disneytati

Thanks a lot, Pam! And by the way, I've replied to your post in the "I'm Back" thread. Check it out!:)

Weird looking? I think they are evil looking......... hahahahahahahahah

Thanks for then info! But well... I had never thought of the "winter songs" and "xmas songs" thing. Although Christmas down here is in the summer (and always BOILING HOT), I tend to associate it with snow. And I honestly thought they were all the same. Thanks once more for the info!:)

Oh, yes. I'm gonna do that, for sure!

WOW!!!!!! Thank you very much for the replies!!!! Gator Pam - Sorry, I haven't seen your reply... But I'll check that thread again. And thanks a lot for the recipe! But well... can it be done in a regular pan, or in the oven? There are no slow cookers here... no crockpots.... This recipe sounds delicious!!!!! heavenlysshine - Thanks for the kind words. I'm planning a Thanksgiving trip for next year. I've never spent Thanksgiving with an American family. I actually would like to go up there in the end of October, spend Halloween (which they don't really have down here), Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas season. That would be just perfect! Yum...... awesome potato recipe... and thanks for the link. It's so cool!!!!!!!! cotinkandy1 - Well, these are MY holidays too..... lol Let me see if I can explain: I was born down here, I've never spent more than 15 days in the USA, I have no American ancestors (not that I know of), but... I'm American! Well, my soul is. So, if people say "my country", the USA is what immediately comes to my mind. And I just can't explain how I can speak English so well... I'm the only one in my family who speaks English! Anyways... thanks for the nice words!

Yeah... maybe I can try to get some turkey for dinner.

Hey, guys! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays (the favorite one in Christmas). I just have one problem: there's no Thanksgiving down here... people don't even know what it is. I usually try to celebrate my American holidays my own way, like.... I wear Halloween shirts (and make my students go trick or treating around the language school), wear red, white and blue and display my American flag on July 4th and September 11th... I normally try to be in the USA for Thanksgiving (and feel a bit of the Christmas chill as well), but this year I'll only be able to go up there in December, so I'll miss Thanksgiving. Do you have any ideas of how I should celebrate it here, by myself? It can be something little, as people usually think I'm an Americanized freak, so I'll celebrate it all by myself. Any easy traditional recipes... any decorations... anything online I could do???

Well, Christmas eve here is more important than Christmas day, so families get together on the 24th. On Dec 25th, Christmas is already over for many families. But well, not for me!!!!! I usually speand Christmas eve with my mom's family, and have lunch on the 25th with my dad's. There aren't many Christmas traditions, nobody puts cookies or milk for Santa, and very few kids know the Christmas stories. My daughter goes to bed early, and get Santa's gift in the morning, but she gets lots of presents from everyone in the family on the 24th. So, basically, it's the opposite regarding gifts: kids normally get all the presents on the 24th, and only Santa's gift on the 25th. I normally try to watch Christmas movies on TV, too, but I'm usually too busy for that...

What's the name of that song that played in "Home Alone 2"? It said... "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells rock.... jingle bells ____ and jingle bells____..." I don't know the lyrics.... And another one I love: "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

But for really little girls, it would be too messy, right? I guess my daughter will only get one of those when she turns 6 or 7....

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Yeah, I guess Baby Annabell will be better, as it doesn't require my daughter to speak English to make her respond. But I checked the website, and she sleeps with her eyes closed now. So.. no freaky doll. LOL Yeah, I live in Rio de Janeiro. Such dolls are REALLY expensive here. I saw Amazing Amanda on TV, and it costs 800 reais (that would be more or less 380 dollars!! ). Considerig that the average salary here is 1000 reais, you can imagine how many people can afford such a doll here...

Thank you very much for the info! It's hard for me to call them from here, but I guess I'll end up finding it. I'm going to the US in December, and I'll look for thses dolls. What about Baby Born? Does she move her face too?

Thanks a lot for the links!!! Baby Annabell is more like what I want. My daughter will love it! Is it easy to find? Like, can I buy it at Walmart or KBToys, or Toys'r'us?

Yeah... but Baby Alive is kinda disgusting, isn't it?

By the way... your children are really beautiful!

Yeah, you're right. So I'll get her a doll that speaks English. But is Amazing Amanda the only doll like that, or is there a cheaper one?

Hi, everyone! My 3-year-old daughter wants a lifelike doll, that talks, moves her face and drinks from her bottle. Is Amazing Amanda the only one? Or is there a more simple one? Such dolls are extremely expensive here (Amazing Amanda costs 380 dolars!!!), so I won't be able to get one who speaks Portuguese. So, the doll doesn't need to recognize her voice, as she doesn't speak English. Or do you think it would be a good idea to get Amazing Amanda, and try to use the doll to teach her some English? Suggestions... please......

Awwww.. I gotta get a husband like that..... LOL Actually, I am very happy to be here, because I just love to talk about the holidays, and there's just nobody here to talk to. Sorry if I'm complainign too much... I'm a bit sad today.. I miss the USA.

Right after Halloween. I try to keep up with American holidays from down here, so music is important to me. Normally, I start watching Xmas movies as well, from October on. Of course, I just listen to the music on my MP3, and don't tell anyone about my Xmas movies as well. Nobody likes such things here, and they say it's childish.

Well, actually... there are just no Christmas events here in Rio de Janeiro. They put up a huge Christmas tree in the middle of an important lake here, and it's beautiful to see. But there's no event for that, they just announce that they're gonna light it up, and some people go there to watch. Not many. Besides that... just shopping mall decoration, with Santa for the kids to talk to (and he wears the same suit that he wears up there, even in a 96 degrees heat!!!! ).

Oh, WOW!!!!! How do you get to put up those lights on your roof???????

Oh, my God....... I am so jealous.... I just love Xmas, but here the decorations aren't so beautiful as up there. I mean... people down here have a different view about Xmas, and they think that listening to xmas songs is ridiculous, there aren't Xmas clothes to buy (like those cute sweaters you guys have up there) and few people decorate their houses outside like you guys do. Some people have their balconies trimmed with lights, but very little. Such things are just too expensive here. This year, when I go up there for BF, I'll try to bring some neon decorations for my apartment window.

My friends and family didn't even know what BF was until last year, and they just didn't believe we would be able to buy stuff for so little. They thought we had misunderstood something....

That's a great idea!!!