Santa Baby

Sparklers!

I have a little catching up to do on here. I keep coming up with topics to write about, but more and more events keep occurring. Then I feel overwhelmed and I do not know where to start, so I just don't. I don't write and weeks go by, and more blog worthy events happen etc. It is a vicious cycle. So I am going to start off slowly and try to catch up on all of the happenings down here in The Savior.

Christmas was a couple of weeks ago, but it was my first Christmas away from home. Last year I flew to Florida for the holidays with my family so I did not get to experience a Salvadoran Christmas or New Years. This year, it was a hard decision not to be home, but I decided to stay and celebrate with my Salvadoran family. As it turns out Christmas, which is celebrated on the December 24th, is much like any other day here. My host dad, Orlando, got up and went to work in the fields. All stores in town are open. Presents are not common. ( I am sure this is for a number of reasons including that most rural families cannot afford them.)

Dirt Fight!

I got up on the 24th and did some yard work. Later in the day I had some dirt delivered and got my garden started. (Which I have been trying to get going for about a year.) Melida, my host mom, decided this would be a great opportunity to tackle me into the giant pile of dirt in my yard. That is the story of the Christmas Dirt Fight of 2012. I may need to make this a yearly tradition...

Cojete anyone?

                                                                       The evening of the 24th is when most of the festive activities take place. Most families make a baked chicken and either eat it in a really delicious sauce or in a sandwich with coleslaw and said delicious sauce. My host family decided to switch it up a little this year and we had grilled beef, rice and pico de gallo. Pretty delicious. The other big part of a Salvadoran Christmas is firecrackers, or cojetes. I set off almost two hundred firecrackers that night. Thank goodness Orlando is such an entrepreneur and decided to sell firecrackers in the front yard all night.

Jossline is my Christmas present this year :)

                                                                          It is also tradition to stay up until midnight on the 24th. At midnight everyone lights off hundreds of fireworks all at once. Unfortunately this year I was fighting some flu like symptoms so after my firecracker rampage, I crashed and decided to call it a night. It was already 2.5 hours past my bed time at this point. 10:30 is late. So I headed to bed, but was rudely awakened at midnight with all of El Salvador lighting off firecrackers at once.

Melida getting a little too into the Christmas spirit.

 The 25th of December was just another day down here. I cleaned up my house in preparation of picking up my Dad the next day. Orlando and I went and purchased giant chickens to eat on New Years. I did have a great time catching up with my parents and my best friend, Ali. As I am wrapping up my service down here and I cannot help but wonder where I will be for Christmas next year...

I hope you all had a great holiday season!