Christmas Miracles

During the Christmas season, anything is possible. The blessed abundance of good cheer and of selfless giving seems to overflow from everyone’s proverbial cup. Furthermore, it seems that miracles—big and small—happen more often at Christmastime. I’ve already got a handful of little Christmas miracles that I'd like to share with you.

Miracle 1: Christmas Party Success!

Last Saturday night, Sarah and I hosted a Christmas party at her apartment, and many miraculous things occurred. First, we had invited almost everyone we knew living in Madrid a few weeks prior to the much anticipated event; but we had no idea who would actually grace us with their presence. By the end of the night, most people we had hoped would come did… and then some! SK’s Brazilian roommate, Priscilla, invited at least a dozen of her friends in her Master’s program, and they were from all over South America, such as Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, & Colombia. They were a fun gang and I enjoyed connecting with “my fellow Chileans.” A second miracle of the night was that Francisco, one of our Peruvian friends who we met in Porto, actually grew up in the same neighborhood as Elly’s boyfriend, Ricardo, the one who cooked my second Thanksgiving turkey this year. They ended up naming common friends and talking about the local life in Lima. Pretty amazing, huh? Third, the party preparations turned out quite well. SK made a perfect Christmas tortilla, a tasty version of wassil, and a Rice Crispy’s treat wreath (but made with cornflakes due to lack of Rice Crispy’s in Spain). I contributed a color-coordinated tomato, cucumber, cheese salad and some traditional Spanish sweets. And a final miracle from Saturday: I re-learned how to make paper snowflakes. Yes, that was a miracle. You should have seen the first few ones I made…

Miracle 2: Yadira’s visit

Yadira was there for our Christmas party. (Unfortunately, Ida got sick and couldn’t come to Madird last weekend. We missed her!) Yadira flew into Madrid last Friday evening, because she also had a Wednesday flight back to the USA for Christmas holidays. She stayed with me for those five nights, and we had a great time catching up, laughing together, doing a bit of shopping, and enjoying Madrid. I consider Yadira’s friendship a miracle, because I love this woman with all my heart and soul. She totally changed my Madrid experience last year for the better, and I’ve missed not having her around town this year. She’s a gem and her visit was one of the best Christmas gifts ever!

Miracle 3: The Gifts of Being on a Volleyball Team

I played my last volleyball match of 2009 on Sunday morning. With ten out of twelve there, we won our match. I’d say it was a bit miraculous that we pulled out the win in two games, because our opponents were giving us a run for our money. After our victory, we went to a café for refreshments and a game of Amigo Invisible (aka Secret Santa). In my opinion, I gave the best gift (a pretty ceramic piece from Portugal) and—dare I say it?—received the lamest (a kid’s puzzle and a mug with a stuffed frog keychain, which probably came from a dollar store). Gosh, I sound like a bad person... However, I realize that Christmas is much more than gifts, and I’m going to sip tea from my Toadally Cool mug with pleasure.

I’ve enjoyed playing volleyball this fall, but I had hoped that I would hang out with these girls off the courts, too. However, that hasn’t exactly happened… until another Christmas miracle me pasó. As we were finishing our snacks, one of my very favorite girls, Ana, asked me if I’d like to join her and her parents for lunch that afternoon. I accepted her invitation, and we returned to her house before climbing into the car with her parents. We drove to Las Rozas, a Madrid suburb where the nearby mountains form an eye-catching backdrop, because Ana’s family had heard of a new seafood restaurant. We dined on various species of succulent crabs and shrimp, shellfish, and most exciting of all, percebes. Percebes are barnacle-like creatures that grow on the rocks off the northern coast of Spain and Portugal. They are extremely expensive because of their scarcity and because of the fact that men die in their dangerous pursuit of these small animals, dashed upon the rocks or sucked under by the unforgiving Atlantic. To finally taste this rare delicacy was a dream come true. I could simply gush for hours about how great Ana’s family is and how much I really enjoyed their company & appreciated their generosity or about how awesome our meal was that day… but I’ll sum up all that goodness and call it another Christmas miracle.

Miracle 4: Madrid Family Love

Unlike Thanksgiving, we give and receive gifts at Christmas (unless you’ve been naughty). I was honored this past week when almost all of my families showered me with some really nice gifts for Christmas. It really is a miracle that I work for such wonderful people and with some really great kids. I thank the Lord for that blessing, because having these children and their parents in my Madrid-life has been a wonderful thing. I’m positive I will always keep in touch with the twins and their parents, Marisa & Javier, and I might just sneak Belén back to the USA when I return for good next summer.

Miracle 5 & 6: Madrid’s Light Show and Snow!

Madrid has been decked out for Christmas since the end of November. All of the colorful and gorgeous lights hanging across the major streets or flashing on the sides of Corte Inglés, the largest department store on the Iberian Peninsula, have created an illuminating display of Christmas cheer.
Yadira, Sarah, and I took a Christmas lights walk on Sunday night, singing carols as we went along. Nothing like looking at Christmas lights and singing your favorites to get you in the holiday spirit. I feel so lucky to live in Madrid that has the ability to spread the miracle of Christmas joy throughout the city in such a fantastic way.

What really added to the city’s seasonal decoration came in natural form: snow! When I walked out my front door to go to school on Monday, I stopped short and made a shout of surprise when I looked out onto the street and saw that all the cars were covered in a thin layer of white snow. It continued to snow flurries that morning, but when the sun came out later, practically everything melted by mid-afternoon. No matter. It snowed in Madrid, which is a rarity, especially considering the fact that Yadira & I were sitting outside a café on Saturday afternoon and she was wearing short sleeves because it was so warm.

Miracle 7: Home for Christmas

The miraculous atmospheric phenomenon returned on Wednesday morning, which I noticed from my seat in the Madrid Barajas airport. Unfortunately, the freezing and wet conditions caused my Delta flight to be delayed, since we had to wait for them to de-ice the plane. My 9+ hour flight went by rather quickly thanks to three movies and the chatty guy who sat next to me. Yet, because of the setback in Madrid, I missed my connecting flight to Dothan and had to wait another 5+ hours before catching the next plane to my hometown. I passed the hours by writing a bit, getting pampered with a manicure while sitting in a massage chair, strolling around, and snacking on that American deliciousness we call Moe’s... so it wasn't too bad of a wait.

My family met me at the Dothan airport just before 10 PM Central Standard Time and it was a beautiful Christmas miracle indeed! Almost unbelievably, my luggage did not make it to Dothan… and I expect it to be delivered Christmas-package style to my front door this afternoon. I'm expecting another arrival this afternoon, too: Justin. I’m excited to see him and my Dothan girls, Erin, Gillian & Anna. They say home is where the heart is and my friends and my family have my heart. It’s good to be home.