It’s December…well, things have been getting hotter, in Paraguay, anyway. People will say (funny) things like…ummmm, it smells like Christmas! How strange! I smell sweaty bodies mixed with an aroma of flowers, food, exhaust. WHAT smells like Christmas?
When we talk about Christmas smells, I imagine cinnamon, peppermint, chocolate, cookies baking in the oven, evergreens, etc. I think of pies or bread baking and can even “smell” that in my mind. I picture oranges and nuts in the bags we used to make for the Sunday school program and smell the different scents in my mind…THAT is what Christmas smells like to me. What about the crisp smell of new fallen snow or the smell of gloves or scarves that have been tucked away for a year? Smelling fireword, sitting by a fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate milk…ummm…that smells like Christmas!
Here in Paraguay the sign or smell of Christmas is the aroma of coconut flowers. People even bring one into their home carefully placing it under their Christmas tree or by their Nativity scene…ahh…the smell of Christmas! Little firecrackers and the smell of sulphur it leaves behind…that’s the smell of Christmas! Barbeques (asado), outdoor grilling, fruit salad…this is the smell of Christmas!
My senses are all mixed up! It doesn’t feel like Christmas…its 100º. It doesn’t look like Christmas…there are trees full in bloom and everything is ripe with colors. It doesn’t taste like Christmas…the flavors are all different! Chocolate even melts at room temperature. It doesn’t sound like Christmas…it’s too loud, full of firecrackers, different music. Sorry…it just DOESN’T smell like Christmas…
3 comments:
I guess Christmas in Paraguay gives new meaning to "It's beginning to look (smell) a lot like Christmas..." At least you won't have to think about a possible ice storm, blizzards, etc. with 100 deqree weather. But, your're right...there just are some things associated with Christmas that can never be replaced. Just think, even though the smells and sights are different, the REASON for the SEASON is still the same...For unto you is born a SAVIOR which is CHRIST THE LORD! What a present we have! Have a blessed Christmas.
We experienced Christmas last year with you and there are a lot of memories for us. Not of the "normal" things around here, but the differences made it all the more exciting for us. I can still picture the Christmas fruit stacked hundreds HIGH in the Farmers' Market: Watermelon. And asking why there's a watermelon setting beside the Nativity scene at people's homes...And the Christmas lights strung on any kind of trees outside...and the coconut flowers...and the fireworks...and the making extras and sharing of food with the neighbors...and of course the wonderful fresh lemonade Laurel would make each day from your lemon tree, and the huge ice chunks we'd freeze in glasses to cool it down...and the real gardenia used as a room freshener...what memories!!! and many more! swimming in the pool at the resort..and playinga perpetual "Sorry" game with Brandon, Gaby, Taylor, Laurel and Gramp...oh, yea, even the Christmas Carol Choir you had at church, all from N.America. Thanks for bringing back those memories for me(^_^).
This is Laurel:
I liked Christmas last year but i can't wait to smell and to look at a normal christmas for me!!! Having it be hot on Christmas is just not normal, but neither is lemonaid with ice outside, swimming or people speaking spanish. Thank you for stirring up good memories!!!!
Adios!
Laurel
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