The Christmas Hat - An expat Christmas in Punta del Este, Uruguay

Monday, December 21, 2009
By David Hammond

It is a little after 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve and I am getting a chivito at Chiviterio Marcos. (A chivito is a popular Uruguayan sandwich.) Tonight at two a.m. the place will be full, but since it so early the only other people here are a family from California, with their two young children. (Uruguayans dine late.) The workers at Chiviteria Marcos have just finished prepping, when an elderly man comes in from the street selling Christmas hats.

The hats are made of red felt with a fury white band – like Santa’s hat, only smaller. I am surprised to see the young men who work at Chiviterio Marcos so interested in the hats. They all buy one. Shortly after, as I finish my chivito, the formerly very quiet chivito makers all come out in front wearing their personality transforming Christmas hats to wish me a warm and hearty Feliz Navidad.

The Christmas hats must have come on a truck, because within half an hour they are in wide circulation. A car full of young surfers, donned in beach trunks and Christmas hats position themselves on the side of the road (where everyone will soon be passing on the way to the seawall to watch the sunset) to wave at traffic.

At a little before 9 p.m. people gather at the seawall, where more Christmas hats are seen. A few hours after sunset, it is midnight and fireworks are going off from several beaches, as well as flares from some of the yachts anchored in the harbor. At 12:40 the fireworks are dying down and people take to the street to get something to eat and start a night of Christmas celebration. One young woman walking with a group of friends (who is wearing a Christmas hat) holds her arms over her head and yells, Feliz Navidad – WOOOOOO!

After dinner, friends start text messaging to wish each other a Merry Christmas and to plan out the night. At the same time many families spend Christmas Eve at home with loved ones, with wrapped presents and a few simple decorations. For traditional Uruguayans, the love of family is the center of their identity and culture.

It is a little before 11 a.m. on Christmas day and the first wave is coming out for breakfast – the two restaurants closest to my apartment are playing the Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith at a celebrative volume. I have not heard any Christmas music, and none of the businesses on the main street have Christmas decorations.

What I have learned this year is that even though I am separated from friends and family; and there are no presents, no decorations, and no Christmas music, I can carry the spirit of Christmas within myself as long as I have the love of Christ and a Christmas hat.

David Hammond is the author of Buying Real Estate in Uruguay – an ebook you can purchase and download now.

For more information on reale estate in Uruguay visit www.ParadiseUruguay.com