A Different Christmas

This is Ivan's first Christmas in the U.S. and our first Christmas spent together.  Although my time in Honduras spanned two Christmases I never actually stayed in Honduras for the holiday.  Christmas is such a special holiday for me that I always wanted to spend it with my family, so I came home every year for about two weeks during the holiday season.

This year we're both together and both heading up to Vermont to experience an American Christmas but I think hubs is a bit sad that he won't be spending the holiday with his family.  Although, truth be told, he never really spent the holiday with his family, he mostly went to the fiesta in town and hung out with his friends.  I guess now that he's apart from his family he feels a bit more nostalgic though and wishes for his traditional and comfortable Navidad. 

The reason I never really stayed in Honduras for the holidays was because it was never a really big holiday in there.  They typically celebrate on Christmas Eve by cooking lots of nacatamales (Honduran tamales similar to Mexican ones but much larger and filled with chicken or pork and sometimes yummy raisins in the masa) then eating them at midnight. 

Nacatamales stewing in a pot - source: Bing Images

In Yusgare, where we lived, they always had a huge fiesta in the town salon and everyone (all ages!) would head over to go dancing and mingle until the wee hours of the morning.  Although I am a huge fan of nacatamales, that wasn't a big enough draw for me to stay in town.  We usually had a Christmas exchange at the health center, which was always fun, but that was done before I left. 

This year Ivan will have none of that - we aren't making tamales and there is no fiesta in the small town in Vermont where my parents live (nor would I want to go to a fiesta even if there was one).  However, I'm still hoping that he gets into the spirit of Christmas and loves our traditions too.  I know it will take some time because if I were in his shoes, I'd be sad too, and maybe he won't love Christmas as much as I do this year or even next year, but I'm hoping that it grows on him.  He  loves my family and is really excited about spending the week in Vermont - so that is good. 


How have you dealt with culturally different holiday traditions and being away far from home?