Is that time of the year again.
I miss Paraguay all year around but on December it gets really tough on me, the holidays approaching, Its starts with the 8th of December that is biggest Religious holiday in Paraguay, the Day of the Virgin of Caacupe, thousands of pilgrims from the whole country go the beautiful Basilica of Caacupe,
mostly by foot to pay off some promises.
Most people in Paraguay are Catholic and they go to church on Sundays, they celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, the birth of Jesus. They meet at Christmas eve and have a late dinner and wait till midnight to open their presents, next day they mostly sleep, the real celebration for them is on Christmas eve.
When I was little even though my family was not Catholic I grew up giving Christmas a religious sense. I remember we always had fun that night, all together, with a colorful tree and kids all playing around.
Since I’m here Christmas is a stressful shopping race, who buys the most expensive things, getting or not getting in debt? that is the dilemma, what to buy for whom? will he or she like it? what about a gift card?…its just about buying and buying …its not about baby Jesus anymore, its about stuff, cars, diamonds and huge televisions…
It all starts after Thanksgiving…the holiday season, I feel that the season is invading my life, the Christmas jingles in all stations (I started listening some cds in the car), zillions of advertisements in the mail, in the papers and on television, all these cute decorations everywhere, the lights, the streets fulls of magic…but again, is this real? It seems a big fantasy to me, a gig money making industry that unfortunately has nothing to do with the Christmas I remember.
I have a tiny little tree at home, a stocking on the fireplace, and a tiny wood carved Pesebre (the representation of the birth of Jesus). It is not that I don’t like Xmas (like many may think), I do love it in my hear, in a different way, in a less bombastic way for sure.
I wish I could be with my family in Paraguay, but this will be another Christmas far away, oh well, I thank God that I have a great family here and awesome friends and will spend some quality time with them.
Or maybe I’ll just Celebrate festivus instead 
