December 14 – December 20
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas! This week was
the start of the Christmas Novena, which was gorgeous! Each day was geared
mostly toward children and their families, though I very happily listened to a
children’s choir sing villancicos and
then learned about whatever value was highlighted that day. At the services I
was able to attend, we talked about respect, solidarity, honesty, obedience, simplicity,
and friendship.
I also moved into my new host family’s house this week and
they seem extremely nice and welcoming. I took pictures of my old neighborhood
before moving out, especially of the Christmas lights and the “singing bush,”
which has the only set of lights with sound in the neighborhood and just
happens to be right in front of my building. I also said, “Hola,” to a pigeon sleeping under a bush…I kept coming back to see
if it was OK, but it really was just sleeping. The next day, another volunteer
helped me move and introduced me to my new family. Since then, I’ve gotten to
know each of them better and I really do appreciate how open and welcoming they
have been. This is the 3rd week of Advent, which is when we light
the pink candle of Hope – what a perfect start to Christmas!
On Wednesday, I went with my host brother and a few of his
friends to one of the beaches nearby. After hanging out on the beach a while,
we walked along the shore to the mouth of a nearby river, where the fresh water
met the ocean. I happily swam around with my goggles, looking at interesting
river fish and pausing to take pictures or just look at herons or egrets that
landed occasionally. A group of boys and young men were fishing there, too, and
kept diving into the water, looking for other things on the river bottom. That
may be one of my favorite places I’ve visited so far in Colombia.
One tradition that I really wanted to continue from the
United States was that of Christmas cookies, so we had a cookie exchange party
among the volunteers and I gave my host family cookies, too. At the party, we
had my (US) grandma’s bon bon cookies, and also pumpkin spice, molasses, lemon,
and chocolate mint cookies. A few other people brought 7-layer bars and Nutella
cheesecake. That was a very sweet evening with lots of good friends.
- The best way to mail cards home is to have a volunteer who
is visiting the United States anyway mail them from his or her house in the US.
The international mail system here isn’t very accessible or reliable and cards
often (almost always) get lost coming here, so I imagine they would also get
lost going out of the country.
- A few Colombian villancicos
(Christmas carols): Ven a nuestras almas,
Pastores venid, Tutaina, Los peces en el río, Arre borriquito, Campana sobre
campana / Campanas de Belén, Mi burrito sabanero
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