Merry Christmas! - Christmas in summer

For the first time this year, I celebrated Christmas without my family and even far away.

Since the beginning of December, more and more Christmas decorations have been put up, until almost the whole house and all the streets outside were decorated.

                                                        

Unlike in Germany, the fairy lights are pretty colorful, they blink and most of them even play Christmas music. There are Christmas plates, Christmas mugs (which also play music when you drink from them), Christmas napkins, Christmas tablecloths, Christmas curtains, and much more.

                         

                                              

In one neighborhood, all the neighbors got together to light up the whole street:

                                              

                                               

Despite all this, the Christmas spirit was hard to come by for me this year. Even though I don't like winter in Germany, it's simply part of Christmas. I missed standing on a Christmas market on a cold day, bundled up and enjoying a mulled wine.

But Christmas here had its own beautiful aspects: Since it was still warm outside until late at night, people in Peru celebrate for a long time (until 3 a.m. or even longer) with lots of music, and at midnight, there's a big firework to celebrate the birth of Christ. And of course, there are lots of presents afterwards!

For those who find it hard to wait that long, let me tell you that delicious food fills the time: traditionally, there's roast turkey with applesauce or Russian salad (beetroot, potatoes, peas, and more).

It was very exciting for me to celebrate a completely different Christmas, but I have to say that I'm really looking forward to my next 'German' Christmas with my family.