I made my Abuelita a scarf of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk. She is always cold (usually wearing 2 or 3 sweaters at once) and after last week's frigid weather, I thought she might like it. I wrapped it up and gave it to her when I ran into her (not literally) in the kitchen. She smiled, laughed, and thanked me, but she didn't open it. I was a little disappointed because I worked on it all week and thought it was just about beautiful. She disappeared to her room for a while and when she came down she was wearing the scarf and grinning. She thanked me, gave me a big hug, and gave me a present in return (a leather coin purse that her friend made).I asked Lula if this not opening presents in public was normal or just Abuelita, who has her own fair share of idiosyncracies. Lula said it was normal. I might ask a few more people just to make sure, because you can't very well base your understanding of a culture on what 1 or 2 people say. I bet it's true, though.
I've been encouraged looking through your blog--lovely, thoughtful posts. I especially like this one! I love this cultural moment--and pain free at that! Keep them coming. My experience in Bolivia was the same....they never opened presents in front of guests. --emily (ogden)_