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As I awoke from an impromptu siesta I started thinking about the Christmas weekend I have just experienced, and how it was so very different from last year...

December 2009

Two days after school finishing for the holidays and only slightly hungover, I was making my way to Ezeiza, the international airport here in Buenos Aires. The temperature? A balmy 33º. My destination? Madrid, Spain followed my a connection to London, England: home. I was going home for the first time in 18 months.

Fastforward about 18 hours, and after the most turbulent-hit flight of my life, an extremely sleepy Emma hears over the tannoy as we land in Madrid "bienvenidas a Madrid, dónde la temperatura es menos ocho y las condiciones.... " I never heard what the conditions were, as my brain went into overdrive. I was tired, maybe had misheard the Spanish, so I waited for the English translation. Sure enough, I had crossed the Atlantic and somehow lost over 40º.

Luckily it didn't feel like -8º as I made my way, in the early morning to my friends Mike's house. Thankfully Mike lived close to the metro, and was waiting up for me to make me breakfast. We then spent the next few hours catching up as it we hadn't seen eachother in person in over three years. We did a bit of sightseeing too, and whilst time prevented us from going to the Bernabeu, we did go past las Cibeles, where Real Madrid go to celebrate all their triumphs. All too soon I was heading back to Barajas, where I would get my connecting flight to take me home... to the snow.

For anyone currently reading this in England, I guess I shouldn't complain about the snow that there was last year, as when I was in England, yes it snowed, yes it was bloody freezing, but it was nowhere near as disastrous as this year.

The first few days in England were spent catching up with family. I managed to see my marraine Chantal who had stopped in London for a few days on her way back to DC from Mauritius. I also managed to make inroads into the fairly extensive list I had compiled in Argentina of all the English food I had to consume whilst in England.

All too quickly it was Christmas Eve. As I was staying at my grans in Ware there wasn't the traditional pubcrawl I used to do with my friends in Devizes. But there were lots of Quality Street and Roses.

Christmas day dawned not too early. Gone are the mornings where we would wake up excitedly in the early hours and go knocking on eachothers doors to open our stockings. This year my brother was in his own flat outside Cambridge and would join us for lunch later. However I did open my stocking with my sister, and we shared the usual laughs at some of the things my mum, sorry, Santa, put in the stocking. When everyone was awake, and Kev had arrived we opened the rest of the presents under the tree. Christmas lunch was served when my uncle and his family arrived. Whilst lots of people complain about turkey and how it's dry or boring, for someone who had been deprived of roast dinners with gravy and stuffing for far too long, it tasted delicious. The same could not be said for the Christmas Pudding flavoured sausages my brother had brought from his work.... The rest of the day followed the usual pattern: Doctor Who, Strictly, Eastenders.... At some point me and my brother left to go back to his place, where I was going to spend the night, therefore getting to check out his flat.

Boxing Day we all headed to my aunt and uncle's place in Enfield for lunch. Queue a few more presents and lots of food. I was in food heaven I have to say, as there was tons of seafood... something that is not very common here in Argentina. We also woke up my cousin in Sydney, Australia to skype her, as it's rare to have all the family together.

The rest of my time in England was spent between my gran's house in Ware and my cousin's place in London. I spent New Years with my cousin and his girlfriend, plus Jonny who had taught with me in my first year in Argentina also came, and we spent the time drinking, eating and playing Guitar Hero.... I also managed to catch up with some of my friends in Wiltshire, go to Bluewater with Rafa who is my Director of Studies here in Argentina and who was in London for the IH DoS conference. I also shopped... a lot: stocking up on stuff that is impossible to get in Argentina. On top of that I had to run around like a headless chicken getting different pieces of paperwork I needed to take back to Argentina to sort out my permanent visa and residency application.

On the way back I once again stopped in Madrid. By now Mike was back in Belgium so I spent the time doing more sightseeing.... and managed to go to the Bernabeu.


December 2010

Fastforward 12 months and it's now Boxing Day in Argentina. I'm a legal citizen, with my own (foreigner's) ID card and I'm sitting in my new flat under the fan as outside it's a sweltering 35º and what feels like 70% humidity. However, for lunch I had a turkey and stuffing sandwich...

Christmas here is celebrated on the 24th, and I had been invited to spend it with my colleague Silvana and her family, just like I did in 2008. Unsure of what to bring them for presents, and feeling a bit homesick for an English Christmas I was surfing the BBC and came across this delightful page. I therefore spent the 23rd making different types of cookies and chutneys.

Silvana's husband picked me up around 10pm and we headed to their flat. Sil had decided on a cold buffet, and we had all contributed different dishes. Mine was potato salad. We ate and joked, with me and Sil's mum comparing moving stories as she had also just moved house. The kids meanwhile were getting more and more excited as they waited for Santa to arrive. Just before midnight the kids were taken down to the street to watch the fireworks that were going off all over the neighbourhood whilst Santa arrived. This was followed by all the presents being opened. I got a lovely square vase from Sil & Hernán, which will look really nice on my coffee table (once I've bought it...). Once the kids had quietened down and were playing with their presents we sat down to dessert and champagne. As the kids gradually got sleepier and sleepier people started leaving, and I finally got home at 3.30 after Hernán kindly drove me home as it would have been impossible to get a cab. Before I went to bed though I did something I never thought I would do at Christmas: I set my alarm.

I had been invited to another colleague's house for Christmas Day, and Rick, being English to the core was going to do the traditional turkey lunch, therefore I had to be there at 12.

As it turned out I didn't need the alarm as my mum decided to ring me at 9.30... I didn't get to the phone in time, but I was still awake. Once I woke up properly I rang my dad before arranging to talk to other members of the family later in the day. I made it to Ricks on time... well at 12:15, but for Argentine standards that's almost early! We spent a relaxed afternoon, just Rick, his Italian wife Daniela and their 3 year old Sophia before being joined by one of their neighbours who is the wife of the priest at one of the Anglican churches here in BsAs. Whilst it felt strange eating turkey and gravy in the heat, it was also really nice, and I'm looking forward to using the leftovers that Daniela gave me to take home, though I think I'll try and be more adventurous than turkey sandwiches...

I left Rick and his family around 5 and headed home to skype the rest of the family, so even though I wasn't in England, I still got to see most people. Family duty out of the way, I settled on the sofa to spend Christmas evening in true English fashion: turkey sandwich, Doctor Who, Strictly Christmas special and Eastenders... thank you Iplayer!! I did have to laugh though, as I haven't seen Eastenders since I was last in England, yet it was like I hadn't missed anything....

And so today, Boxing Day. A day which in Argentina is just any other day, and because it's a Sunday all the shops are closed. So whilst I can read on the BBC about all the shoppers braving the snow to hit the sales, I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to brave the heat and go and spend some of my Christmas money on a coffee table and two puffs...

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