The Holidays

     Dear blog readers, I have not forsaken you.

     Regrettably, I’ve been tangled in academic rhetoric of late.  Learning to speak and write again in erudite English has been my most recent obsession.  I’ve been planning my future, post-Peace Corps, and in preparation, I’ve been applying to international affairs graduate programs in the Northeast.
     A recap of the past few weeks:
     I spent the holidays in country.  Though, I really missed my family, I actually enjoyed my holidays here.  I went to the campo to spend Christmas with my friends Amanda, Jean, and Lindsey – and four dogs (Amanda’s dog OB, Jean’s dog Wally, and two visiting dogs Blue and Lechosa).  We all stayed at Amanda’s cozy, little house.
     For Noche Buena (i.e., Christmas Eve), we went to her host family’s house.  Her host mom laid a feast before us – close to 20 large dishes: two types of lasagna, puerco asado, roast chicken, five different types of salad, pastelones en hoja (like tamales – mashed green plantain with meat wrapped in banana leaves), two types of rice.  Lets just say I took a couple of spoonfuls of each dish and my plate quickly became a mountain of food.  After savoring our meal, the ladies and I went outside to see what the neighborhood kids were doing.  As is tradition, they had bought Brillo pads and were lighting them on fire to make sparklers.  Yes, there were tons of children in the street playing with fire.  To entertain the kids, the ladies and I sang English Christmas carols.  The children were quite delighted by our little show, so they requested more.  Then we asked them to sing Spanish Christmas carols.  One little girl just made up her own song, and a boy sang a traditional Dominican carol.  But then I realized that these kids don’t sing carols as part of their tradition (though there is a tradition in that everyday, eight days before Christmas, people parade through town at 6 am, singing a song that invites people to get up and sing with them).  Then one of my new little friends asked me if the kids in the U.S. stay up all night, like they do, during Noche Buena.  Without thinking, I responded, “No, they have to go to bed early so Santa Claus can visit them.”  All the children fell silent, not understanding.  And then I realized that Santa doesn’t visit the children here.  They appreciate the mythology, but the children never actually believe Santa visits; perhaps it is because most parents can’t afford to shower their children with gifts on Christmas morning.  Even on Christmas, every culture has its own traditions.  For a moment, I had forgotten that.
     That evening, because we didn’t go to mass, the ladies and I did an Advent and Christmas Eve service at Amanda’s house.  We lit candles, sang carols, and read Scripture.  It was really moving.
     For Christmas day, we decided we wanted to do a traditional American Christmas.  Two more Volunteers came to visit, and we cooked a Southern-style feast: biscuits, mac n cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, squash casserole, and BBQ chicken.  In Amanda’s tiny house, we set up a classy dining table, and like ladies, sat down to eat and enjoy each other’s company.  It was truly a memorable Christmas.
     We spent New Years in the beach town close to my house.  We rang in the New Year dancing in a club, and without any warning or countdown, the DJ suddenly shouted “Happy New Year” and we all hugged each other, happily.   This year, 2011, will be one of change for me.  I will start a new life after May.  Interestingly, this is the fourth year of change for me in the past 6 years.  I’m rather excited.
     I’ve been spending these first couple of weeks of the New Year, working away on grad applications.  I feel like I’m in school again.
     A happy and healthy 2011 to you all.  This year I’m coming home!

Photos below courtesy of Jean, Lindsey, and Amanda!

Yummy s'more brownies that Jean and Andrea made.  Since most of us don't have ovens, we bakes by using a Dutch oven on the stove.  It works pretty well: I've made cake, brownies, cookies, biscuits, and cornbread on my stove!

Preparing for Noche Buena dinner- Jean and I picking rocks and bad pieces out of the rice.

Our Noche Buena Feast! 

Lindsey and me

Lighting a "sparkler"

Prettyyyy! 

This kid was one of my favorites.  He was so cute.

Family portrait

Even though it was the holidays, I was still working on my grad applications.  This is my "stressed out" face.

The ladies and me before our Christmas dinner

Christmas dinner!

After our Christmas feast, we took a walk with all the dogs.  Eventually we set them loose to frolic in the hills for a little bit.  That is, until one of them was naughty and tried to kill a chicken.