FELIZ NATAL or Merry Christmas. It was my Brazilian Christmas and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. It began with a trip down to a beach called Joatinga. Its a pretty little beach with a 1km stretch of sand. It was packed with surfers however all coming down to try and catch a Christmas wave?! Joatinga is a public beach although it has appearance of a private one. Its about a 5-10min walk down very steep stairs from the road and its set within a villa. You also need a car to get there as no buses stop on route.

It was overcast but an absolute scorcher! Around lunch time we went to Felipes cousins apartment for Christmas lunch. There Christmas is very much like ours. They have plenty of Christmas decorations covering the streets and houses although these stay up long into the New Year unlike us who take it down before January.There was a christmas tree and present exchanging and ofcourse a table covered in food. There food is different. Im really used to having a roast lunch, as Im sure this is the way most SA celebrate ( that or with a braai hahaha- cant beat the braai ).

The Christmas lunch consisted of Gamon, Chicken , 4 types of rice ( they eat alot of rice here ),a leek pie , a cod fish bake , cous cous and a bacon type salad. Another very traditional thing they have at christmas is "Rabanada", which is just like our cinnamon rolls. There are alot of hazel nuts and almond nuts everywhere. After the lunch everyone sat around drinking beer until it was time to go home and sleep.On our way home I was suprised to see that the bars and restaurants were all open just as if it was any other day.

It was a nice day, celebrated as it should be: with good food, good wine and family.