Ending of an age... 2011 to 2012

This exchange has been full of new things, one of which is celebrating the holidays without my family. I’ve already passed my first Thanksgiving in a country where Thanksgiving is not celebrated, and I knew the Christmas season was coming up. In Mexico, they do celebrate Christmas, but as expected, it’s a bit different than what I’m used to.

I wasn’t going to write about my pre Christmas breakdown, but I guess it is a really important point of going on exchange. I guess I just didn’t realize it was the Christmas season- I rarely heard the typical Christmas songs that bombard the radio in Watertown, I didn’t spend hours with ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas, we hadn’t made dozens upon dozens of cookies, brownies, and treats, no cards were sent to everyone we know wishing “happy holidays!”, there wasn’t really the same holiday cheer. When I did realize, all of a sudden, that it was the week before Christmas, I felt so homesick. I ended up calling my mom (luckily my host family has 100 free minutes to the U.S.) and feeling sorry for myself about everything. My mom pretty much knew I would be feeling this way this time of year, because of the all knowing “Exchange Student Survival Guide”. Basically, the holidays form a huge hump to overcome for exchange students. Although it’s really cool to experience a new culture, eat yummy food, and be in another country, it kind of sucks to be away from your family. I’m not going to lie, my brothers and sister can be a pain, but I love them and I have learned to appreciate their annoying habits and all that goes with them. My mom ended up telling me my Christmas present early so that I would be able to get over my homesickness. [My Christmas present: my whole family is going to Cancun, and so am I! I will see my parents, siblings, their Croatian exchange student my best friend croatian sistah, my aunt and uncle, their 3 daughters, another aunt and uncle and their daughter, and my Grandma. I’m really lucky to be able to see my family in the middle of the year, and to go to Cancun! My host sister and I will be flying to meet them in 12 days!]

Anyways, let’s talk about Christmas in Mexico. In Wisconsin, “Christmas” is the 25^th, Christmas Day. We open presents, get together, eat food, watch football, spend time with family.  In Mexico, “Christmas” is the 24^th, Christmas Eve. There is a lot in common as far as getting together, eating food, spending time with family. What really struck me by surprise was the formality and schedule of our Christmas Eve events. We ended up going to a cousin’s house around 9 at night. By that time on Christmas Eve I am almost always getting ready for bed with visions of sugarplums dancing in my head waiting to see what Santa would bring on Christmas morning. We got all dressed up, went to mass around 7, gathered up the ham, applesauce (sent from Wisconsin, made by my parents), chiles, vodka, etc., and went to the dinner. I’m sure most of you think this is a joke, but we ate our Christmas dinner around 11:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. There was ham, turkey, chiles, applesauce, apple salad, spaghetti, desserts, pretty much anything you could think of. It’s tradition to make enough food for the 24^th and the 25^th, so they don’t have to cook on Christmas day. After dinner, we listened to music, watched TV, talked, and just hung out; my parents and I did not leave their house until around 7 a.m. They had not slept at all (I did, of course) and we went home to rest before Christmas Day.

I somehow managed to wake up at 10 a.m. to Skype with my family. It was so weird to me not waking up early on Christmas to open presents and have a fire and eat omelets made by my dad. My family had already been awake 3 to 4 hours, but no one in my house in Mexico was awake.  So, I talked to my family and my Uncle Dan, then to my Aunt Kaye, Uncle Jeff, cousins and granddaddy. We went to my aunt’s house to open presents around 2 p.m. My host family has a Secret Santa gift exchange every year, so naturally they just added me to the exchange, which was really nice of them. After the gifts, we went back to my cousin’s house for “recalentado”, or Christmas leftovers. I ended up watching my first Packer’s game of the season, and we headed home.

My Christmas was really different than any I’ve had before. The thing is it’s only one Christmas out of the dozens I will have in my life. I am glad I had the opportunity to celebrate it differently, but I’m also happy that I will still have my family Christmas I am used to next year. As Rotary would say, “It’s not wrong, it’s just different.” In the end, our celebrations are really not that different- family, food, love.

OKAY! Now on to New Year’s Eve! First, let’s go over my typical family party back home. In Wisconsin, my family and I go to my Aunt Kathy’s house, watch football, play Wii, and eat food. Our party is usually well over by midnight, although I do try to stay up for the ball drop. This is not typical New Year’s Eve for everyone in Wisconsin or the US, but it is what I am used to. It may not sound that fun, but it is my tradition. My Mexican New Year’s Eve was a bit different. We went to my aunt’s house around 9:30 at night (my family in Wisconsin were already heading home from their party). Until midnight, we talked, ate snacks, just hung out. When the clock struck midnight, we toasted to the New Year, ate 12 grapes each, hugged everyone, and started to eat our New Year’s Eve dinner. The 12 grapes are supposedly so that 12 desires come true. Let me just tell you, we managed to buy some monster grapes, and it was pretty hard to eat all twelve. Anyways, we ate spaghetti, ham, apple salad, and potato soufflé. It was actually a fairly calm New Year’s Eve, which was fine with me. Being the party animal that I am, I fell asleep around 2 or 3 in the morning and slept through the night.

So, in conclusion, I had a pretty good Christmas and New Year’s. It wasn’t what I was used to, but it wasn’t that different. We were with family, we had a good time, we ate some tasty food.  I made it through the holidays and on Thursday I celebrate FIVE months in Mexico! The year is going pretty quickly, before I know it, I’ll be on a plane back home. It’s been an incredible experience so far, and I’m sure the best is yet to come. Here’s another quick Rotary rant- Rotary Youth Exchange is amazing! There are ups and downs, but this is an opportunity unlike any other and I recommend it to anyone. If you have the chance to participate in RYE, please truly consider it (and do it). If Rotary is not for you, find other ways to explore the world. You will learn so much about other people and yourself, and you will be changed forever.

Welcome to 2012! Have a great year!