Baby, it's NOT Cold Outside

December 3, 2010


Hills near my house, beginning of December

 There is no snow anywhere near me, the temperatures are in the 90’s everyday, and many of the kids around me have never received a visit from old Saint Nick. But, Christmas decorations are everywhere I turn; they have been since mid-October. Many Hondurans don’t celebrate Halloween (or Thanksgiving), offering them more time to throw up the green trees and commercialize on the holiday that is my favorite time of year. This won’t be my first Christmas away from home, and probably not my last, but it will probably be the hottest, dustiest, and one without the most vacation time.

If I was in the states right now, I would probably be planning some great vacation with all the time I had saved up over the last year, attending nightly parties (throwing back free cocktails and exchanging secret Santa gifts), but here I am receiving visits from my PC boss, planning to attend an artisan fair and continuing Spanish lessons for three hours every week until the 23rd of December. Christmas is my favorite holiday. I start listening to Christmas music in July and watch “Christmas Vacation” at least 25 times before it is all said and done; living in San Diego for so many years I became accustomed to the warm weather with Christmas lights strung around, so why is it different here? Because, here it is ALWAYS hot. There is no down time, like in San Diego. There are no gift exchanges or people caroling outside. Only the wealthy homes have decorations mounted up on their homes and trees out on their patios. The large department stores/grocery stores are just as bad at commercializing this holiday as in the states, with everything from mini-lights to large holiday ball ornaments for sale. They are slightly more tacky here and a little bit more expensive in the states. It is also harder to get everything home to my house after lugging it all home on the bus, so I made a Christmas tree out of paper, by tracing my hands and cutting them out, which took me two days and a lot of patience.

(Insert note: Received my annual site visit from my boss this week and he was REALLY impressed with how far my Spanish has improved!  Yeah!  He also called my house a mansion, then got a flat tire and said he was never coming back to visit me.  So, I guess I'm good for a while!)

Big main tree, in Parque Central Tegucigalpa (sponsored by beer company)

When I say the feel of the season is different here, I really mean it. It is so hot where I live, way down south, near the borders of Nicaragua and El Salvador. Instead of snow right now, we are experiencing a drought and extended hot days; there is a period in the morning from 5-7 am where it is the perfect temperature. It is just right for working out, sitting outside and reading a book, taking a walk, etc. But, after that, it is like 4th of July on the beach, in every corner of the states. The ice cream man walks down my street and jingles his bell every day. It reminds me of when I was 5-years old and we lived in an apartment complex for a short time. My brother and I would run down everyday and buy orange push ups because they were our favorite. Now, I buy chocolate bars, and some for the neighborhood kids, too. People here don’t really listen to Christmas music, either. It is only Enrique Iglesias or Lady Gaga 24/7. I had an epiphany last week that I am going to contact Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias and ask them to collaborate on a song for me about recycling. I know for sure if the people of Honduras hear them singing about how cool recycling is, they will no doubt support my program.



More hills near my house for a December bike ride

 Since I don’t have a TV I don’t get to watch all the Christmas specials that come on this time of year. Instead of running to the mailbox to see if I received one of the many Christmas cards I normally receive from my friends, I run to the post office to see if I received any mail at all. While I would normally be waiting for my mom, and all my other teacher friends to get out of school for winter break, the school year ended at mid-November and I have been busy attending different graduation ceremonies. Instead of walking in snow boots and going skiing, today I went on a bike ride up into the mountains and found cacti growing, in the beginning of December. I was reminded at how beautiful my town is and on the way back in I bought a whole watermelon for L20, or about $1. In the states I would be dreaming of a fresh, juicy watermelon in December.

So, while the snow sounds cool and great right now, I know in a few months everyone will be saying “When is this stuff going to melt?” When you get to that point, remember, I am down here where the islands have pina coladas and clear water. Don’t hesitate to come and visit.