Christmas 2013

Hi everyone! I know this is a bit late, but I'm running on hora Salvadorena. Christmas in El Salvador was an interesting experience. Whereas for Thanksgiving I escaped to a magical Americana bubble, I was compelled to spend la navidad in the spirit of my host country. That being said- nearly everything was different. I'll try to recap. 

If you were to pass by my house in the month of December you wouldn't notice anything special to indicate the upcoming holiday. No Christmas tree, stockings, cookies, ornaments, classic Christmas music, favorite Christmas movies. Definitely nothing that alludes to Santa. No snow, no hot chocolate, no xmas anything.

Honestly, it was a little depressing. My mom owns way more ornaments than any household should have a right to and hanging them all up can be a pain, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss them terribly. I missed my dad's fresh bread in the morning and the fires he'd make for the family during movie nights. I missed my grandma's cookie jar and Christmas sweaters. I even missed my kid sister's Justin Bieber cut out wearing a Santa hat.

My host family doesn't celebrate Christmas in any way due to their religion. Well, most families here don't celebrate Christmas the way we think of it in America but my host fam most definitely abstains from any celebrating. I tried avoiding a major homesickness melt down by spending Christmas with my PCV friend Maria in her host site.

We had each other to balance out homesickness and... disappointment? Longing? Whatever it was that cast a gloom over our first Christmas away from family. We made the most of our navidad and I have some good memories. Maria's host family is kind and generous, and welcomed me into their home.

We went to the annual "giving of the crappy plastic toys" sponsored by the mayor's office. These are typically the only toys kids get for Christmas. The event usually includes a male and female pinata and refreshments. I attended my toy event the week before Christmas and noticed how much it differed from Maria's. Her entire municipality has about the same amount of kids as my canton, so our experiences where different.

The male pinata in San Fernando. The kids ate crackers and juice as a clown gave out dolls and trucks.

The female line in my canton. The males were whacking the pinata.

I was asked to help give out toys by the new Alcalde. Of course, I said yes.

The toys I gave out to the boys. They got a little ice cream cone, too. They had to put their finger in inc as they left the assembly line so no one got two crappy plastic toys. 

I went to Catholic mass... for a while. Grandma would be proud!

Some of Maria's friends from site. We went to a dance and only me and Maria were dancing!

 Maria's host mom's birthday is on December 25. We celebrated her birth by going to La Margaritas, which is not a margarita bar but a pool and restaurant near Perquin. We got lunch and some yummy papaya liquados instead of swimming.

Merry Christmas! 

 We watched Elf at night and reflected on how no part of that movie would make sense to a Salvadoran. We took turns calling home and hearing about all the good food and fun our families were having without us. Boo. And because Maria's my awesome friend, we went to sleep after some silent Game of Thrones reading.

There you have it, folks. That was Christmas 2013. I had a good time in all, but I'm looking forward to being home next Christmas.