Andy Homa, University of Illinois Part 4

I just had my final conversation with TalkAbroad. I am studying Spanish at the University of Illinois, and a class I am taking assigned each of us to have four conversations. I talked with Hagia Schulz from Honduras and this was my third time talking with her. Talking with the same person for three of your four conversations allows you to talk about a variety of topics, rather than simply discussing the deeply intellectual topics of how many siblings you have and what your favorite color is. (It’s green, thanks for asking.)

We talked a lot today about the differences in cultures between Honduras and the United States. For the most part, the Christmas celebrations are very similar, but she did catch me by surprise when she told me that Christmas is celebrated on December 24 in Honduras. They must be laughing at us American idiots; while American parents are busy worrying about how they are going to impersonate Santa by eating cookies and setting out gifts, the people in Honduras are already done with their celebration. They are one step ahead of the game!

Additionally, she did tell me about a way of exchanging gifts that is similar to Secret Santa, but you give two gifts away. One gift is a legitimate one, and the other is a prank. The people at the gift exchange have to guess for whom each gift is intended based on clues. I thought that this sounded really fun, as it spices up that gift giving tradition a little bit. Honduras definitely sounds like a very interesting country based on the three conversations I had with Hagia. If I ever visit, I’ll be sure to warn all those around me about the extreme dangers of dealing with Santa Claus. Until then, Honduras, until then.