Love Actually

It´s Christmas time... right? Hard to tell with all of this blazing heat down here. The most I´ve seen of Christmas is a color-faded Santa head plastered on some old barn I saw on a random outing. That, and Love Actually. One of the people here brought her computer along with a few select DVDs. This, of course, includng Love Actually, which I watched for the first time last Christmas. Regretfully, I don´t remember much about it. Except that it´s a romantic comedy with quite a bit of cheese. And that kid that irritates the crap out of me only because I don´t enjoy watching kid actors act like adults. No, Christmas this year is just not the same, and for the past few weeks, it´s been starting to really get to me.

When I applied to Pretoma back in March, I had applied for the field position beginning in June (a.k.a. the rainy season). To my surprise, I was offered the position here for November (a.k.a. the dry season). In April, when I accepted, I had nothing to lose. Thankfully, I still don´t (thank you for being so encouraging). I was excited to experience Costa Rica in all of its scortching splendor. I also embraced the reality of how missing the three most significant holidays of the year with my loved ones could be quite sobering. And sobering, indeed, it has been. What I wouldn´t give right now to be eating Christmas cake, curled up watching The Christmas Story. Hot coco, Christmas lights. Snow.

Instead, myself and another may bake another lonely pie in the director´s inferno kithcen. And cheers our traditional Tico tamale Christmas ¨feast¨ with a nice, lukewarm canteen of soil-tasting water. My conscious tells me ´there are many more Christmases to come, in fact. Enjoy this moment. This time. Because it will all be over in a flash, and you´ll be back home, bundled up on your mamachari before you know it.´

Salud mis amorcitos. Feliz Navidad.

Comments

Dave said…
Mmmm now I have the need to watch Love Actually.

Popular Posts