Photo by Dr. Haus
Christmas Eve in Spain
Feliz Navidad from Spain! It is hard to believe but this year is quickly coming to an end and the midpoint of my time on the farm is rapidly approaching. Yesterday was a great Christmas Eve celebration on the farm where I learned that most of Europe celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day.
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For our Christmas Eve dinner we decided to have salmon, mashed potatoes, and a caprese salad. I was in charge of the potatoes. The potatoes came from our garden here on the farm and came out very good if I do say so myself (which I do).
Photo by Dr. Haus
The owner of the farm got us a nice Christmas basket filled with chocolates, wine, and other treats that we opened and enjoyed after Christmas Eve dinner. We watched a few Christmas movies until 11:30pm because the other three people on the farm wanted to see a midnight mass in Spain. I am not the type who would like to go to a church mass but when in Spain, right?
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We left the farm in the sketchy, manual farm car that the owner leaves for the volunteers on his farm. We decided to drive to the close small village called Genalguacil instead of the bigger city called Estepona. The drive was 20 minutes long and the town was lit up for Christmas and had some great decorations.
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As we arrived at the town we had to turn the car around because we made a wrong turn. Now remember, we are in the mountains of Spain, which means cliffs. As T was turning the car around we were backed up to a ledge, the car stalled, and started moving backwards towards the cliff edge. Thankfully T got the car moving forward before we fell over the cliff but that was when I lost 5-years from my life (I was in the backseat with H).
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After arriving in the village we walked through the town's small streets hearing people celebrating in their homes. There was a large amount of noise by the church and there was a lot of decorations outside the church. A bunch of children were playing there and let us know that there is no midnight mass at that church (I was very happy about this). We explored the neighborhood a bit, met a lost chihuahua, and went back to the car to drive home.
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Things got weird as we were leaving the village because there was a donkey blocking our way out of the town. I insisted it was Dominick the Christmas donkey. We stopped the car for a bit because the donkey kept sniffing the car and letting T pet him through the driver's side window. Finally, H got out of the car, the donkey followed her, we moved the car forward, and she ran into the passenger's seat so we could head on home.
Photo by Dr. Haus
After getting past the donkey, we started the ride back to the farm where we were each singing Christmas songs from our respective countries. I started singing the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer song where I was about to say "Yippee" when T slammed on the breaks and I saw something jump into the bushes next to me and I screamed. I haven't screamed this loud in years! That is when I lost the another 5-years off my life.
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Everyone laughed and we continued on home. I couldn't have been more happy returning to the farm and passing out into bed. It was a crazy Christmas Eve in Spain, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Happy holidays to everyone and enjoy the last week of 2023!
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