This year, Christmas sucks. There is really no other way to describe how horrible this holiday season has been. I don't want to sound like Ebenezer Scrooge, saying things like "'...every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.'" But seriously, I can start to see where Scrooge was coming from.
In Madrid, there are giant eyeballs hanging above some of the streets. Eyeballs? How is that even Christmassy? And all of the lights on these eyeballs are white. They aren't even that warm, yellowy white color. They're the energy-saving, fluorescent light bulbs that add no warmth to my Christmas spirit. To top off the stupidity of the giant eyeballs, there's a huge metal Christmas tree in the main square of the city. Is it really that difficult to get a real pine tree? Come on, Madrid! You're the capital of Spain and you can't even get a real tree!? Apart from the lack of amazing Christmas lights, I have yet to hear Christmas songs in stores...most stores don't even play music to begin with, and if they do, it's crazy techno Euro crap that this barbershopper could not care less for!
As for the food, it's just not exciting like it normally is. No peanut brittle, no rocky road, no sparkling cider. I have to make a special trip to the American food store just for candy canes, and I'm a little nervous to see the price tag on those! Also, for me, the red Starbucks cup just screams "Gingerbread Latte" in this weird Pavlovian sort of way... but then when you do see that red cup and you get all excited and go to Starbucks to waste about $6 on a drink, your stomach sinks because they don't even have Gingerbread Lattes on the menu! Nor do they have the Peppermint Mocha. Eggnog latte? Nope. Don't have that one either. Bah humbug.
As for the shopping, well, it's really just a pain in the culo. I'm normally the type that will wander around the mall and other shopping centers in November, brainstorming what I'll get for the family. Then I head home and go to Amazon.com and order everything because it's pretty much always cheaper on there. This year, there is no joy in wandering around downtown Madrid because there are about 80 different lines just for people buying lottery tickets, and it's almost impossible to avoid these lines because they seem to wind up and down every single street. So this year, I just went ahead and did all that lovely shopping on Amazon. Happy flipping Christmas to you, too.
And the most depressing thing about being in Spain this year is that I missed the annual Sierra Gold Christmas shows. I don't even remember if I've missed one of my chorus' shows before, but it's really the sole event that I would never want to miss. I love the music and the creativity of the amazing women in my chorus. I love that I have never won one of the gift baskets in the raffle, even though I've gone to the shows every single year! I love the See's candy and the NUTS and the home-made cookies. I love that the shows are always such a big success and the audience is always just awed by the love that radiates from the wonderful women in that chorus.
A few weeks ago, I did seem to have some holiday spirit and was inspired to make some home-made Christmas cards to send to family and friends. Holy bajeezus that was a bad idea! Feel loved if you get one, and don't make fun of my lack of artistic flavor too much when you see how horrible I am at watercolor!
So here I am with less than two weeks until Christmas Day, and what do I have to look forward to? So far, a whole lot of nothing. No plans for Christmas Eve. No plans for Christmas Day. Right now, I'm envisioning myself sitting down with a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner in my freezing cold apartment, watching It's a Wonderful Life on my computer. Bah. Humbug!
Christmas in July next year? I think so!
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| Snow over Donner Summit. A sight I'll not be seeing this season. |
And as if this wave of homesickness couldn't get any more depressing, here are my Top 20 things I miss from the good ole homeland (in no particular order):
- Baseball
- Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte & Gingerbread Latte & Peppermint Mocha...mmmm
- Having a shower head instead of a hose with a funky nozzle at the end
- Vacuums & carpet
- Customer service
- Being able to use a debit card almost everywhere and almost never having to carry cash around
- Normal ketchup
- Fresh, clean, smoke-free air
- Mexican food
- The parents' cooking
- Free water in restaurants; drinking fountains
- The softness of clothes after they come out of the dryer
- Already spaghetti-ized tomato sauce (instead of having to try to figure out all the spices to put into it)
- Not being laughed at when I only have a sandwich and an apple for lunch
- Pine trees, granite, lakes, mountain air
- Holiday foods (like Candy Corn, stuffing, peanut brittle, candy canes, eggnog...)
- Sales and coupons
- Listening to music on normal speakers instead of my tinny laptop speakers
- Garbage disposals
- Online Banking
If you look at my second-to-newest post, you will see that I feel ya, I feel ya.
ReplyDeleteStarting January 2, you should have cleaner air, though!
And...online banking? Which do you have? La Caixa is really good, even emailing when I get my paychecks.
Holiday foods here = turrón, which is really good actually. I like turrón blando much more than the duro kind!
and see, i hate christmas in america and love it in spain! minus turrón. i hate turrón.
ReplyDeleteI´m with Cat on this one. Except I love turron.
ReplyDeleteWE missed you at the Christmas show too. Marbeth's kids chorus was so sweet. PDQ was right on! The candy, nuts, and raffles will be there again next year. We'll welcome you with open arms! XOXOXO
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