Our last two days of Christmas celebrations have been full of new experiences. Check out the video below to see what we have experienced. Following that is a journal entry to go along with the video.
After waking up early enough to help feed the animals, Christmas Eve started out like a normal study day. We all had Spanish classes. Halfway through my grammar class, I got serenaded by Quin singing me a colors song in Spanish. For the conversation part of our class, we switch teacher each week. This week I have Marvin, an older gentleman who also was our tour guide for some recent trips.
In the afternoon, we joined a Christmas Eve Celebration for children with disability and their families, a program run connected to La Mariposa. The celebration included kids singing, dancing, and pinatas. Their pinatas are well designed in layers that include balloons. If someone breaks through one layer, some candy falls down (instead of all of it at once), and there are more layers to get through. This way more children have the opportunity to take a crack at it. Another unique characteristic was they had to do a “pinata dance” while they were hitting it. Quin took a turn viciously attacking a snowman pinata (but didn’t bother with the dance).
We were also fed arroz con pollo (rice with chicken), and cake during the ceremony, which ended in each child in the program getting a present.
At sundown, we joined a procession made up of kids and their parents. Some were dressed as shepherds, some angels, others wise-men, and finally Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. They went from house to house reenacting Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay, stopping at each for around 15 minutes, singing songs, and getting treats and drinks. The procession was complete with a band, and fireworks at each stop. If you can imagine a cross between trick or treating, forth of July, Christmas caroling, and the Christmas story (plus a marching band), you can start to image what we experienced (watch the video). Their final stop was at the church, where we left them to have a Christmas celebration supper at a host family’s house. By the time we left, it was late, and Cheyenne was passing out in my arms.
Christmas morning, the kids opened a few presents Tara had brought along. Following that, I took the two oldest kids to a reserve owned by La Mariposa to release 26 Iguanas. Iguanas are endangered in Nicaragua, and were purchased at market where they normally would have been eaten. Instead we were able to cut free the string that tied their legs and that sewed their mouth shut, and release them into the wild. Thea was very brave, and helped release “Pinky” and “Tiger”.
In the afternoon we headed for Laguna de Apoyo, a lake that formed from the “caldera” of a nearby volcano. The water was warm, and wonderful to swim in, however we picked a windy day, and the waves made it difficult to Kayak. The shoreline was filled with volcanic rocks, which were hard on the feet, but overall a beautiful area.
Overall we experienced a very different Christmas experience outside our normal traditions, and now have some neat memories to take home with us.
Merry Christmas to all of you back home!