Feliz Navidad!

When I think of Christmas, I imagine a giant tree in front of our living room window covered with colorful decoration and blinking lights. I think of my grandmother's potato salad, my aunt's sweet tea and every casserole you can imagine. I remember family celebrations with presents and singing and ugly Christmas sweaters. I picture a warm fire on a cold night and hours of Christmas movies on tv. I think of the houses and stores decorated with gaudy lights and plastic santas. The reindeer that decorate lawns and the music playing on every radio station. I think of baking Christmas cookies with my mom and I can even smell them in the oven. I remember waking up on Christmas morning, wearing flannel jingle bells pajamas with crazy, messy hair and running out to the living room where my dad was always watching home videos of past Christmases. I was always the first one awake so I would wait there patiently while silently willing my brothers and sister to get up so we could tear into the giant mountain of presents under the tree. When I think of Christmas, I think of my family and all of their silly stories and traditions. I think of spending time catching up on life and laughing at all of my brother's inappropriate jokes. I picture a frozen pond behind my house and a car that would never heat up quite enough. I think of the traffic as travelers make their way to celebrate with their families. But most importantly, when I think of Christmas, I remember the time I get to spend with people who love me and just how precious those moments can be. (Jeez, was that cheesy or what? Guess the holidays bring it out in me...).

This year, I decided to stay in Guatemala and celebrate the holidays with my host family. I was a little hesitant at first. I had never spent a Christmas away from home and I was worried that the homesickness might kick in and my Christmas would be, as Elvis would say, a "blue" one. But my host sister and host mom assured me that we were going to have a great time and ring in the holidays with some fun. Now in the States, Christmas eve is just the preview. Everyone goes to bed early so Santa can wiggle down the chimney and put presents under the tree. Well in Guatemala, Christmas eve is the big show! Everyone gets together with their family and stays up until the wee hours of the morning celebrating. I of course thought this was strange and since I act like a ninety year old woman and go to bed at 9pm every night, I was a little concerned about my abilities to hang with the young crowd and stay up past 10pm. Luckily for me, caffeine was readily available and I managed to make it through the festivities.

The fun didn't really start until 10pm. Kurt and I met with our gringo friends, Lindsay and Nik, so they could celebrate with my host family. We walked around the park for a bit and enjoyed looking at the Christmas lights and watching children throw firecrackers at each other. (By the way, there is no age limit on purchasing fireworks in this country. It is a free for all. And for that reason, most Guatemalan adults have burn scars). Around 1030pm, we headed back to my house where my host family had just returned home from the family tienda. We sat around the kitchen table and told jokes and drank "ponche" (traditional Guatemalan drink composed of sugar and fruit. Yum!). We took family photos and ate cookies and candies. I was on a sugar high! Maybe that is how I stayed awake. Around 1130pm, more family started to arrive so we headed outside to enjoy a campfire and roast marshmallows. My family thought it was very strange that I enjoy my marshmallows burnt and crispy. What can I say? They're yummy. Anyways, at midnight the excitement began. We all climbed the stairs to the roof to enjoy the fireworks show. My favorite Guatemalan Christmas tradition is the fireworks. Everyone waits until the stroke of midnight to set them off so the entire sky is lit up at once. It was the most beautiful thing I have seen in this country. Everywhere you turned someone was lighting their fireworks. It was like a symphony of lights that took your breath away. My family set off the ones they had bought and we enjoyed a few minutes of frivolity and fun.

After the fireworks show, it was time for dinner. Yes... at 1230am, we finally got a chance to sit down and enjoy a nice family dinner. And by that I mean we sat around a campfire and ate traditional Guatemalan tamales. My host family spent two days preparing them. They even killed the turkey. Now that is pretty legit tamale making. So as we sat around the fire and enjoyed each others company, I was reminded that no matter where you are in the world, as long as you are with people who love you and people that you love, Christmas is still Christmas. Even if you are eating tamales instead of ham and sitting by a campfire instead of a fireplace.

Once all of our guests started making their way home, my host family, Kurt and I ventured to the living room to open presents. At 130am on Christmas morning, I was sitting around watching my host niece open her second hand presents and jumping for joy when she got a Dora the Explorer sleeping bag that had a hole in it. I was humbled. I never received second hand presents when I was three. I wouldn't have known the difference and neither does she. But as an adult I now realize that the important part of Christmas isn't the presents (even though when I was three I'm pretty sure that was the only part that crossed my mind) but it is the people you are with and the people back home who wish you were there. So we opened our presents and everyone laughed and said thank you and enjoyed each other's company. I got a chance to give my host family nice gifts from the States (thanks Mom!) and they got me some wonderful gifts in return. But the best gift they gave me was welcoming me into their home two years ago and treating me like family. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family in the States and now I am even more blessed to have a family here. I never expected to come to love them but I have and I know that when I leave Guatemala two months from now, saying goodbye to them is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever done.

After we finished opening our presents, it was finally time to say goodnight. So at 230am, we all headed to bed and sadly nobody was waiting for Santa's sleigh. Christmas morning started around 10am with breakfast (more tamales) and phone calls to family back home. Christmas day was spent like any other normal day which was kind of strange for me and brought on a little bout of homesickness. Luckily, Kurt was there and we fought through it together. That night I had a chance to celebrate again but this time with all of my gringo friends here in Nebaj. We had a Christmas feast that consisted of ham, duck, potatoes, green beans and pie. It was like the meal all the Hoos from Whoville shared with the Grinch at the end of the movie. It was great! We sat around playing games and enjoyed a little taste of life back in the States. All the while knowing our families back home missed us as much as we missed them.

So my Christmas this year was yet another Guatemalan adventure. I am so thankful for the experiences I have had here and this Christmas was just another memory added to the long list of ones I will take away from my Peace Corps life. Now that it is over it is time to move on to the next big event...New Year's! On dasher on dancer on prancer and vixen....