Feliz Navidad!

Christmas is one of the most confusing times as an exchange student. You are expected to miss home a little extra, but also to be excited, as you are going to experience new holiday traditions with new people. Overall, it was a bit of a weird feeling, although I missed the Christmas traditions from home, I also felt incredibly blessed and joyful to be here in Quito for Christmas. Now, to share a bit about how my Christmas went!

First of all, most families here celebrate on what we know as Christmas Eve, and my family is no different. So, on December 24th we headed to Tumbaco (a town near Quito) to spend Christmas with my host brother and his wife's family. We had Turkey, as is tradition in many parts of the world, but the big "turkey dinner" with green beans, sweet potatoes and rolls is a thing of the US. We arrived at about 1:30, and were there until 10:30, and what we did I can't really say. It was a relaxed day of eating, talking, and there was of course a trip to the grocery store. Overall, I enjoyed the food, but most of all the company.

My host parents enjoying their stockings

Most families also open presents on the 24th, but we didn't take them with us to Tumbaco, so we were able to wake up and see the decorative bags filled with candy scattered between the presents under the glowing lights of the Christmas tree. "Candy bags?" you might be thinking, but here they give bags filled with candy, cookies, chocolate, and just about any other kind of sweet you could imagine around Christmas time. I say around Christmas time because it isn't only your family that gives you these, but friends, relatives, and even the school. So, Christmas morning consisted of our normal breakfast, opening presents, going out for coffee (not a normal thing with my host family) and a leftover turkey lunch. It might not sound like much, but it was a good Christmas, and one I'll remember forever!


Even though I had gotten my host family presents, I was missing some of the traditions from the US, so I decided to share one with my host family... Stockings! I bought snacks and candies and a few little gifts to stuff inside, and found cute handmade stockings for cheap. So, I was able to be the parent stuffing the stocking for once, and my host family loved them! In fact, they want to do stockings every year from now on, and it makes me so happy that I was able to be the one to share the tradition with them.

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and enjoyed reading about mine! Until next time, where I will share about New years and my upcoming trip!