I left Madrid at midnight on December 23rd headed for Andalucia in the south of Spain. A few weeks back my coworker, Juanma, asked me to spend Christmas with him and his family in Huelva. Clearly I could not turn down this opportunity. I had nothing planned for Christmas and it would be nice to spend the day with a family if I couldn't be with mine. I originally thought I'd float by during the holidays but as it got closer I did start to feel like it would be too much even for me. So when Juanma asked I knew this was a great chance to be with a family and to experience a traditional Spanish Christmas. I came in from Oporto, unpacked, repacked, and hopped on a bus. It was an overnight bus because the trip takes seven or eight hours. I slept a good amount of the time but the kid next to me literally cuddled up to me because he was too big for the seat. After one stop in Sevilla I finally made it to Huelva at 730am where Juanma was waiting for me. It was nice to see a familiar face.
We drove through the city to his parents' apartment. His mom was awake when we got there so she made us some coffee before we both took naps. I had had a bumpy trip and he had been out the whole night before, we needed the rest. The thing about the region of Andalucia is that the accent is very strong. They speak very quickly and leave off letters, similar to my Rhode Island accent. He had warned his family that my Spanish is not fluent and that they needed to slow down. His mom's reaction was to mimic what she was asking of me, adorable. His father's was to just repeat things three times at the same speed and figure I'd get it eventually, comical. When I woke up from my nap I was greeted by his adorable father who then proceeded to tell me about the great shrimp and ham that Huelva is known for in Spain. From there we went off to see the city center and get more coffee. We stopped in at his sister's store so I met Lourdes, t
he younger sister. It was kind of busy so we didn't get to talk but I could tell she was just as intimidated by my English as I was of her Spanish. We left there and figured that since it was after 12 having a ca ña (little beer) was completely acceptable, I mean it was Christmas Eve and all. (Keith always says: Soda and beer, after 12)
Next, we met up with some of his friends at one of their favorite spots, we had more beer and tapas. They all tested their English out on me which was hysterical because they know ridiculous expressions. (For example, "Need money, my friend is in jail") A few of his friends own a kite boarding shop on the beach, which we later tried unsuccessfully to find, and are the eccentric type. Great people to talk to and be around because the laughter never stops. We bar hopped for a little and then went to his aunt's house. I met his older sister Rocio and her family. She admitted that she and her husband will speak in broken English around the two young boys when they don't want them to know. His nephews, Ale and Alvaro were scared to death of me. Apparently they'd never met someone that wasn't fluent in Spanish and they didn't know what to make of me. For the entire week that I was there they would just stare at me nervously as if I was an alien, hysterical.
Christmas Eve is a bigger holiday than Christmas Day, especially since of Three Kings the following week. So dinner on Christmas Eve is this huge get together with more food than I can even remember. It was at his sister Rocio's house with the family and then I think their neighbor's family and the landlady. Juanma and I were literally the kids because we stayed outside playing one-on-one on the patio while they prepared the food in the kitchen. His nephews even went inside before us because they were getting bored outside. (For the record I did ask if I could do anything) Dinner was great because of the wild conversation, the great food, and abundance of wine. We stayed there until about midnight and then headed out for the bars. The city wasn't too open but if you're with people who know where they're going then it all works out. We met up with his friends and had a great night that ended at 7am the next morning.
Christmas was a struggle, one that I swear consisted of absolutely no alcohol for either of us. (Even though I know when I tried to tell my family they didn't believe me) It was just the family this time and was held at his parents' home. Seeing the family dynamics was great because it reminded me of home. Cultures and countries may be different but family is always family. After another dinner of too much food we played a hundred games of Mario Go-Kart with his nephews. I think this is when I finally got them to trust me, probably because I was winning! Mad skills...haha. The rest of the night was pretty calm because I was exhausted from the night before. We went to Lourdes' new apartment to check it out, pretty sweet bacherlorette pad in my opinion and then came home for an early night. I did whip out my brand new Patr
iots deck of cards to teach him poker and Egyptian Rat Screw (ERS). For those of you who don't know ERS don't worry about it because you will never be successful. I have mastered this game down to a science and I rarely lose. Problem is that its a fantastic game and very addicting. Because of this I then had to teach his friends the next day and we played it quite a bit over the next couple of days.
The next day we went to Punta Umbria which is a very popular beach in Huelva. However, since its the winter we had the beach to ourselves and went for a long walk. The weather was great, not too hot nor sunny but perfect for being on the beach. It was surreal to be on the beach at this time of year because usually I'm braving the cold like everyone else in New England. Honestly, this was a nice change, but I'm sure I'll miss snow...eventually.
The next couple days before I left usually consisted of the same thing: coffee in the morning, walking around the city, beer and tapas for lunch, and then meeting up with friends to go out at night. We were usually out of the house for the whole day just walking around, enjoying the weather and conversation. I have to say that the food was amazing starting from day one. Christmas is usually a time for a lot of seafood so that worked out great for me. I also tried a lot of new things like a weird version of squid and choco. The tapas were all amazing and its always a great environment to be eating and drinking around new friends.
I had an amazing time and if I couldn't be around my family for Christmas I think this was a perfect second choice. Juanma's family was so inviting and wonderful to me the whole time. They made me feel extremely comfortable and welcome in their home. I will always be appreciative that he asked me to Huelva because it's an experience I will never forget.
Negatives: The guy next to me on the bus home.
Leaving.
Not getting a group picture to share from Christmas.
Positives: New family and friends.
Choco.
My increased confidence in my level of Spanish.
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