The First Christmas Without Winter: Latin America
I think the first holiday season is a test for almost anyone who moves.
Picture a couple named Carol and Ed. It is their first December in a new country. The air is warm. There is no snow, no scarves and no familiar carols in the shops. Ed puts up a small tree. Carol looks at it and says, "It is lovely. It just doesn't feel like Christmas."
I think the first holiday season is a test for almost anyone who moves. Three places in Latin America show three sides of it.
Three first holidays
Brazil. One account says Christmas did not feel like Christmas. Another person in Brazil describes a first holiday spent alone. The veterans give simple advice: cocoa and old photos. A third voice, merged with the first, describes the relief of a first warm Christmas after sixty winters. So the same date can bring both loss and relief.
Bolivia. Someone describes a first Christmas without snow. It was a homesick one. What I notice is how much we tie a feeling to weather. Take away the cold and the whole day can feel off.
Panama. One man who moved to a very modest house describes neighbors painting it for the holidays. That is a warm picture. He was far from home and was still taken in. It was an adventure, and the neighbors made it a welcome.
What I make of it
The holidays carry the most memory. They also carry the most habit. When the setting changes, the habit has nothing to hold on to. That is why a small thing, a cup of cocoa or an old photograph, can matter so much.
I also think the first year is not the whole story. The first Christmas may be the hardest. By the second, you have a few friends and a few new habits. Some people find that warm December becomes the thing they love.
Back to Carol and Ed. On Christmas morning they call home and see the snow behind their family on the screen.
"It looks cold," Ed says.
"It looks wonderful," Carol says, and her voice wobbles.
Then a neighbor knocks with a plate of something sweet. Carol wipes her eyes and opens the door.
You could…
- Plan the first holiday before you arrive, with a call, a meal or a guest.
- Bring one small thing from home, like a recipe, a photograph or a mug.
- Accept an invitation from a neighbor, even if it feels different.
- Start one new tradition in the new place and see how it feels by the second year.
What did your first holiday far from home feel like, and what helped?
Tell us in the comments