Navidad

So, the Holiday season is coming, and most of you must be already with your Christmas spirits on mode ON, right? Hahaha, well, even though in Argentina we also celebrate Christmas...Our traditions are a bit different and I'm going to talk about them.

The Christmas Tree

In Argentina (and I believe, in a few other hispanic countries as well) we have a certain specific day where we decorate our Christmas Tree, and it's on December 8th due to religious motives (December 8th is the Inmaculat Conception Day, also a holiday), so that day, we're supposed to take our Christmas Tree out of the box (THAT'S RIGHT! We don't use real trees...We use fake ones made of plastic and we usually keep them for an specific amount of tree. Christmas trees come in all sizes, colours and shapes, but I personally prefer a traiditional green one) and decorate them with anything we want.
I found incredibly cool, last Christmas, seeing a REAL tree as a Christmas Tree in our living room...Hahah, Christmas is so different in Europe!

The Food

Since it's summer for us, we try to eat food that isn't really heavy for our stomachs. There isn't a specific dish that most people cook for Christmas but we do have some traditional drinks and desserts, and the two most important are

1) Mantecol: Probably one of the most traditional and "argentinian" desserts EVER. Mantecol is a soft nougat made from peanutbutter and it was created in 1940 and it's inspired by a greek dessert called "halva". Even though we eat Mantecol as a daily candy during cold months, it's a traditional dessert during Christmas time!

2) Clericó: It's a drink that contains tropic fruit salad, an alcoholic beverage (usually it's either red wine or cider), and a bit of sugar and ice. This drink isn't only typical in Argentina but also in Paraguay and Uruguay and most of families drink it not only for Christmas but also for New Years.

The Christmas Spirit

There is a huge difference between the Christmas tradition in Europe or USA than our Christmas tradition...When I was in Germany last year, I noticed how everyone went crazy with the Christmas Market and baking cookies for the Holidays. Here in Argentina, it's quite different, the Christmas spirit starts on December 24th and finishes the next day. We don't have a Christmas atmosphere going around except for people buying presents or some christmas trees and lights on the street. The excitement is usually over after we find out Santa Claus isn't real hahaha, but we do get more excited about New Year's though.

The Family Reunion & Waiting for the presents

In Argentina, the family gathers around to dinner around 9pm on December 24th and we actually WAIT for Santa Claus to come and deliver the presents. This usually happens at 12 o clock, so nobody ever goes to sleep before that. Even the kids stay up, and at 12 o clock, we make a toast, wish each other a Merry Christmas and after that, we run to open up the presents under the Christmas tree.
When I was in Germany last year, I was surprised to see we opened up the presents at 7pm!!! So I asked my host mom: "Don't you guys wait for Santa to come at 12?" and she said "Oh noo, he is supposed to come sooner!!!" so I laughed and I told her how our Christmas tradition is and she was quite surprised...Hahah.

Anyway, what is definitely the same thing, is the excitement for Christmas outfits!!! Haha!!! I haven't thought of mine yet, but I decided to create the perfect outfit for that special day since dreaming it's still free LOL (Thanks Polyvore for that)

Cat face white dress ( romwe.com) / Red flat suedes with golden spikes (ebay) / Chanel quilted bag (Chanel) / Chanel vinatage clip-on earrings (Chanel) / Golden Bracelet / Nars Nars lip gloss / Comme des Garcons Play Eau de Toilette (CDG)

I wish you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and I hope you enjoy it and have fun with your loved ones!!!!

xoxo
Lupe