Christmas in Lebrija

This Christmas I spent in Lebrija with Bijan and a Lebrijan family. It wasn't like that kind of Christmases that I am used to back home yet it was still very special in its own way. WE were picked up from the house at 10:30pm and brought to a nice and big garage. I have come to realize that the people in this region really enjoy parties in their garages so the was only a small surprise for me. The entire garage was set up with a long series of tables, food, drinks, and a big nativity scene in the corner. We got ourselves acquainted with 20 or so family members and chatted awhile before dinner started. At some point between 11 and midnight the dinner was finally ready. A beautiful display of tapas adorned the table in a fashion only suitable for a huge banquet. We said grace, well I think we did, it happened so quickly I couldn't tell and started eating. The selection consisted of jamon (of course), cheese, bread, olives, gambas, mariscos, and king crab to top it all off. We ate round after round tapas until it seemed unreasonable to try to continue.

After dinner we all enjoyed several round of Christmas carols. Even with reading the lyrics it was still a challenge to get the right rhythm. Some songs like 'Silent Night' and 'Little Drummer Boy' were still manageable. Keep in mind that this was all in Spanish. After the dinner and carols were finished the party really got started with more singing and dancing. It just wouldn't be Christmas without karaoke so we were brought to the challenge of singing more songs in a competition with microphones.

Later both Bijan and I were swept away into separate conversations about the are of Lebrijan Sherry making. This family has been making its own wine for a while now and I was able to taste some wine that started 150 years ago. One-Hundred-and-Fifty years! It was fascinating to learn about the process and you could tell that great pride and care was taken.

Afterwards I was swept away to another party that was taking place in another garage in town. Upon arriving I was almost immediately recruited to join the band that was singing in the middle of the garage. At first I was placed on the box drums yet after seeing that I clearly had no idea what I was doing I was official clapper instead. Yet my legendary clapping skills did not go unnoticed for nearly the entire area was in awe of my superb clapping skills. A nice thing about being a foreigner is that you have special abilities that you lack while living in your own country. Everything you do is regarded with curiosity and usually if you are even halfway good at something it is impressive enough because you are a foreigner.

Eventually it was time to go but before I could go there was own last thing that I was summon to do. I was brought over to a bucket, which happened to be next to the bathroom and a ladle was dunked into a murky unknown mixture. I was skeptical what was about to happen next but my fear seemed to come true when I was asked to taste the contents of the ladle. I hesitated just long enough to realize that what I was actually trying was olives. I tasted a few and approved of the sampling. Before I knew it an entire jar was filled and taped up and further taped up for me to take with me.

By the time I got home it was around six in the morning. It wasn't the kind of Christmas that I was used to but still unique in its own way.