Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all!
I wanted to post on Christmas or shortly after Christmas, but between the boys leaving on Christmas and us volunteers getting our first days of vacation, I obviously didn't get around to it. I sincerely hope that everyone had a blessed day and were able to enjoy the day.
Our Christmas celebration here was quite nice. Here at Ciudad we celebrate on Christmas Eve. So the morning was quite normal, but after lunch all the little kiddos were supposed to take a 3-4 hour nap (trying to get a bunch of kids to sleep when they normally get to play was not so fun), thankfully most of them slept at least for a hour. The point of the nap was to make sure that they could stay up past their normal bed time (8:30/9).
We had Mass at 9pm, I was singing in the choir, we got off to a rough start unfortunately, but it was a good reminder to me from Him that I can't take everything seriously. So we laughed off our mistakes and continued. After Mass was dinner: Lomo saltado. Lamb strips cooked with aji amarillo (yellow chile), red onions, cumin, cilantro, parsley, tomatoes and some other things. It's a pretty typical peruvian dish, but most of the kids don't eat it all that often. It was a big hit, and then we had ice cream for dessert.
After dinner we had to wait around for midnight to open presents. All the boys receive a big box (usually from Godparents--who are here basically sponsors for the boys) which contained clothing, shoes, underwear and some toys for the boys. Unfortunately right around 11:30ish the power went out...so we sat around waiting to see if it would be fixed....it couldn't be fixed because it was multiple parts of Lima.....so we did not open presents, but we did do our Christmas hug. Everybody goes around hugging everybody and wishing them a merry Christmas. I couldn't really tell all that much who I was hugging, but that did not really matter in the long run. I gave all the boys big bear hugs....I think it was awkward for some (most) of them since I don't think they were prepared for such a hug. Most of my hugs from the boys were pretty wimpy, but they were hugs all the same. Teenage boys.....I guess you can't expect a lot more ;-)
The boys unfortunately had to wait until breakfast on Christmas morning to open their presents (of course about 10 min after cleaning everything up on Christmas Eve the power came back on). So we had chocolatada and paneton for breakfast and then the boys went crazy opening their gifts! It was really fun to see.
After breakfast, the boys packed up all of their stuff and whoever they were staying with (parents, aunts, grandparents) picked them up for summer vacation.
It was a little sad to see them all go, but I definitely need the break!
In the afternoon on Christmas, Mike and I went to our host family's house (where we spent our first 3 weeks) for lunch. It was a really nice, relaxing lunch and it was wonderful to spend it with the Benavides family. It was so nice, I even got to take my Christmas afternoon nap!
We then headed to dinner with the other Cap Corps volunteer to have Chifa (mix of chinese and peruvian dishes). It was yummy! Then home to sleep :)
Since Christmas, I have been catching up on sleep, talking to my family, and trying to center myself again. It's been a lot of non thinking time and just being time in the apartment. It's nice to get some much needed rest.
Things I've learned recently:
- I can only sleep in past 6:30/7 am if I stay up later than midnight
- I had forgotten how much I like the movie Anastasia (love!!!)
- how much I miss snow and living in Minnesnowta
- how thankful I am for my family, immediate and extended, and my friends. The amount of love and support I receive still astounds me. Thank you
- how much I am looking forward to traveling to different parts of Peru during my vacation.
all my love,
Jeanette
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