Christmastime! Who Brought the Sunblock?

I came back from my Punta Areans trip with Rotary on December 22nd, and in true Jennie fashion, I had not bought any of my Christmas presents yet. So I enlisted two of the other exchange students, Kasey and Tyler from Arizona as reinforcements and went to the centro.

<--Later, Kasey and I went back to her house and made Christmas cookies and listened to Christmas carols.

Chileans celebrate Christmas with a big family meal on the 24th and then they open the presents afterwards, usually around midnight. But my Christmas Eve was insanely hectic! I had to make two apple pies, go to the centro before noon to mail postcards, and meet up with Kasey in the centro to finish Christmas shopping. I pretty much ran around like a chicken with my head cut off all morning and afternoon, so it was really nice when I got to my aunt's house that night just to relax and talk to the whole family.


Waiting for the meat to cook...

Clockwise from top left: Tía Jacquie, Tío Miguel, Josefa, Tía Gabriela, cousin Lelo, my grandma Lela, me, Tío Marco.

We went to my host mom's sister's house in Coihueco for Christmas, the farm town about 25 minutes away from Chillán around 8 PM and had another asado, which was delicious! For our Christmas dinner we grilled beef, chicken, lorganiza (spiced sausage) and had a wide variety of salads. Dinner was served around 10:30 PM and we all sat outside in the fresh night air at a long wooden table, talking, sharing food and laughing.

After dinner we went inside, opened presents, had a Christmas drink and ate my apple pie (which was a big hit and very exciting, mainly because pies don't exist here). Around 12:30 AM, my host mom and I were fading fast and came back to Chillán to our comfy beds...

<--My host mom, Doris and host brother, Nacho, distributing presents

Christmas Day was definitely different than any other Christmas Day I have ever had. Normally I am the first one up, rush down the stairs at around 7 AM in my fuzzy bathrobe and spend the morning eating cinnamon rolls in front of the fire and opening presents. This year however, I woke up around noon, called my parents quickly in the U.S. and spent the broiling afternoon tanning alongside my host mom. Because the sun is so hot here, wearing sunblock is imperative and even with SPF 55 I got a pretty nice tan from sitting out for a few hours.

<--Me and my host mom!