Christmas Day

George cuddles in Heather's hand

Ketty's husband and brother-in-law with Nico dancing

Balle gente, balle! (dance people, dance!)

We had a very merry Christmas. The monkey had a special treat as well. Blanca does not like him in the house, but he had been brought in on Christmas Eve due to the fireworks. So, while Blanca was upstairs, we closed all of the doors and let George out of his cage. He was reluctant to exit, but a few ubas (grapes) convinced him to come out. He then climbed up on top of the cage and stayed there until it was time for us to eat and he was coaxed back in with another grape. I keep hoping that the larger cage will be finished soon, but I am learning that time in Peru is similar to Hawaiian “island time” and Jamaican “soon come” which are both very loose interpretations of time and deadlines.

Christmas dinner was much the same as Christmas Eve dinner with chicken, applesauce, yellow potatoes, and a vegetable salad. There were 20 people here, including the residents of Pat’s place, the workers of Pat’s Place and their families, and me! For dessert, we had a special jello parfait and later, cookies with caramel in the middle which I saw at the market the day before Christmas and wanted to taste, so I bought two dozen to share.

After dinner, we sat around the room and sang songs and played games. Ketty, the social worker, brought her husband and brother-in-law to dinner. Both are accomplished musicians skilled in traditional Peruvian instruments. They played several instruments including panpipes, two different types of flute, guitar, and a ukulele like instrument with a gourd for the body. It was very nice. They also had us playing a few games which got the crowd mingling well.

Next were the gifts. We tried to do them utilizing our family tradition of opening in the order of age, with the youngest going first. The kids were pretty good about following directions, but the adults had theirs open well before it was their turn. All of the adults received candy bars, and many of them had eaten the candy prior to their turn! The kids were really cute about the whole thing, scolding the adults for not following the rules.

The rest of the evening was pretty laid back. Heather and I had a nice chat with the gang back home, including a video portion where all of the boys competed for attention and camera time. It was a strange feeling for me to be both totally happy where I was and a little bit homesick for where I was not.