So, as you might expect the holidays are celebrated in different ways than they are in the States. So here is how I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my Spanish family:
Christmas Eve:
I got up around 9 this morning, and at 10 we got into the car and drove down to Madrid. We went in order to see an exhibition about Leonardo Da Vinci. The exhibition started at 11 and it started out with a short 10 minute 3d video about the exhibition. We then went into the adjacent to view the exhibit at our own pace, and it was quite incredible. We spent 4 hours there, which was basically from the time it opened until the time it closed. The exhibit started out with models of some of the inventions Da Vinci drew in his various notebooks. This was probably where I spent the most time looking around. Some of his inventions are incredibly advanced for the age, and it was quite cool seeing all of the models that were built. The next area consisted of a large amount of space given to analyzing the Mona Lisa, but it didn't interest me a lot, so I didn't spend a lot of time there. There were other areas in the exhibition dedicated to Da Vinci's study and his notebooks, and another area with paintings of his disciples, but I didn't spend a lot of time looking at these either. The two other parts that really interested me were the areas dedicated to The Last Supper and the Vitruvian Man. Although the Last Supper area was interesting, my favorite bit was definitely the Vitruvian Man. The exhibit went into great depth about the mathematical elements of it, and that fascinated me. Because the exhibition was temporary, there wasn't pretty much everything was reproductions of the original works, but there was one tiny bit where they had some original drawings by Da Vinci, so that was quite cool. Anyway, I really enjoyed the exhibit.
After the exhibit we returned home to relax a bit and eat lunch. Then at 8 we left to go to the house of cousins on Lorenzo's side. All of his family was there to celebrate Christmas Eve. We ate some normal Spanish appetizers to start. Then, we had salad, followed by big shrimp. After that we had a juicy and tender meat that was quite tasty. For desert we had traditional Spanish holiday treats, such as turrón and polvorón, both of which are extremely tasty. After dinner we played cards for a little while before doing presents. Here, it is not common for a bunch of presents to be opened on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but because the family was all together, we did a small presents thing. Anyway, about 20 presents were lain out randomly on the table. We then all picked random numbers out of the bag. The person who had number 1 then got to pick a gift, but they could only look at the presents, meaning they couldn't pick it up to feel its weight or poke it to see if it is hard or soft. After the first person picked and opened their gift, the second person did the same. The second person then had the opportunity to trade gifts with everyone who picked before them. This went on until all sixteen of us picked gifts. I ended up picking seventh and ended up with a funky candle. After we finished that we watched a small performance that one of Lorenzo's brothers and his wife had arranged. It was quite odd. And I don't really have the capacity to describe it in words. All I can tell you was that it was quite funny but also quite weird. After that we played cards for awhile more before we left to return home around 2:30.
Christmas Day:
I woke up around 1:00, which was by far the latest I have woken up on Christmas (my brother usually wakes me up around 7:00). I ate breakfast, relaxed, ate lunch, and then we did a small gift exchange. Most people here in Spain exchange gifts on January 6th, but because we will be in France then, we did a small gift exchange on Christmas. The rest of the day was calm. I talked with my parents, with my grandma, and with my aunt and cousins on Skype. Other than that I just relaxed. Christmas Day really isn't a big holiday here, and so as a result we didn't really do anything special, just another rather normal day.
Anyway, there you have my Christmas and Christmas Eve days here in Spain. A lot of stuff has been happening in the past week or two, and I started a post before Christmas Eve, so the start of that one might sound a bit off. Anyway, I will try to publish that one on the 30th or 31st, so until then.
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