Cross-Country Christmas

Something that a lot of people talk about enthusiastically when traveling in Europe is how close everything is. One little hop and you're in Spain, another little hop and you're in France, and in a couple of hours you can be in England. This past spring, I went on the high school band trip to New York, a distance which is pretty close to half of the United States, latitudinally speaking. It took about 24 hours of constant driving. This Christmas, I went from the easternmost part of Italy to the other side of the country in about 5 hours. I loved it.

At times, staring out the window at the gorgeous landscapes on the way to Genova, it almost seemed like I could have been in Minnesota. And then a castle or ancient church or tiny little village would pop out of the hills, and all traces of Minnesota were gone.

But as beautiful as the trip was, it was even better to be in Genova. Checca and I arrived in the pouring rain and driving wind around dinner time, and we ate dinner in a wonderful old ristorante right around the corner from Christopher Columbus' house. After arriving at my host grandmother's house, I realized that despite the rain and the palm trees, Christmas was here; this was one of the most enthusiastically decorated houses I have ever seen. And the next day, those decorations were most thoroughly appreciated by the 29 people (and one dog) who celebrated Christmas there. After years of celebrating Christmas with only my parents and Eduardo, it was definitely a very different experience to be with so many people! The food was excellent, the Santa Claus who delivered our gifts on Christmas Eve was jolly, the people were so kind, and all in all it was an amazing Christmas.

While it was a wonderful experience, it was hard as well. I've spent the last 18 years of my life solidifying the traditions of my family, and as such those traditions were the only definition of Christmas I had: lots of snow, candle-lit church services singing my favorite Christmas hymns, decorating the tree with my family, making cookies and watching movies with my friends, rushing around downtown and buying presents from Blue Monday, Oo-la-la, Monkey See Monday Read, and of course The Cocoa Bean. Without any of those elements, I felt like I was merely skipping Christmas for a year. And then I realized that as I was eating ravioli and listening to Christmas poems in Italian, my family was doing the same thing we do every year back in Northfield. Families were celebrating in Spain, in Florida, in Colombia, all around the world; Christmas was definitely happening. Rather than skipping Christmas, I enlarged my definition of "Christmas." My concept of the word has grown, and I love that. Once you get rid of all the trappings of Christmas that you've grown used to, and you dress it up in the clothes of a different tradition, I think you get to see into the heart of what it really means.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season in whatever country you may be! Ciao e baci grandi,

Sara