Twelfth Night

It was not without some sadness but also with a good deal of relief that we dismantled our eco-tree today and put away our Christmas decorations in readiness for perhaps a proper winter celebration next year. Despite our best efforts it hasn't really seemed like Christmas this year either though Loving Grandmother's presence certainly added to the mood and helped us to feel it was a special time of year. The children were delighted with their stockings and various bits and pieces, enjoying in particular the swimming on Christmas Day and around, although DD1 surprised me more than once by saying that for her too it didn't seem like Christmas without the cold. It all seemed to be over in a trice as there were no extra bank holidays in lieu and the working week commenced again on Monday 26 December.
New Year's Eve was an interesting moment of cultural confusion as we took advantage of LG's babysitting potential and headed out, DH and I, to sample and savour the last night of the year in Chile's capital city. No-one had told us (nor had we asked) that the centre of the city was officially closed until after midnight on New Year's Day, thus we wandered around forlornly from barrio to barrio, being glared at by mean-looking carabiñeros for a worrying while in eerily quiet streets, searching for signs of life and anywhere serving even a glass of wine. Eventually we realised what was going on (seeing only disappointed tourists in a similar situation) and headed for the more "civilised" outskirts of the city where we eventually found hotels defying (or exempt from) the evening curfew and settled down for a four-course meal surrounded by rich and/or fat fellow diners. By eleven thirty we had finished and were stuffed to the gills, ready to take to the streets and begin saluting our fellow Santiaguinos... The streets were still desolate, completely deserted and Santiago had never been as empty. We began our long walk home, passing the midnight mark en route which was atmospheric for the lack of traffic, people and dogs for once... It felt like a metaphor for our existence here, DH and I alone in an alien world, always against the tide but together in a strange country, continent, hemisphere and culture...
So it is 2012 and a new year thus a time of renewed hope and optimism. Here in Chile the economic recession is not really an issue although there is a huge discrepancy in how people live hence a constant feeling of dissatisfaction for those of us used to a more even society. However one can only hope their turn will come too...
Meanwhile LG's departure has been softened by two exciting prospects: DD1's first wobbly tooth plus the potential arrival of La Befana, Italy's equivalent of the Three Wise Men who travels around the world on Twelfth Night, bringing sweets to good children and lumps of coal to the bad...