Feliz Navidad!!

Feliz Navidad, wait, doesn't that mean Merry Christmas? What is she talking about, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet! Just because she's in a different hemisphere doesn't mean that holidays come at different times.

If this is what you are thinking, it's kinda been the same thing that I have been thinking down here in Chile.

In the United States, the custom is to not start Christmas preparations and decorations until after Thanksgiving. But, since in Chile, there is no Thanksgiving, there is no defined starting point for when they start preparing for Christmas.

Walking in Jumbo and the Mall, they have already started hanging up Christmas decorations and their are Christmas songs playing in the background. At first, I thought, this is crazy! How are they already preparing for Christmas?? But, they don't have the luxury of fabulous holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving to tide them over until Christmas, so they have to start a little bit early.

What I now feel is the craziest thing is that it's warm and Christmas is coming. And it's not like going on vacation for Christmas warm, or even "I live in Florida and it's always warm during Christmas," it is even more strange because it already was winter! When I got here in July it was cold, and since then has been getting warmer. They are going to celebrate Christmas at the warmest point of the year! It just doesn't make sense, and definitely doesn't actually feel like the holiday season.

Although, when commenting to Chileans about it, they thought the idea of being cold during Christmas was absolutely ridiculous. That only happens in movies.