Eguberri on!

This year's Christmas festivities were very Basque. On Christmas Eve (nochebuena) almost every barrio had their own celebration. In our hood that included a primary school parading and singing Basque Christmas carols, dressed of course in typical Basque attire. Zer polita! Seriously they were all so adorable. I even saw a baby dressed up with a baby-sized txapela (beret) to boot. A group of kids sang in a carnecería, which seemed like the cover of a Christmas card...or perhaps a scene from a Belén. Apparently they go caroling house to house for money, but with the economy the way it is, this tradition is becoming less frequent.

View from the house of children dancing in the street

After lunchtime, Olentzero and Mari Domingi met and posed with the children of Donostia. Think Santa and Mrs. Claus, except Basque. At nightfall various children's dance groups paraded along with goats and Olentzero and Mari Domingi.  The dances took me back to when I took a dance class here in 2012. I had forgotten most of them!

Christmas Eve dinner was early by Spanish standards: we started nibbling before 8! It was a pretty solemn Christmas, with no gifts exchanged.  There was, however, an abundance of shouting.  Seriously, for 4 people (not including myself because I didn't say much) there was a lot of noise. Discussing politics, love interests, and memories all required yelling. That's Spain though. As is going out after Christmas Eve dinner...

Basque scene from a Belén in a plaza