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A Christmas chat with Tarja de Silva

15 Dec 2021

It’s that time of the year again – cold air, busy streets, and an overall buzz of excitement and cheer. This season, Brunch decided to speak to a few familiar faces to see what they’ll be up to this Christmas. [caption id="attachment_179592" align="alignright" width="304"] Tarja de Silva and Alberto Ruiz[/caption] Today, we had a lovely chat with the energetic professional dancer and T&A Fitness Co-Founder Tarja de Silva to find out what her plans for the season are. She also took us through a walk down her Christmas memory lane and shared a few fun festive traditions that she has been a part of. Following are excerpts of the interview. How will you be spending Christmas this year? If all goes well, this year, I will be going to Spain after two years of not travelling anywhere. I’m really excited about spending Christmas in Spain – which is my husband Alberto’s country. So fingers crossed, all goes well and I’ll be in Spain soon! What would you say Christmas means to you? Personally, Christmas is about being with my family and loved ones while enjoying the holidays – more than anything else, what’s important to me is the time I get to spend with my family. Spending the season with loved ones is what makes Christmas feel much better. What’s your most memorable Christmas experience? It was when I was studying in the UK. They do these German markets every Christmas. Those are just spectacular; they start one month before the holidays in November, and they don’t even wait for the season. The whole street is full of German markets and my friend and I would go there every day to have mulled wine in those set-up markets. That was a really memorable Christmas for me; it was something unique, something novel, and something I’d never experienced before. It was quite unforgettable because it had that real Christmas vibe. Holidays can be stressful sometimes. How do you like to unwind? I’m stressed out already! ‘Tis the season, so you might booze up; grab a really good wine – a good drink can always help, so that is how I unwind. What would your perfect Christmas look like? Since we’re on a tropical island, we can’t experience snow. So I really enjoy when I’m out of the country and spend Christmas abroad because you get to experience that real winter vibe with the cold climate and snow. I love experiencing that idealistic postcard Christmas that you see in the movies. But that’s not to say that a Christmas in Sri Lanka is any less because if I am in the country, I spend it with my family, and that means so much more. Do you have a unique tradition that your family partakes in? No! My family hardly celebrates Christmas; all throughout my childhood, we’ve never celebrated Christmas. I used to really look forward to going to my Catholic friends’ houses to celebrate. My grandmother is the only Catholic, so we barely made it to midnight mass. So I would take that opportunity to go celebrate Christmas with her since she was the only one who lit up the tree. Now that I’ve married Al, and in his culture Christmas is a big deal, he started this tradition of doing a Christmas dinner as he would do in his home. For the first time last year, we had a Christmas dinner. He organised a dinner with a big roast, Christmas puddings, and a bunch of veggies. For the first time we celebrated Christmas at home, so I’m thankful to him. It isn’t a tradition, but it is the start of one. It’s nothing unique or novel, but it is something that we’ve never done before, and I hope we can continue to do this. Best gift you’ve got and given? I think the best gift is yet to come. This year, I have asked for things that I’ve really wanted (dance gifts) and I’ve been very specific on what those gifts have to be, so the best is on its way. I’m a really bad gift-giver, so I ask people what they want. The only person who really cares about gift-giving is my husband, since my family is not really traditional that way. Everyone else is really cool; even if I give them a gingerbread man or a bottle of eggnog, they’d be happy. Alberto’s been quite specific this year in his gift request – I think I got him shoes that he keeps wearing, last year – but we generally ask each other what we want and that way, there are no surprises or disappointments and we get what we want. Any new year’s resolutions? Personally, I have slacked when it comes to my physical body – I’m always at the gym, always dancing. But I want to be in the best physical condition I could be by my next birthday. What’s 2022 looking like for you? I have a lot of plans for the new year. I want to grow our business – T&A Fitness – and start some new dance classes and add new equipment. Now we’ve got a lovely T&A family with lots of clients who are very loyal to us. Secondly, I want to grow in my dance and work on a dance show that’s happening next April. I want to keep growing, keep learning, and keep improving!

Kapruka

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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


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