A Month-Long Christmas and Other Happenings

There are three big topics to cover in this blog post. Let's start with the one I am sure is on everyone's minds: Christmas!

I am for sure in the Christmas spirit. This is my first Christmas not with my family so I may have gone a little overboard with my cookie baking, but at least I've been able to exercise some self control as far as eating the cookies. I went up the hill to deliver several dozen cookies (cut-outs and almond bars) to my old neighbors and on my way to the second house I heard Vince Guaraldi's version of Greensleeves from A Charlie Brown Christmas being blasted from one house. That put a smile on my face.

Christmas celebrations so far have been interesting. The decorations in the malls and stores have been up for months now. There have even been Guatemalan Santas sitting in giant red chairs in the two malls near me. Christmas music is blasted and Christmas movies are left on as everyone goes about their normal, everyday business. For the past month I've also been enjoying my own mix of favorite Christmas music, including some Vince Guaraldi, Chipmunks and Sufjan Stevens.

Right before Advent season started, there was a week of little (and big) diablos running around chasing people and whacking people with sticks. On the night of the 7th, many families piled up some trash in front of their homes, placed a homemade devil on top of it, and lit it all on fire. This is the tradition of "quemando el diablo" (burning the devil) that happens every year. Burning the devil and trash signifies getting rid of all of the bad of the year before so as to have a fresh start on the next year.

A month ago the Advent season started and my family procured an Advent wreath, something they've never had before. I'm not sure where it came from or whether it is common around here (I don't think it is), but we've been reading devotions together every Sunday night before dinner for the past four weeks. Tomorrow will be the last one as we light the white candle in the center of the wreath. A few weeks ago, my host dad drunkenly put up the Christmas tree and arranged the nativity scene around the tree and my host sister's 'shrine-like area (not really sure what else to call it) in the dining room/former kitchen. There are actually several different nativity scenes involved. Baby Jesus won't be laid out with the scenes until Christmas-right now Mary and Joseph are just standing there waiting. Another Christmas tradition involving Mary and Joseph is the posada, during which a parade of people, some of them holding large statues of Mary and Joseph, march around town bringing the couple to one house or another, asking for a room in the inn (I think-it's what makes sense to me). And my host brother and sister took part in a Christmas pageant, which was really cute. My host sister Jeimy was a shepherd and one of the Magi. Gabriel was a shepherd and a prophet.

Then there are special foods. Marshmallows are a popular buy, as are ready made shortbread-like cookies. This morning we prepared the paches and this evening we will eat them with a fruit punch drink called ponche, which is pretty good. I've inserted my own traditions into life here and have been baking away. So far, I have made gingerbread men, chocolate peppermint cookies, chocolate peppermint biscotti, sugar cookie cut-outs (I found Christmas cookie cutters in a store in the city), and almond bars. Some of them I made with my host family and others I made with a volunteer friend and her host family. Cookies really aren't that hard to make and I am hoping that my showing them how to make them may start something new. The kids are looking forward to helping make some chocolate chip cookies to leave out for Santa tonight (yup, they believe in the whole Santa thing, which has been interesting for me to experience again after so many years of not worrying about Santa and his elves).

As for today and tomorrow, tonight at midnight (and a little before) everyone will go out onto the streets to burn some firecrackers and some will set off fireworks. Tomorrow, much of the same with visits to family members to bring them paches (my host mom is making 75-80 of them) and wish them a merry Christmas. And my town has a convite so many will head to the center to watch a group dance around in masks for hours.

On to topic number two, violence. I fortunately haven't been a victim of any violent crimes. But the problem is that violence is on the rise here in Guatemala as well as in the neighboring countries of Honduras and El Salvador. After fifty years of working here in Guatemala, the program's future is up in the air. In Honduras, they are even going as far as pulling all of the volunteers out for a 30-day administrative leave to see what they can make of the situation. What we do know is that the Peace Corps has suspended future training groups from coming. My partner and I have been working on training materials for the past couple of weeks-we were super excited to help train the volunteers who were to replace us and our fellow group members. But this will no longer happen. On my end of things, what really sucks is that my schools will no longer have a volunteer to work with to motivate them to keep going with Healthy Schools. The recycling program we also have in the works will also likely somewhat die out without us as the connection between the NGOs helping with it and the schools. While we've been focusing on keeping things sustainable, we are still in the beginning stages of our program in our schools, so there's no telling what will stick and what won't. This whole situation also really sucks for anyone who had been planning on coming with the training group to Guatemala in less than two weeks, people who had already put their lives on hold to be ready for two years of service. If any of you are reading this, I am so very sorry you will not get to know this incredible country and call it home for two years. Please know that Peace Corps is simply acting to keep you as safe as possible.

And last topic: law school. I finished up all of my applications in November and have already heard back from four schools. The big news for me is that my top choice, Berkeley, admitted me so I may very well be moving to California in August. University of Michigan, which was also one of my top three choices, also admitted me. (The other two I heard back from are George Washington University and Georgetown, both also possibilities.) I will need to visit some schools when I get home to figure out where exactly I want to spend the next three-four years. Wherever it will be, I am excited to start the next phase of my life, though it will be strange settling down again after two years in this completely different world.

And that's pretty much all for now. There have also been some convites with people dancing around in huge, elaborate costumes and with men dressing as women, as well as some conversations in English with a girl studying to be a bilingual secretary. And once January hits (2012 already?!?), school will start back up and we will have the giant task of figuring out how to train schools in maintaining the program and progressing with it without a volunteer present..

I hope that everyone has a happy and healthy Christmas! God's blessings during this season!

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

It's been a while. I know. I guess I got caught up in vacation time and despite not having anything super concrete to do, I found myself just as busy as ever with new activities.

I promise to write a nice long blog post on recent developments here in Guatemala and in my own life. Lots of exciting things, both good and bad, have been going on. Hopefully this will keep you reading my blog despite a long time since my last post.

The reason I don't have time this morning to sit down and write for a while is because I can hear some movement through the house. This means that my host mom is up and making paches. Paches are giant tamales that Guatemalans eat on Christmas Eve (and other special events) and it happens to be my favorite food here in Guatemala. I am going to go down and help her out. But here is an article I found on NPR about this food I have come to love: Pride and Prejudice: For Latinos tamales offer up a delicious serving of both. I personally love all versions of tamales (minus the sweet corn ones I've had once) that I eat pretty regularly here. My favorites would be paches and tamales con chipilin (a type of greens), or even chuchos, which are tamales with a piece of beef in sauce in the middle. Every tamale is like unwrapping a gift, which may be a big reason of why I love them.

Anyway, just wanted to share a little bit of what I will be doing for Christmas-helping make and then eating these delicious tamales. I'll be back later with more updates and maybe some photos.