A Very Un-Christmas Christmas

In Argentina, Christmas is mainly celebrated on the night of the 24th, not the 25th (though the 25th is still a holiday). We were invited to dinner at our friend Felipe's house on the 24th. We had a wonderful dinner with his parents, who are the nicest people in the world. We ate Asado (BBQ'd meats), which is the tradition here (no Turkey for us!) and then for dessert we had Turron (which is nougat with nuts and jellied fruits in it) and Pan Dulce (sweet bread with fruits in it). Everything was delicious. At midnight, we drank champagne and went up to the roof of his building to watch the fireworks that had just started. We could see lots of people setting them off from the middle of the road, and from about 12:05 onward, all we could hear were the sounds of sirens, as the paramedics rushed to rescue people who had blown off a finger or an eye. Then some of Felipe's friends came over. We were supposed to go to a club (that is also the tradition), but we were so tried from all the food and drink that we came home. There was a party going on at the hostel when we arrived, which we joined for a few minutes before falling into bed from exhaustion!

On the 25th, we had lunch at a cafe with some people from Toronto who are visiting Buenos Aires. Then we went and met Sha at the Hilton. Christmas day was absolutely gorgeous: 30 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. So we chilled by the pool for a few hours, before we played some pool in the lounge (and met this crazy lady from NYC who took our picture... and made us take her picture while she pretended to play pool...). Then we watched the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" and went for ice cream!!! It was certianly far from a traditional Canadian Christmas, with snow, carols and sitting by the fire, but we had a lot of fun (Tova raves it was "the best Christmas ever" and even "one of the best days of her life" hahaha... ok there).

Since then we have been relaxing, enjoying the wonderful weather (though it is a little hard to sleep at night when it is over 30 degrees and you have no fan or air conditioner) and hanging out with friends. Last night we went out to a pool hall with Sha and kicked his butt (we are getting really good now.... so watch out when we get back!!) Oh, and we just found out today that four rooms in our hostel (including ours) are going to be demolished in about two weeks to create a clothing store, so we are going to have to move everything to a new room!!!! We are also trying desperately to find a restaurant to have dinner in on New Years Eve (the day Tova's mom and brother arrive), but it is next to impossible, which we TOTALLY didn't expect!!!

We hope that all of your holidays were as much fun as ours, and that you all have an exciting and safe New Years!!!

love

Alice and Tova