourite), and my three 20 something yr old male cousins......
So, I’m sipping mate, listening to our parrot sing the Copacabana (not madeup) and pondering. . .
November is coming to a close, and the days are becoming hotter and hotter. Walking through Buenos Aires in 30 degree heat and 80 + % humidity can make one feel slightly strange. Especially while staring at colourful tinsel and all things sparkly, preparing for the festive season.
I still have to adjust. It is November, yet summer. The British side of me is totally confused and in panic. My inner Brit does not understand hot Christmas. I have only spent one Christmas away from London and dear Hertfordshire in my lifetime so far, but this was back in 1994. My mother, my sister and I came to Buenos Aires in December that year to meet the Argentine side of the family and spend the holidays with them. My inner chica Argentina was unleashed and by the end of the trip I was drinking mate like a native and eating crackers with jam at every given opportunity. I started to become used to new customs and ways of life.
We spent some time in Buenos Aires, where we stayed with our cousins, and then for Christmas and New Year, we moved to the seaside. We went as a unit to stay with my grandmother (la abuela “Quica”) in a town called Villa Gesell. This town by the sea is hugely popular in the summer for residents of BA, to escape the heat during the summer months. My abuela however, had already been a resident for some time when we went to visit.
It was a memorable experience in which my sister and I got a chance to meet some of my mothers most important friends, and we had some wonderful reunions on the beach during our trip. Every time we walked back from the beach my sister and I would count the amount of squashed frogs along the sandy roads, en route to our abuelas house (I think our record count was 30 something frogs along the way). Apparently drivers do not care much for small amphibian wanderers in Gesell town. Being 8 years old, skipping up a sandy road in summer counting frogs with big sis was excellent though.
So, those are my last references to what it is like to live through a hot Christmas. Going to the beach until 12/1pm when the heat really started. Coming back, having a shower, afterward having a barbecued lunch and singing Lion King songs. After lunch we slept the Spanish siesta through the hottest hours of the day, and played in the afternoons inside while the winds swept through the town.In the evenings we said hello to the frogs, had a late dinner and went down to town to buy friendship bracelets and eat ice-cream at 1am. (my mum is cool) Looking back, it sounds like a pretty good way to spend your Christmas. Especially the bit about The Lion King sing-song, that was a must.
Well, this year will bring whole new memories and a fresh perspective through eyes of a 23-year old with my Argy family. We will be together minus my sister and mum (who will be in The Shire) to toast on Noche Buena (Christmas Eve).
I get distracted and look outside again.
I think the parrot’s (his nickname is Lori, coming from Loro-Spanish for parrot) choir session is over for today, and while this saddens me...... I am also smiling inside.
This then brings to a close my daydream on this very British day. I will continue one day soon.
Hasta pronto,
M
