Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

December 28, 2014 – January 3, 2015

     This was definitely a celebratory week. Sunday was the Feast of the Holy Family at Mass and that evening, we had a party for my host mom’s 60^th Birthday, which was the following day. Later in the week, I went to see The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies with a few other volunteers and, of course, the movie was amazing, especially now that I’ve read the book, The Hobbit.

     New Year’s Eve was a day of thanksgiving, with Mass in the afternoon and a family celebration in the evening. We took family photos (and I was included, which made me feel very welcome and at home), ate grapes before midnight, hugged everyone at midnight, and watched neighbors pull suitcases around the block after midnight – all Colombian New Year’s traditions. Of course, I threw in one American tradition and jumped in the New Year before joining in hugging everyone. Then, there was Mass again on New Year’s Day celebrating Mary, Mother of God…definitely a celebratory week.

- “Plans change – that’s why my calendar is written in pencil.” Just go with the flow – some things just don’t work out…in fact, in Peace Corps service, most things don’t work out…and that’s OK.

- Home Center is like the Home Depot/Lowe’s of Colombia. If you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, I highly recommend starting there. Mind you, there are many less expensive places to buy “home improvement” stuff – unfortunately, most of those places are in an off-limits neighborhood in Santa Marta, so I stick with Home Center. Also, the people at Home Center are very nice and helpful even when they think it’s odd that a woman wants to do a home improvement project with wood and hammers and “man” things like that.

- Some Colombian New Year’s Eve traditions: Eat 12 grapes before midnight, preferably in time with the 12 chimes of a clock – each grape means something, though what those things are exactly is debated and difficult to find on the Internet. Right after midnight, pull a suitcase around your block – good luck for anyone who hopes to travel during the year.

- How to build a window screen: Measure your window several times to make sure you’ll buy the right supplies. Buy pieces of wood that will fit on the top and bottom of your window frame. Buy pieces of wood that will fit on the sides of your window between the top and bottom pieces of your screen frame. Nail these into the window frame when your host family’s not home, so the hammering won’t bother them. (Suggestion: Consider asking your host family first whether or not you can put in a screen, emphasizing that they do not need to do it for you.) Put pieces of Velcro on the inside of your screen frame and the opposite pieces around the edge of a piece of plastic or wire mesh the size of your window. The Velcro may not want to stick to the mesh, so you can glue it on and put tape sticky-side-down on the opposite side of the mesh. Attach the Velcro on the mesh to the Velcro on your screen frame. Nicely done – you have a window screen! Alternatively, you could just nail the mesh into the wall around your window, which is much easier, but doesn’t look as nice…

- La brisa loca, the crazy breeze, is the strong wind that roars through Santa Marta and other cities starting around December. It tends to cause power outages and gorgeous temperatures that will have some Colombians wearing jackets and many gringos comfortable and happy.

Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad!

December 21 – December 27

     Merry Christmas, Everyone! This week, I celebrated Christmas in Barranquilla with my familia barranquillera. I met a group of volunteers in the Centro and we hung out together a while before we headed to soccer at our usual cancha near the office. Soccer was good and I got to visit with other volunteers, especially since there were quite a few of us there. After soccer, I joined my family for Novena, which was at our house.

     On Christmas Eve, my Peace Corps brother and I went to Mass (which turned out to be just a service and not actual Mass) and then joined our family for a get-together and Novena at a relative’s house. We visited and it was nice to seem some people I recognized.

     On Christmas Day, several volunteers and I went to the beach by Santa Verónica to visit, eat lunch, and just hang out by the water. Afterward, I hurried home to go to Mass again (which was actually Mass this time). I took the bus from Santa Verónica and hopped off at my usual stop only to find that the bus I needed to ride home had stopped running, so I walked home very quickly, showered and changed even faster, and almost ran to the church. I saw a group of women outside the church and they informed me that Mass had been moved one hour later. One of the ladies laughed at the look on my face because she had felt the same way when she found out. I prayed the Rosary in the chapel beside the main hall with them and peacefully sat for a few minutes of adoration before Mass. The actual Mass was wonderful and may have been the most worthwhile example of “hurry up and wait” that I have ever experienced.

     I got home just in time to watch my host nephew and niece open presents, which was adorable mostly because they’re both two years old. We also sang “Feliz cumpleaños” to my host dad, whose birthday is the 25^th of December. After cake and visiting, I Skyped with my US family, which was a perfect end to an awesome and very Colombian Christmas.

- A cancha is a soccer field inside a net, which is why it translates to, “cage.” They’re relatively common and many formal and informal soccer groups rent them by the hour to play. The people in charge of the canchas often have equipment they’ll loan you, but be sure to ask before you come with your group ready to play.

- Before Christmas, there are usually 2-3 Novenas happening around you. One is at your local church. One is in your neighborhood among your neighbors. One is among members of your extended family. All of them are awesome and worth attending, so if you would like to participate in these pre-Christmas festivities, go with the flow and figure out what works best for you.

- In Colombia, who brings Christmas presents to children varies depending on the family. It may be Santa Claus or Papá Noel or el Niño Jesús or someone else I have not yet heard about or just family members.

- Families get really confusing in the Peace Corps. You have your US family, your Peace Corps family, and 1-2 host families. And that’s not including former host families when you have to move. Don’t bother trying to refer to your “real” family because after the first few weeks of training, no one will know which group of people you’re talking about anymore. I talk about my US family, Barranquilla family, (current) host family, and former host mom. I also consider all Peace Corps volunteers my brothers and sisters, but usually refer to them as “volunteers” unless I’m talking about my Peace Corps brother who moved in with my Barranquilla family after I moved to Santa Marta – since we were both “adopted” by the same host family in Barranquilla, he is my “adopted” brother, but not my host brother, since we didn’t live there at the same time, so I call him my Peace Corps brother…do you see why this is confusing?

- Yes, we had to spend Christmas in our host country. No, you cannot go home for Christmas if it’s during the first 6 months of your service. And trust me, that’s OK. Yes, you’ll probably miss home and wish you were there at some point, but it’s definitely worthwhile to spend a Christmas in your host country and learn how they celebrate the holidays, whether what they’re celebrating is the same thing you do or not. You will get through this being away from home thing and have a lot of wonderful memories to share forever because of it.

- Support other volunteers whenever possible. One of the volunteers in Santa Marta found out he would be leading a conversation club by himself this week and called all the other CII-6 volunteers in the city. We all came and had an awesome time hanging out practicing English and Spanish.

- Have I mentioned yet that packages from home are like Christmas in a box, regardless of when you receive them? I opened a Christmas package from my US family and was excited with most of what was in the box and confused by the rest of it. I wasn’t really sure why my mother had sent me electric tea lights and tried to figure out what I would do with them. Two nights later, we had a power out and I knew exactly what to do with those tea lights! Thanks, Mom! J

Christmas Novena

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 3^rd 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