A Santa Salta Christmas

If you’ve ever spent Christmas in a warm climate you know the feeling. It’s like having your underwear on backwards – it’s there, but it just doesn’t feel right.

Liz and I spent the week of Christmas at a house on the outskirts of Salta, a city of some 600,000 people in the NW corner of Argentina. Sitting in the shade on the covered patio, swimming in the backyard pool, walking around in shorts and T-shirt, all very nice, but for those of us used to a bit of snow and a fire in the hearth, it’s a somewhat disorienting.

Christmas in Argentina is a smaller, quieter, more family oriented affair. It hasn’t been completely devoured by the corporate marketing monstrosity. Which is nice. There’s even a focus on the biblical origin of the holiday in this intensely Catholic country, which I think is appropriate even though I’m not religious.

But listening to “Frosty the Snowman” when it’s 40°C (over 100°F)??? That’s just not right. Yes, they do play Christmas music in the malls, and it’s all the same stuff you’d hear at home – Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas”, Bing Crosbie’s “White Christmas”, even Bruce Springsteen’s version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Which is odd, since very few people here speak English. Yet well over 90% of the music you hear has English lyrics. (80’s pop is very popular some reason).

Here are a few other differences we’ve noticed:

• For the most part people don’t decorate their houses or put up lights. Stores and businesses do, but in a toned down way.
• People don’t put Christmas trees in their homes, but they do build them out of unusual materials (like tires) in public places. There are some pictures in the Christmas in Salta photo gallery.
• No Santa in the mall, or Salvation Army collection kettle.
• No Christmas concerts or Santa Claus parades.
• No Boxing Day sales!!

For the most part it just seemed like an overall lack of what we would call “Christmas spirit”. Even in Toronto total strangers would wish each other a Merry Christmas. That just doesn’t happen here. It was nice not to have to endure two months of commercial overkill, but it also felt like something was missing.

On Sunday, December 25, the city of Salta quietly shut down as people spent the day with family and friends. Which would have happened anyway, since most stores, restaurants and and businesses close on Sundays here. (In small towns it can be a bit of challenge trying to find something to eat on Sunday if you’re on the road.)

Liz and I were… not somber, but we did feel the distance from family and friends and little more intensely. Still, we enjoyed our time in Salta. With the holiday closures, and our house being a 20 minute drive out of town, we mostly ate, read, slept and enjoyed the pool. For us, it was a stress-free Christmas. And we know that was not the case for many of you back home, who had to deal with the Christmas Blizzard.

We did make a few trips into town, visited the Salta Cathedral, the Museo de Arqueologia (which houses some interesting, but spooky mummies of Incan children), and we took the cable car up Cerro San Bernardo, which gives a splendid view over Salta and the surrounding valley. (And yes, OK, a visit to the Fire Dept. HQ. Interestingly, in Argentina the FD is a branch of the police.)

We hope your holidays were enjoyable and that the new year is starting off in a positive way. Thanks to all of you for following my scribbles and for your kind comments.

Here’s link to the photos of Christmas in Salta.