Brazilian families often have a midnight supper on Christmas Eve. Our family continues the tradition of Christmas lunch. This year the menu includes Mexican chicken, sweet and sour carrots, hash brown casserole, a chilled layered salad, and chocolate stack cake.

Whether good or bad, many Brazilian families are surrendering to the commercialism of the season and putting up lights, trees, and other decorations. You see it a lot more than in the past. Though the exchange of gifts is still more low-key than the U.S. Our family is cutting down, too, on the amount we spend.

Santa gets pretty hot in our sweaty summer temperatures. The only snow falls in the store windows. I've tried to tell him to go with bermuda shorts, but he's self-conscious about his legs. Maybe next year ...