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 Vallarta Living | December 2005 
Vivendo en Mexico (Living in Mexico) 10
 Korah Winn - PVNN
One of the things that makes me roll my eyes is how the Christmas season has progressively grown in length. I remember the first time back home when I saw Christmas decorations displayed only an aisle away from Halloween costumes. Puerto Vallarta is not free from this infection either. I saw a whole store dedicated to Christmas at the same time I was spotting Catrina figurines in storefront windows for the Day of the Dead.
I actually heard Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in English while passing by a store a little while ago. That in itself is not so raro (weird) but when you throw in the fact that it was 86 degrees, the end of October and it is México, well, it kind of made me stand back in unbelief.
When I was a child I used to have images of a little ciervo (deer) with a big red bulb blinking on its' nose when I heard the song Rudolph. It seems that these days all I can think of when I hear the song is the shameless call to become a consumer since Christmas is ONLY two months away.
I know I must sound pretty hard on the whole season but I really do love Christmas. My problem is that I just hate seeing Thanksgiving get blown over in the rush to get to December 25th. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the fact that my grandparents usually have a great big meal at their house.
I feel that any holiday where you get to express gratitude is a wonderful one. I really try to have the mentalidad (mentality) of counting my blessings. I have been given so much and have been incredibly blessed. I want to have the right attitude each day.
Since it is common to start Christmas early these days, I thought that I would get a jump-start on Thanksgiving by listing some of the things I am very grateful for here. By no means has it been sencillo (simple) and I have definitely struggled with more than I imagined I would, but overall I have so much to give thanks about.
I am thankful that when I visited Marina Vallarta this week it only took me a half an hour to find the lawyer's office that I was looking for because if I had looked for it when I first arrived it would have probably taken me half a day. I am thankful that because of tourism here I get to meet people from places like Switzerland, Belgium, England, France, Russia and Canada.
I am grateful that I have a talented and kind flamenco teacher who helped me find a lady to make me a vibrantly colored falda (skirt) to wear in my class (I will put some pictures up on www.flickr.com/photos/winningsimplicity ).
I am thankful that I now feel comfortable enough with the language that I do not just freeze up if someone asks me a question in Spanish on the street. I give thanks that the weather here has finally made the transition into beautiful temperatures daily. I am thankful to have neighbors who know that I am trying to learn Spanish so they take time to talk with me even when I know I must not make total sense to them when I speak their language.
And finally, I am so grateful to know that no matter where I move to in this entire mundo (world), I always have a wonderful country and family to come back to. Happy (early) Thanksgiving. ¡Salud!
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