Una Nochebuena to remember!

Christmas Eve with Elda’s family has been so special! 🎄

The moment we walked into her grandma’s house, we were greeted by her grandma and many aunts, who were incredibly warm and welcoming. Since we were among the first to arrive, they made sure we had something to eat as dinner wouldn’t be until later in the evening. The flavours in her grandma’s cooking just reinforced my desire to visit Oaxaca someday. Seriously yummm!

As the evening went on, more family members arrived, including Elda’s parents, who I was happy to finally meet. And so many other people to get to know!

At one point, we were chatting about Mexican Christmas traditions, and all the aunties were proudly talking about the beautiful posadas that took place on their street. Posadas are a tradition leading up to Christmas, where people reenact Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter, singing from house to house until they are welcomed inside. When I mentioned I’d never experienced one, they immediately gathered a bunch of the family and took us outside to recreate it. I wasn’t quite prepared to be at the front of the group, or for the singing involved, but it was such a special and beautiful experience! 🚪

Later, I found out there was a big family Secret Santa, something I hadn’t planned for! Thankfully, Elda had already taken care of a gift on my behalf (for her brother). And somehow, I managed to guess exactly what he wanted and it was a very generous gift! 🎁 😂

The exchange was so lovely and everyone was incredibly thoughtful with their gifts. I was one of the cousins’ Secret Santa, and when I opened my present, I was shocked to find a gold necklace with a shell pendant and gorgeous green scallop shell earrings! How did he know about my Camino shell obsession!? Apparently, all Elda had mentioned in their family chat was that I wear gold and might prefer something small and light that is travel friendly. It seems the rest was just one of those happy coincidences! ✨

Adding to all the fun was the huge star-shaped piñata that had been hanging in the patio all evening. Everyone took turns whacking it while singing dale, dale, dale, no pierdas el tino… until it finally burst open and everyone took to the floor to pick up the goodies, including me, because a girl can never have too many pairs of socks hahaha! 🪅 🧦 🍬

The night ended with a big dinner, more chatting and laughing together. We were going to head out shortly after as the next day we’d be leaving for a three-day tour with Elda’s family and aunt. I left feeling so grateful for the gift of another nochebuena like the ones I used to look forward to every year back home❣️Weiterlesen