Feliz Navidad!

This is what Christmas pointsettias were really meant to look like! They're TREES here!


The owner of our house had a plastic tree and we had a good time decorating it.


Overlooking the beautiful lagoon at Masaya, with the Masaya volcano in the background.


Here's Devyn channeling Robert DeNiro's line, "I'm watching you!" (Don't worry, we haven't shown her any DeNiro movies.)


Here are the girls making friends on the beach at Montelimar.



Wild kids, running in the wild. This is sugar cane near The Tisey reservoir near our home.


Graduation for the kids. The school year runs from February to the end of November. They did traditional dances and songs. The school even honored me with a bouquet of tropical flowers for my volunteer work.






Merry Christmas all!!

I can’t believe it’s Christmas already. (Could whoever is spinning the wheel slow it down a little please?) Maybe Christmas has snuck up on me because Thanksgiving was just a blip. The girls and I celebrated with a piece of apple pie (a rare find here) and a discussion of what things about our time here we are thankful for. (Michael was on his way back from a trip to the States.) Maybe Christmas seems to have snuck up on me because the context we are in is so different from the States. For starters, it is still 75-80 degrees outside, and we continue to enjoy the many varieties of tropical fruits (e.g., watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple—ok sorry! That’s rubbing it in a little for all you folk weathering the cold, and eating leeks). The Christmas music is in Spanish (mostly). Because people are in preparation for their special meal we are seeing a lot more live animals in the streets and market. Just yesterday, Jordan and I watched as three men tried to herd a very stubborn and angry 300-pound pig into the back of a pickup truck, with no success. So this chancho just continued to hang out in the middle of the road, while the 3 guys tried to come up with plan B. Oh! how I wish I had had my camera with me. There are also lots of live chickens, with their legs tied, laying on their sides and waiting for purchase. The girls and I are bleeding hearts, so we feel a little sad knowing they are about to “give their all” for this year’s celebration. To cope, and to add a bit of gallows humor to our sympathy, we try to come up with phrases the chickens might be saying to each other while they “wait”. For example, “Oh girls, this can’t be good!”; “We have been waiting for that bus for hours!”; “AHHH! Soooo nice to finally get off my feet.”; “Helen, have you done something different with your crop?” Anyway, I know it’s silly, but for us city/suburb folk who are not accustomed to seeing our food alive and alert before we purchase it, a bit of comedy helps take the edge off.

Another difference about the Christmas season in comparison to the States is how much less consumerism we experience. A few stores have decorations up and are touting sales and bargains, but it’s not unavoidably IN YOUR FACE like it is in United States of America.

Firecrackers are another big difference. Setting off firecrackers in the streets way into the night is a big part of this culture. Noise pollution??? What’s noise pollution?! I am amazed, but we have learned to sleep through an incredible amount of noise. Earplugs also help. ;-)

Nevertheless, despite all these differences, many things are still the same. People are hustling and bustling in anticipation of the BIG DAY. People are shopping, baking, wrapping and looking forward to a big fiesta with their family and friends.

I am sure all of you have a little hustling and bustling to do of your own, so I am going to cut it short and just post a few of my favorite pictures of things that have occurred since my last blog. ENJOY!

And again, FELIZ NAVIDAD Y PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO!!

-Kelli