happy holidays!


so it's my first christmas away from home and i am a bit sad about that. no making five thousand cookies and driving them around to family and friends. no hours spent in malls and stores and going into debt buying everyone the perfect gift. no christmas eve enchiladas and no christmas morning strada. what am i to do?

well, this is what i AM doing. today, i'm making cookies with my host brother. (this morning we made apple cinnamon pancakes, which were delicious.) tonight we're going to a christmas season mass or sorts at the catholic church. then saturday i'm going to spend all morning at the evangelical service! wooo whooooooo! (or not.) and monday i am leaving to go meet friends at a house we're renting out up in the mountains where we'll be cooking a holiday feast on christmas (not to be confused with a christmas feast, there will be non-christian souls among us). then i come back to site to celebrate the new year. the tradition here is to make scarecrow type people that look like people who did you wrong in the past year and at midnight you set them on fire. hmmmmm, who should i make? (just kidding.)

so that's my holiday line up. i hope everyone at home has fun things to do and will be able to spend time with family and friends. i'm disappointed i won't be there, but i am having a good time here and i am excited about the plans that i do have. love you all and miss you tons!

side note: i found a house to live in. now i just have to build a latrine, built a shower, hook up the electricity, and negotiate a lower rent. (the guy is now asking for $20 more a month than he originally said. hooch.) wish me luck!