Weihnachten, Noche Buena y la noche antes

It´s kind of a neat feeling to be back in Valencia for a few days after an action packed December in Germany and the UK. Being Christmas, it's not particularly quiet, what with shoppers rushing about in the streets and such. However, though I´ve been in the streets a bit myself, I´ve not been one of the shoppers.

Only with the slightest bit of guilt to I find myself on Christmas morning having no gifts to give anyone. OK, I actually feel a bit more guilty, but the truth of the matter is that I prefer to give a gift attached to some sentiment rather than simply buying another object for someone just to say it was a Christmas gift. Well, I´ve not been able to do any kind of shopping over the past month whatsoever. And I refuse to buy something in the bloody airport.

My nephew is just starting to understand how things work, and fortunately, he's too excited with his new firetruck with hook and ladder and working lights to be upset because he doesn't have a present from me today. (He'll be getting something from Uncle B in good time, maybe in time for King's Day, which, in fact, is the more celebrated holiday in Spain.)

I'm simply glad to be spending the holiday with Lynne, Fran, and Daniel. I've continued my tradition (8 years and counting), and this year the added positive was that I also have friends and routines from my own experience here during 2006. I arrived on Wednesday evening, saw my sister briefly on Thursday, and finally saw F and D on Friday evening; I was using the free time to see folks who were going to be out of town for their Christmas holidays.

Obviously this included several trips to the pub. Duh.

I can't stop liking pubs, and have fond memories of the Dub and the Monk in Dallas with their Christmas decorations and hot drinks. The recent week in Colchester involved several moments of pub time, and again, it was nice to see the decorations and the festive atmosphere.

Finnegan's is certainly no different. Over the course of the past few days, I´ve shared some great moments with friends, old regulars, colleagues from Casa Americana, and have met several other new friends. Personally, I´m glad to have spent the time getting into the Christmas spirit as opposed to fighting crowds trying to find some gift for someone.

Saturday afternoon, I went in to wish everyone a great holiday. The bar closes on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which is extremely nice for the employees. However, there was one employee there that I was particularly interested in talking to. I´ve been trying for months to get up enough nerve to talk to her a bit more, and of course, about the time I get my confidence, I up and move out of the country. (pause while I try to work through the deja vu I´m feeling at present moment)

At any rate, with the help of a couple of pints of Guinness, along with a 6-2 victory by Arsenal over Blackburn, I was ready to talk at 6pm when she finished work. Unfortunately, she was leaving for her hometown in a few hours, and had to rush home to finish preparing for the trip.

Instead of letting her walk out of the bar, I grabbed my jacket and said, "I´m coming along," and together we walked to the metro stop 10 minutes away at Colon. As usual, I couldn't get off the small talk for the first five minutes, and it didn't help that there was some sort of demonstration going on in a street that we were crossing, creating further traffic to a busy shopping evening.

Thank goodness I finally came to my senses as we were getting closer to the metro stop. With a bit of an effort, I conveyed what I wanted to say, somewhat tactfully, I might add. I certainly don't deserve any points for waiting until the last possible moment to let someone know that I would really like to go out with them, and the irony is that just when I´m really able to say that in Spanish with a straight face, I don't actually live in Spain.

However, I told her. She´s a nice girl, and pretty much the only girl in Spain that I felt like telling that to. I was willing to break the rule about dating someone that works in your pub, simply because this girl is that cool, even based on the few times that we´ve actually hung out. I think I did score some points with her for flattery, not to mention surprise, and because the conversation ended with the traditional two besos at the metro stop with the agreement that we´ll see one another in 2007 in either Germany or Spain, who knows. At least I know a really cool girl in Spain who seems to like me at least a little bit. And being friends is most important, particularly in the situation where you´re bouncing all over the world right now like I seem to be.

I left the metro stop and walked back to Finnegan´s to finish my pint and start another, feeling very good about things. I spent the rest of the evening wishing friends and strangers Merry Christmas, and was fortunate that my buddy Jose Miguel had time to come out for a drink or two. That ultimately turned into some tapas in Barrio del Carmen, and we had a good time mucking about.

I work up Christmas eve morning feeling a slight ping in the head, but with a lingering smile (I talked to a pretty girl last night!). The choir was having a concert in a town close to Valencia, and I was glad to have the chance to see my choir friends perform. It was pretty cold inside the church, but the choir sang really well, and as they performed their final number, I realized that I needed to have the experience to help set the Christmas mood.

We ate in a restaurant in El Palmar that I´ve been to several times before, and it was nice to be recognized by some of the staff. Good fideua, nice wine, and a carajillo, and I was ready for a nap. Instead, however, it was bake as many Christmas cookies as possible before heading to Xuso and Mireya´s for Noche Buena.
Lynne and I powered through, with the creative help from Daniel. It´s always a nervous moment working with baking products around a four year old, but he did really well. I was rolling truffa balls as fast as I could, and Lynne was doing about 15 things at once. Hot stove, warm oven, chocolate and egg beaters; any of these could turn into problems very quickly, especially with the little one racing around the house pretty psyched up for the coming days.

It all paid off, though, because by 9.30, we were sitting at X and M´s, hanging out for Christmas Eve dinner. The kids all played, the craic was good, and just about all you could expect from the night before Christmas.

I even watched a bit of It´s a Wonderful Life before drifting off to sleep.

So it's the 25th, and I´m signing off, cos' I´d rather have another coffee then continue to type.

Feliz navidad, Schöne Weihnachten, and Happy Christmas.
Please have a safe and happy season, and a peaceful new year.


bryan