On the first day of Christmas...

Venezuela being a predominately catholic country celebrates Christmas a lot. But hey, don't let religion get in the way because it's mostly an excuse to party hardy. Here's my week leading up and beyond Christmas:

• Monday December 21: Celebrated the first official day of winter by having this sort of thing called "the spirit of christmas" eve, which is this sort of European tradition that has been adopted by families here to make wishes for the coming year.... also adapted in Venezuela as an excuse to have a social event and drink scotch. Went to bed at 3:00 AM
• Tuesday December 22: My cousin (Alberto) is in town and he wants to go to the beach! Yay! Finally I get to go! On the way we get some Rum and the rest is history. Went to sleep at a reasonable time, but then the Pepsi's caffeine kicks in in the middle of the night.
• Wednesday December 23: Finishing buying gifts and my cousin (Ariana) was also having her 21st birthday. While 18 is the equivalent to a 21 year old in the U.S., the party ends up turning 'merican after someone brings out tequila and starts giving everyone shots. Went home at 5:30 AM. Didn't drive.
• Thursday December 24: Had to wake up semi-early to go to my grandma's house and celebrate her birthday and Christmas eve (which is what's celebrated here as opposed to Christmas day). She lives a couple of hours away. Went to sleep at a reasonable time, but it's really hot and humid where she lives.
• Friday December 25: Went to visit my dad's uncle, and ate a lot, to the point I was having Thanskgiving, followed by drinking more scotch with the old folks.
• Saturday December 26: Return to Puerto La Cruz to join my dad's cousins to a speedboat trip to one of the islands. Another beach day yay... mostly drinking wine and eating cheeses. Good times.
• Sunday (tomorrow as of the writing of this post): Beach... maybe? We had plans for it. Haven't figured out if we're going.