Zambomba (Christmas flamenco)

from Meghann: 

Although we missed out on seeing a live nativity, we did get to go to another uniquely Spanish Christmas event - a zambomba. Zambombas take place throughout the month of December, until Christmas Eve. The word comes from the name of a handmade instrument (a sort of drum with a stick through the top, that produces a unique noise) that was traditionally played during these events. Some zambombas still feature the instrument, but now the word can mean any gathering for playing music, dancing, singing, telling stories and jokes, or any combination of all of these things. They can be public or private, big or small, at a bar, restaurant, someone's home, or just in the street. It is like the flamenco version of Christmas caroling - and oh so Spanish. 

We heard about this zambomba from a friend of a friend (that seems to be how things work in España). It was the weekend before Christmas at a little bar called La Garrocha, which is very close to our casa. This was a small zambomba, attracting a group of people from the neighborhood. 

You can see a picture of a zambomba on this flyer, even though there wasn't one being played. There was plenty of singing, guitar playing, and the box, which is essential in flamenco.

And of course, hand-clapping. Every Spanish person can clap, from the smallest child to the oldest abuela. Not your average, put two hands together and make a noise clapping, but perfectly timed, rhythmic, syncopated clapping. It must be in their blood, it seems to come so naturally to them. The Spanish make it look effortless while the rest of us stare at the hands of the person next to us trying to make it happen. Or maybe that's just me.

While we sat in the winter sunshine and enjoyed the show, there were rounds of cerveza, glasses of sherry, and dishes of food - a traditional bean stew and ajo caliente. Ajo caliente literally means "hot garlic" and is bread mashed with tomato and garlic, served warm. Simple and delicioso!

At different times, we were invited to join in the singing. And there was a lively joke at the end, which we couldn't understand much of, but it had everyone around us laughing. Something about an English, French, and a Spanish bird...

Sometimes there are those moments when it hits us square in the face that we are in España. This was definitely one of them.

Our Christmas

from Meghann:

This was our second Christmas in España and the second year in a row that we celebrated with just the two of us and no other family (well, besides Chloe and Cora, of course). We still miss our families, the big dinners, opening gifts together, but we've gotten used to and learned to appreciate our simpler, more relaxed holidays. And we know how lucky we are to be able to spend Christmas together, when so many others cannot. Our family might be small (and 50% four-legged) but we can still be festive!

 Our Christmas was filled with food - some traditional dishes, along with some Spanish favorites. For both of us, food helps us feel closer to home, especially during the holidays. So there was plenty of cooking, baking, canning, eating, and drinking.

We canned homemade cranberry sauce on Christmas Eve.

And I used it to make cranberry coffee cake, which we ate on Christmas morning.

Another lovely thing about Christmas in Spain - the weather was gorgeous. Christmas Eve was sunny and warm.

You can see some people in the water in the background (for the record, we didn't think it was that warm, but people come down from the North over the holidays, so maybe it was warm to them...?).

There was a lovely Spanish sunset...

¡Feliz Navidad!

¡Feliz Navidad from España! We are missing our families, but are having a lovely and relaxing Christmas together and have a potluck with friends tonight. In between food, gifts, and more food, we might even have a chance to take Chloe and Cora down to the beach to enjoy some holiday sunshine.

Wishing you happiness and joy wherever you are celebrating today! 

*The official Casa MGGM holiday card from tinyprints. 

Fave Christmas Flicks

from Meghann:

We don't own a lot of movies. We're more into watching an episode or two of a tv series after dinner and sometimes rent a movie on the weekend if we have a night with not much going on. Yes, we still rent movies, from the tiny movie rental place on base - there are so many things about being stationed at an overseas base that are throwbacks. Some would say "outdated" but we'll go with "quaint". Also, due to Spanish law, those new-fangled streaming media sites are not available. Pandora, Netflix, Hulu...'til we meet again, amigos...

But there are a few movies that we own just for the holiday season and they are always in the Christmas rotation. They are all comedies. I'm not sure if this says something about us, but we're just not that into re-watching dramas or anything that is too syrupy sweet or overwrought with emotion, especially during the holidays. So, here they are, our favorite flicks for the Feliz Navidad season:

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

This marks the unofficial official kick-off to our holiday season. It's the first Christmas movie we watch in December. Best enjoyed while decorating the tree, because it features the funniest Christmas tree related comedy in all of cinema. Even better if watched while consuming adult beverages, bonus points for egg nog. 

Love Actually

I don't know how Graham is going to feel about me admitting this on the interwebs, but I love this movie and he doesn't hate it. I think he actually likes it. There's a million different story lines, mostly comical though some are mushy enough to qualify for a chick flick. But there's just the right amount of Keira Knightley, boobs, (no, not Keira Knightley's boobs, pay attention) and potty humor to keep everyone in our casa amused. It's a little crass, so I wouldn't recommend it for children, but seriously, we are not the people to look to for advice on kids' activities.

Elf

Will Ferrell dressed in an elf costume and saying things like "You smell like beef and cheese! You don't smell like Santa." and "I'm sorry I ruined your lives, and crammed 11 cookies into the VCR." We're sold! And I just giggled to myself while typing those quotes. 

A Christmas Story

This is the only one of these movies that we haven't watched yet this year. We save this ultimate Christmas classic for late in the season - it's excellent Christmas Eve material or even Christmas Day, post-presents or post-crazy family dinner. Takes you right back to your childhood - how much you desperately wanted that perfect present from Santa, the school days that just wouldn't end so that Christmas would come, and the first time your parents caught you saying "fu..." Oh, hola to our Moms that read this blog. 

So, there you have it. Our short and not so sweet Christmas DVD collection. We'll probably be spending some quality time on the couch this weekend with uno or dos of these movies, the pups, and some cocktails. Maybe cran cava for me and egg nog for Graham?

What movies are your go-tos at holiday time? Have any suggestions for something we should add to our collection?

Thirsty Jueves: Cran Cava Cocktail

It just takes 2 simple ingredients to bring a little extra Christmas cheer to your casa. We almost always have cranberry juice in the refrigerator and we try to keep a bottle of cava on hand. It's such a delicious and inexpensive sparkling wine, you don't have to save it for fancy occasions. There's something fun about opening a bottle to celebrate a random Thursday and adding a little cranberry juice brings some tasty holiday flavor. 

The recipe is simple:

-chilled cava (we prefer brut, but whatever you like)

-cranberry juice (or cran pom or whatever)

-cranberries (bonus points for garnish!)

This is one of those rare times when the type of glass does count. Use a champagne flute! Put a splash of cran in the bottom, along with the berries if you have them, then fill with cava. 

It's perfect for a holiday fiesta (and easy for guests to mix for themselves) and just as good while curled up on the couch watching Christmas movies.

¡Salud and Felices Fiestas!

Surf, Soirée, Snacks!

from Meghann:

Our weekend turned out a little differently than we had planned. The weather ended up being a downer. The living nativity in Arcos de la Frontera that we had wanted to go to on Saturday was cancelled due to rain, and my horseback riding lesson was, too.

We did go to a Christmas party on base Friday night and got to get spiffed up for that. It's not every day that Graham wears a suit and tie (or hardly any day, since he works in a flight suit) or that I wear lipstick (heels on the other hand, are a short girl's best amigos).

It's always a good time to hang out with friends and coworkers (even better when the coworkers are friends) and have some hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. There was even a venenciadora - a professional sherry pourer! 

Hola Holidays!

from Meghann:

It's beginning to look a lot little like Christmas around our casa. Each year we wait until December to do any decorating or Christmas activities, so that Thanksgiving has its own time and we get a chance to relax between holidays. Also, the Christmas season in España seems to start a little later, probably because they continue to celebrate until Three Kings Day on January 6.

The holiday festivities on base are officially kicked off by the Tree Lighting Ceremony, which includes Santa flying in by helicopter. We missed this last year, but figured we should go this year since it's a Rota tradition and there are elves fast-roping out of a helicopter. 

The next day we visited our local viveros (what we would call a "nursery" in the States, which when you think of it, is a weird word for a place to buy plants) to get our tree. Our favorite way to get a tree is to cut our own, but we were just excited to get a real tree and the viveros had a decent selection.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Hola 2012!  We've all said adios to 2011 (it was a good year - we got married, we moved to Spain, Graham learned to order a beer in Spanish) but the holiday season isn't over yet here in Spain.  While people in the States are already taking down their Christmas trees, putting away the Mannheim Steamroller CDs, and folding their ugly sweaters, the Spanish are still in full swing.