Too many tamales

By Wally Perez

The first thing I remember about Christmas in Laredo was an old Polaroid of two of my brothers sitting in front of a Christmas tree, but it's too dark to be able to tell much else. They look happy, though. I remember thinking that I couldn't wait until Christmas to come so I could celebrate it, too. The first Christmas I remember was at the ranch with lots of presents but remembering only an odd picture of a brown horse on the wall. It was a horse that had run away, or belonged to my uncle, but maybe it wasn't really a horse or a photo, just an odd memory.
My first actual Christmas memories vividly began when I was in first grade. Pooling the talents of my older brothers into a grand investigation and search, we discovered our Christmas presents hidden in my parents' closet. I still have the Castle Greyskull from that Christmas somewhere in my parents' garage.
Christmas in Laredo always involved Christmas in Nuevo Laredo, as well. Most of my family was from there so we'd always visit my grandparents. I remember watching my aunt put up my grandparents' Christmas tree with lights that looked like flowers with fading colors. Then I'd watch her turn on the lights surrounding the Virgin de Guadalupe picture that had faded through the years. It was the only time they did that throughout the year.
Of course, Christmas in Nuevo Laredo also meant Christmas stuck in traffic. We'd often leave Nuevo Laredo only to be stuck in the traffic jam from hell. Two hours of traveling two blocks. One time we gave up and it took us two more hours to get back to my grandfather's house.
Christmas is also stuck right in the middle of Tamal Season. Having one too many tamales for anyone's own good was the order of the season. My parents would just smile when handed several dozen and stick them in the freezer. I haven't had any tamales in a good 15 years. I'm proud of my tamal-free life since I've probably have had enough to last me a lifetime.
I have since soured on the whole holiday season. I started spending it as alone as I could. I have fond memories of that. Hidden in my parents' bedroom with the door closed, I'd listen to They Might Be Giants over and over again, or my R.E.M./B-52's/Indigo Girls mix tape, or an old polka record or two. I'd come out and greet people then go back in and listen to music. I remember thinking about how anti-climactic it all was at midnight and all of the pretentiousness of my youthful rebellion.
It just became too much. Too many greetings and presents and not having presents and shopping and non-shopping and money-spending and not having any money to spend. Traffic hell, and a packed Mall del Norte and Wal-Mart, forced church caroling, and there really being no Santa.
The holiday spirit will sink in every now and then, maybe during the chorus of an old favorite carol, or seeing an insanely decorated Christmas house, or hugging my parents on Christmas Eve. But still, nothing beats sneaking away in the middle of the night December 26 to come back to Austin (my new home no matter what people say).

(A former LareDOS staff member, Wally Perez teaches fourth grade at Wooten Elementary School in Austin.)