When I got back home, it was after midnight, and my entire host family was on the terrace, still celebrating. In Martinique, everyone opens their presents at midnight on December 24, and so I got to open mine, too.
The first was a really sympa pair of earrings with little pebbles on them.
The second was a t-shirt, shown below.
In case you can't see it, it says, in glitter, "Playboy," with a picture of the Playboy bunny above.
I wish I were kidding but I'm not.
As I tried not to laugh, my host family explained that Playboy is just another brand here -- and a popular one, too, at that. In fact, I see a lot of my little students wearing Playboy clothes at school.
I wasn't about to tell them what Playboy is in the United States.
Instead, I joked that now I was really Martiniquaise, with my stylish new Playboy shirt, and they all chuckled and said yes, that's right, you'll never be able to go back to the United States now.
The next day, in the afternoon, I ate Christmas lunch with my host family. Tons of people came, extended relatives and friends and such, and for the rest of the day they just sat around, hung out, chatted, played dominoes and watched TV.
So in short, I ate the traditional meal three times this holiday season, successfuly completed a baking project in Martinique, and probably gained a kilo or two in the process. And now, with my stylish new earrings and Hugh Hefner-endorsing t-shirt, I do feel like a real Martiniquaise, truly.
