STUMBLE: Time Warp prt. I

The holiday season in Spain is finally coming to a close and I’ve had some time to reflect on the different holidays and customs. Living in Spain often reminds me that customs that I think are a part of “life” are really just part of my “American” life and culture. For example, Halloween. I’ve never given much thought to it, further than what cute couple costume I could come up for Cole and me. However, this Halloween I started to realize something interesting. It’s as if Spain is in a time warp. Many of my sophomores, juniors, and seniors had never even gone Trick or Treating. WHAT?! I couldn’t believe this. I can’t think of one year before age 12 that I didn’t go Trick or Treating, and that is saying a lot growing up in Colorado. I can remember Halloweens with 5inches of snow and wearing a snowsuit under my costume, or years that were so hot it was in your best interest to dress up as someone or something that had to carry a water gun. But for many of my students the idea of trick or treating was as foreign as Thanksgiving-something they had heard of and seen on t.v. but never actually did; the same went for Christmas. Here people celebrate La Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) with a large dinner, but don’t have the element of an enormous tree and waiting for Santa and his Reindeer. For the most part kids don’t celebrate Christmas with gifts; instead they celebrate Los Reyes Magos (Three Kings). For Los Reyes kids receive presents like they would from Santa but normally only one or two large gifts and a handful of games. In Zaragoza the night before Los Reyes there is a parade throughout the city and the three kings, their camels, and other people and animals make their way to Plaza de Pilar, which is the largest plaza in the city. Practically every child in the city comes out to watch the Reyes make their way through the city while throwing out candy and taking in last minute wish-list letters from the children. Then on the day of the Three Kings kids awake to find their presents, open them, and families have a large lunch together. My roommate’s family came over and we had a wonderful three course lunch that included the infamous “Roscon de Reyes.” 

The roscon looks like a giant doughnut cut in half with whipped cream inside, but there’s also something else inside. There’s a surprise inside the roscon wrapped in foil and hidden in the dough. Whoever finds the surprise will have good luck and be the king of the party, but also has to pay for the cake. I didn’t find the surprise but I did get to wear the crown and even got a few gifts from the “reyes” also known as my roommate and her mom. Spending the holidays in Spain made me appreciate our holidays and culture in a different way, but I can definitely see how America has influenced Spain in how they celebrate their holidays now too. It’s as if Spain is in the 1950's when things like Santa and trick or treating were becoming more popular. Most of the younger kids are readily embracing the new American influenced traditions, but many of the older Spaniards like the way they celebrate their holidays now are reluctant to embrace the changes. Nonetheless, I definitely understand the reluctance because there is something very comforting about celebrating the holidays the way you always have. This year I had my very own version of a roscon play out. The holiday season was sweet because it was the holidays, but there was still an element of surprise because I celebrated in a different way than ever before. And rather than having to pay for my roscon holiday, I paid the ultimate price by not being able to celebrate with my friends and family in the states. So although this season was a little bittersweet, I can say without a doubt that it was mostly sweet!