Shout, it´s that time of the year, Christmas is coming, it´s just about here!!??!!
In the States you know that Christmas is coming because radio stations start to play holiday tunes or the mall dresses up in its big ornament finery. Santa comes to town and you see parents lined up for hours waiting for their turn to take an awkward picture of their kids on his lap. All of the sudden, toy catalogs begin to arrive because the elves are busy at work. Every year it appears that this is happening earlier and earlier. Wasn´t it just Halloween like yesterday? I thought being in Spain I would have a respite. Nope. Christmas (and Los Reyes more importantly) are coming here too, even though it is only the first week of November. How do you know? Well, for one thing you walk into your local grocery store and the first thing you have to traverse is a jungle of toys and already overstressed parents searching for this year´s hot item (which seems to be some creepy action figure type thing called Gormiti). Good job marketing folk. Next, after weaving your way to the actual food, you are bombarded by a whole gamut of Christmas sweets that just happen to be placed right next to the fruits and vegetables. Obviously whoever designed that was not on a diet. You have your chocolates, your pastries and your mantecados (google it, I will be bringing them home for people to try) all of which you can buy in bulk. Even if you hurry up to finish your shopping so as to ignore the not yet blantantly obvious signs (still no actual decorations to be bought) that the holidays are almost upon us (in 2 months time yet) you will begin to notice changes elsewhere as well.
First, and perhaps my most favorite part of the holidays both here and in the U.S. are the addition of Christmas lights. In my opinion, the more, the better. More colors, more moving reindeer or waving santas, more blow up snow globes, more spiral trees. In fact, I look forward to being able to drive through neighborhoods back in Michigan, appearing as if we are casing houses in order to give them grades on how tacky they are (this is assuming the crisis allows people more than one piddly strand). It´s the one time of year I think it´s okay to waste a bit more energy to light up the night, especially when it seems to get dark so early. Here in Sevilla I have yet to see the Christmas lights up yet but while in Lisbon we saw them, though not lit up.
What for me has been the most drastic change was something I noticed last night while watching t.v. Last year as I spent Christmas in Spain I was shocked by how many cologne and perfume commercials they played and this year promises to be the same. How many could there possibly be? Oh, a lot and it isn´t uncommon for them to repeat the same commercial in the same break which can sometimes last 15 minutes. Spanish people in the U.S. have complained that our shows are broken up too often by 3 minute commercial breaks. Here you might see half a show and then have to wait 20 minutes for it to come back on, during which time you have forgotten what the heck was happening. I find that much more annoying. Add to it the fact that now I can expect to see only commercials for cologne which inevitably are weird and have nothing to do with the actual fragrance and I am planning on not watching t.v. for a while. The only time I find the commercials not annoying are when they have a beautiful man to drool over.
The final way you know Christmas is right around the corner here in Spain is the selling of lottery tickets for the holiday drawing. Sellers are posted up on street corners shouting out their numbers. Many people will buy the same number year after year in hopes that it will hit someday. The whole Christmas lottery is quite a production. Jose has explained to me several times how it works and I am still a little fuzzy on the details but basically they sell 20 different tickets of the same number and if it is called the people split the winnings. The drawing is televised and the numbers and the amount won are sung out loud by children. Things get complicated when the number is 156801, for example. I have yet to get my ticket but I am determined to at least win back the 20 euro I will have spent this year. Wish me luck!
First, and perhaps my most favorite part of the holidays both here and in the U.S. are the addition of Christmas lights. In my opinion, the more, the better. More colors, more moving reindeer or waving santas, more blow up snow globes, more spiral trees. In fact, I look forward to being able to drive through neighborhoods back in Michigan, appearing as if we are casing houses in order to give them grades on how tacky they are (this is assuming the crisis allows people more than one piddly strand). It´s the one time of year I think it´s okay to waste a bit more energy to light up the night, especially when it seems to get dark so early. Here in Sevilla I have yet to see the Christmas lights up yet but while in Lisbon we saw them, though not lit up.
What for me has been the most drastic change was something I noticed last night while watching t.v. Last year as I spent Christmas in Spain I was shocked by how many cologne and perfume commercials they played and this year promises to be the same. How many could there possibly be? Oh, a lot and it isn´t uncommon for them to repeat the same commercial in the same break which can sometimes last 15 minutes. Spanish people in the U.S. have complained that our shows are broken up too often by 3 minute commercial breaks. Here you might see half a show and then have to wait 20 minutes for it to come back on, during which time you have forgotten what the heck was happening. I find that much more annoying. Add to it the fact that now I can expect to see only commercials for cologne which inevitably are weird and have nothing to do with the actual fragrance and I am planning on not watching t.v. for a while. The only time I find the commercials not annoying are when they have a beautiful man to drool over.
The final way you know Christmas is right around the corner here in Spain is the selling of lottery tickets for the holiday drawing. Sellers are posted up on street corners shouting out their numbers. Many people will buy the same number year after year in hopes that it will hit someday. The whole Christmas lottery is quite a production. Jose has explained to me several times how it works and I am still a little fuzzy on the details but basically they sell 20 different tickets of the same number and if it is called the people split the winnings. The drawing is televised and the numbers and the amount won are sung out loud by children. Things get complicated when the number is 156801, for example. I have yet to get my ticket but I am determined to at least win back the 20 euro I will have spent this year. Wish me luck!
Good luck!!!!!!!!!
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