The Pros and Cons of Christmas as an Expat in Italy

This is my third Christmas in Italy. The first one was when I was on vacation, the one in 2010 I was in shock having been here for only a month and stammering my way in Italian through every situation, now 2011 I am a pro, miss home but find the joy of Christmas here in Italy anyway. Here are the pros and cons of Christmas here, enjoy:

1.  Pro: Christmas lasts a month. Christmas season lasts from December 13 (the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary) to January 6 (the Epiphany). Shops are decorated, songs are sung and resung, and resung.

     Con: All important offices are closed and people take off work. If you need anything important done, it will have to wait till after January 6 when people go back to work.

2. Pro: Food. There is Pandoro fluffy sweet bread, cheeses, heavy solid food then Christmas celebrations: Christmas Eve is like Thanksgiving with several courses, rest then more food. Christmas day is begun with mass, then more food, rest and more food. Grocery shopping is done with energy and vigor. Food is nothing to be taken lightly. I would not want to stand in the way of a race towards the last buffalo mozzarella. Innocent looking grannies would hike up their aprons, grab a spatula to use as a weapon, run and tackle each other like football linebackers for the last mozzarella. Food preparations start in the morning discussed seriously and in detail over breakfast. This is a good chance to taste new things and learn family recipes.

Panetone, a lightly sweet aromatic bread with raisins, chocolate chips or nuts. Yum

Holy Meatballs, these were good. Though the wine could have been a bit stronger, it was more a cheese and ham wine than a Holy Meatballs wine.

Con: Too much food is not good for the body. And you can't easily say "no" to food. Here, in Italy, food is an expression of love. A fish, meatballs, bread, cheeses, and bags and bags of heavy groceries dragged in equal an expression of love that must be eaten. Here, love is eaten more than expressed. "Would you like another serving of cake?"Me, "No thank you, Im ok." sad look thinking that I am rejecting their love, "Are you sure? Here take this small one, you are skinny and young and need to grow." Me, "Thank you." While thinking I've already pushed down a 4 course meal enough to feed 6 starving families. I am bloated with love right now...ouch...and though the fridge is full, the counters covered with lovely dishes, there is a small but daunting grocery list saying "fruit, eggs and bread" on the counter. That grocery trip will turn into 5 heavy bags stuffed with love. Can I just say that food does not equal love? Overeating will not make you produce prettier children, make you happy or give you strength to work through the next year. Overeating will make your poor little heart suffer, and being overweight will slow you down in countless ways (sex, happiness, and work included). I would run for cover if I said this in person, the Italian grannies would not be happy.

3. Pro: Riposo...this is the 4 hour long nap where 3 PM means midnight in small town Italy. If you are tired then you can take a nice long nap, or read a long book.

The Church even does riposo from noon to 3:30

They love naps, but only when they want it

Con: The first time I experienced Riposo I was alone in the tiny street and the silence was creepy like a zombie movie.This time when everything seems like in a coma. No one drives (unless they are looking for trouble), stores are shut from 12:00-4:00. It sucks to want to keep going with your rhythm and have to get everything done before 11:30 AM or go out after 4:00. I think it could be better to be a nun sometimes during Riposo. I could at least have the excuse to wander and pray in the convent garden. Do not, if you are female, go for a walk in a small town at 2:30 PM. I got followed three times when I did this and once ran home scared with a creepy dude following me in his car. Riposo time is like midnight in Italy.

Hiding from Riposo, he gets to go in his cage

They are safe at 2:30 PM

4. Pro: Nativity Scenes: The Italian tradition focuses around the holy family and this shows in their demonstrations of Nativity scenes. Most of them have the base of the holy family at the manger then they build a town around it with all the components like the pasta maker, the shoe maker, the well, the church. It is really impressive and some nativity scenes grow to be enormous and fill up entire rooms.

The Nativity Scene

Cons: Looking at them one can get confused. It seems like Jesus was born in small town Italy rather than in Bethlehem. And the town of the Nativity scene takes away from the most important part: Jesus. But I think the tradition is sweet and creative and though it is distracting; I like it.

5. Pro: Lots of Gift givers: In Italy there are 3 magical gift givers: Santa Lucia (in the North), Babo Natale (what they call Santa), and La Befana (a good witch that brings gifts). If you are spoiled child you will get gifts on all three days, if your parents are sensible and feeling the crisis you will get gifts on one.

Con: If I were a child I would want to know who to write that very important letter to and when to expect the delivery with anxiety. See, Santa Lucia comes December 13, Santa on Christmas, and la Befana on January 6th. They need to meet and talk to each other determining who gets what and when. These three can add confusion to the little kids who are already believing a lie that magic exists. My mom tried to make us believe in the Epiphany (January 6th when the 3 kings arrive with gifts) and my dad making us believe about Santa totally won. We were little and knew that our cousins who believed in the Epiphany were being fooled by their parents.

6. Pro: You get to watch more TV while you cook, eat, digest or riposo.

Con: It is all highly depressing. The news is all bad; "Natale di Miseria, Natale di Terrore, Natale di Risparmio, Miseria in Liguria, Angocia in Pescara, Natale di Morte." translated, "Christmas of Misery, Christmas of Terror, A Frugal Christmas, Misery in Luguria (from the floods), Anxiety in Pescara (a dude went missing), Christmas of Death (Someone got stabbed)." Then, oh, then the crazy part starts with these singing shows where children ages 5-10 belt out with adult male voices all American Christmas carols.

You don't know if you should feel homesick, sad for the kids or proud of them. Then, Mary Poppins in Italian starts, a Christmas favorite here.

7. Pro: The road trip: You get to see the country of Italy in a day, how it changes, how the dialects are totally different, and stop at historical places you never knew existed and are grateful to meet and learn about.

Ravenna

The 1000 year old Mosaics in Ravenna

The Adriatic Sea

Loreto

It's Amore

We saw the house where Rafaello was born

The sweet hills of Marche

Flip a coin and choose where to go! Heads Carolina, Tails California

 Cons: For people who have family close by, cheers to you. But for those who have to travel, be ready for traffic, bad road conditions requiring snow tires and chains, and hours added to what you expected due to holiday accidents.

A dark and stormy night

Seven is the perfect number so I think I will stop here although I would also add something about mass...ok I will.

8. Pro: Mass: It is celebrated with a longer service explaining the birth of Christ in humble conditions, and the meaning of Christmas.

Cons. It is the day people dress up like a fashion show. Women over 60 all wear long fur coats and look like little bears even if it is hot and sunny. If it is a small town chances are you will run into your ex-girlfriends, boss, highschool teacher, bus driver, cheese maker, the person you had a fender bender with and postman. Nice. The smell is also noteworthy. The priest uses more inscense, people wear their new perfume, people are incredibly gassy since they ate all of Christmas Eve, and there lingers the delicate smell of garlic from the hands of the little bears who have been cooking all week. My throat was parched by the end of mass and I was ready to exhale like Whitney Houston. You can really get blurry vision after smelling all of these things.

There you have it. Christmas in Italy. I hope you had a nice one!