Thanksgiving: Some fellow PCVs and I went to our friend Patty's site on Lake Atitlan in San Juan La Laguna. Her counterpart left her awesome house for us to use and stay at. Check the pictures in Picasa, but she had an upstairs glass room with an amazing view of the lake surrounded by volcanoes. It was awesome. We cooked a huge feast: stuffed turkey, dressing, candied yams, homemade mac and cheese, bacon wrapped green bean bundles (my dish with fresh green beans from my site), mashed potatoes, fresh breads and cheeses from patty's site, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, and chocolate chip cheesecake. Like I said, AWESOME. I skyped with my family back home and got to see everyone, which was nice.
Christmas: I decided to stay in Guatemala for Christmas this year and see how my community celebrates this special holiday. Leading up to Christmas, people do what is called La Posada, where they go to one house each evening leading up to Christmas. They carry this statue through the community as they sing songs in q'eqchi and shoot fireworks all along the way. So I only participated one night, but I'm so glad that I got to see and take part in this tradition. It actually was the night of our Christmas 'convivio' or party with my co-workers at the Coffee Tour. We made chocolate cake with Christmas M&Ms, had rum and cokes, and ate some churrascos from Coban. After all the rum and cokes, I'd be lying if I said my counterpart and I weren't a little tipsy. So when he called to say we're outside your house later that night and come to La Posada, I was up for the adventure. I wish I could have taken a bunch of pictures, but it was pretty somber and inappropriate to whip my camera out in their house. I did get one video where you can hear them singing. The group gets outside this house and the family that lives there is inside. They sing back and forth with the door closed asking if there is space in the house. It is supposed to represent how Mary and Joseph couldn't find anywhere to stay and have baby Jesus. My counterpart didn't tell me he never goes to church, so they treated us both as very special guests in the house and had to sit up front. Favorite part: during the snack when it was super quiet (people in my community simply don't talk to each other during meal times or snacks) this little kid sitting at my feet lets out a HUGE fart. Everyone dies laughing. Then as the laughter dies down, another kid lets one rip. It reminded me of Hunter and me when we were little and how we would always get tickled at the most inappropriate times.
On Christmas Eve, my friends Amber and Evan came to my site for catholic mass in the morning. Everyone in my community had begged me to come to this and all the other activities for Christmas. I had to be a little selective and thought this would be one of the safest times to eat the food and also not get hurt by all the crazy fireworks. So we got there 'on time' and of course waited an hour for the mass to start. I got some fun pictures from this, too. I could tell that everyone in my community was so proud to have not one, but three 'gringos' at their Christmas Eve service. We didn't understand most anything because the service was in q'eqchi but we enjoyed it nonetheless. Then we had some kiu, tortillas, tamales, and beef for lunch.
We spent the evening with a family in Coban eating more tamales and watching fireworks from a distance. It was a very humbling Christmas and really made me grateful for all the past and future Christmases at home with family and friends. I take so much for granted and am really thankful I had this opportunity in Guatemala to share the holidays with other families. It really brought everything back to focus of why I am here and what it means to be an American sharing our culture and experiencing another culture simultaneously. Christmas morning we cooked breakfast all together and had coffee from my site. As well, Santa came to visit and by Santa I mean Mom, Tommy, Hunter, and Courtney sent me several packages full of awesome treats for Christmas that I got to savor and share. Also, my family was so generous with monetary gifts in my bank account so that I could eat well and treat myself to some nice things. Thanks y'all!
For the New Years celebration, I went to a concert near the beach on the 29th. We 'party rocked' to LMFAO, a group from the states. You can see pics from this, too in Picasa. I had wanted to go to a concert for a while but PCVs aren't allowed to do anything in the capital. Thankfully though this group had a concert at a place near the beach so I could go! We had a blast shuffling and dancing to some American music. Then for NYE I was in Antigua for drinks, bbq, and lots of fireworks. I rang in 2012 with lots of other PCVs and friends on the rooftop bar watching fireworks. It was nice and memorable.
I hope everyone back home had a happy holiday season and has started the new year off well! Happy 2012!
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