That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown

As we sat teary eyed at our kitchen table we had to think hard about what Christmas is all about. You see it started a few weeks before Christmas, actually right after Thanksgiving. You need to understand that Christmas down here in El Maizal is different. I mean DIFFERENT.

 Let’s back up, the paragraph above was how the blog was started about 2 weeks ago.  At that time we were at the depths of homesickness and sadness. We felt that there was literally nothing that reminded us of Christmas. For instance,

·         The weather is totally different; the beginning of winter is the beginning of Christmas. In our new country it’s sunny and warm every day. We haven’t had a drop of rain in over a month.

·         As much as we believe the commercialism of Christmas is a terrible thing , it used to serve a purpose for us. It reminded us what the season was and it’s hard not to feel the excitement of the season. On TV here we noticed very few commercials that reminded you it was Christmas

·         We couldn’t find a radio station here that played non-stop Christmas music and Carols.

·         We didn’t see many Christmas TV shows or movies that were a tradition of home. Miracle on 34^th Street, Rudolph, The Grinch, Elf or my personal favorite, It’s a Wonderful Life

·         Christmas lights in the local towns and communities are far and few between

·         Even Church is different. We didn’t have Advent Music. At home the Church is busy with the Living Gift Market and all the different Mission drives to help people during Christmas. 

·         There wasn’t a Christmas Party to attend every week starting right after Thanksgiving. The evenings of laughing, sharing stories, eating and drinking didn’t happen for us.

·         We didn’t buy our Christmas tree with our Granddaughter who lives with us, for the 1^st time.

·         We didn’t experience our many family holiday traditions that we took for granted till we didn’t do them

Up to now we did a great job of getting accustomed to our new life. Of course we missed family, friends and all the major events and holiday back home but this was different.  By themselves the smaller events at home like family parties on holidays and even birthdays didn’t have the impact of missing Christmas. The list above is all traditions (it’s really just the tip of the iceberg on family traditions) that aren’t just a part of our previous culture it was all part of our lives. Missing all these things overwhelmed us like the incoming tide. It was very subtle but slowly but surely the homesickness had us over our heads and we didn’t see the tide rising. Could we have maintained some traditions? Possibly but traditions without friends and family are just hollow formalities, they don’t replace the feelings of love that sometimes can only be generated by those whom you’ve shared the traditions with for many years.

Well we cried 1^st and missed home but then we reached out to our Mission team, Dick, Julie, MaryAnn, Rich, Lori, Dianne and a few others ( They mean more to us than they realize). We had to share for the 1^st time in our Mission that we were really hurting inside. One thing we learned was that in Mission you need to be ready to ask and receive help, not just answer the call to help others.  With our Mission team’s thoughtful and kind words we started to regroup. We forgot that Advent is a time of waiting, the world waited for God’s Son to help redeem us of our sins.  A week after our mini meltdown our waiting for God’s help was answered.

 

Starting on Dec 23^rd we had a solid week of the Christmas, not exactly as our list but of what the list represents family, love and tradition. On the 23^rd, 24^th and 26^th we had events at our local Churches in Divina Providencia (El Maizal), San Pedro y San Pablo (Positos) and La Virgen deGuadalupe.  Each event started with a service, after which we had piñatas and the surprise conclusion was me being in a Full Santa suit. Dianne and I handed out gifts to all the children and older teen and young adult. Dianne also served as the photographer. The excitement was electric in the air, the children’s smiles and laughs were priceless and of course there was the children scared of Santa but that’s tradition too.

In El Maizal a local family made Chuco and shared it with the community at the family event in our community.  Chuco is a slightly sour drink made from black corn (slightly rotten) and water that’s served in a cup,  a scoop of beans in the cup is next then on top a slightly greenish sauce is put on and you eat it with a piece of bread. It’s a tradition of only El Salvador. 

On Christmas Eve (Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve in El Salvador, not Christmas Day) we were invited to have dinner with our friends Elyseo y Claudia and Padre Mario also joined us. We had a traditional meal of roasted Chicken, rice, ensalada (salad), tortilla and bread (Chicken tomales are also a very common meal on Christmas Eve.  After the meal we sat and listened to everyone chat (we understood a little). We excused ourselves as we also visited other friends. One of the interesting footnotes to this Holiday is that fireworks are a prominent way to celebrate. All night long you hear fireworks building till the crescendo of Midnight.

We returned home before midnight to our humble casa. We have a small wreath and lights set up on one of our outside windows and we had a Christmas tree. We waited till midnight; we even had a couple of rum and cokes and enjoyed the fireworks at midnight celebrating the birth of our Savior.

I know the blog was kind of rambling, the thoughts got mixed and scrambled but that was the type of Christmas it was for us. Our Christmas ended well. We learned that waiting is the key. There are times we all will be hurting but God is there, sometimes we just have to wait till we can see and hear Him clearly, He’s always there but we just aren’t ready. We also learned new traditions and maybe leaning too hard on the past traditions to make you happy, you miss the things happening in the present that can create just as much alegria (happiness).  Finally, maybe we need to just remember that all these different traditions during this season are wonderful gifts from God but that the greatest gift was simply the birth of a child whom is our savior. Believe that, live that and the happiness and love He brings will always be there to help us all.

 

The Junk Drawer of our Mind

 

Emptying out the junk drawer of our Minds

1)      Tons of things are sold in plastic bags and not the sealable ones (Cut fruit, uncut fruit, water and Juices). Sooooo, all these bags are tied tight. I’ve got Cro-magnon fingers and can’t untie any of them, Thank God I have Dianne.

2)      When you buy gas, you stand close to the attendant while he does it and make sure he puts the gas cap back on. I’ve been told; some of the attendants steal and re-sell them.

3)      Sooooo, in many of the public bathrooms and even in some restaurants and business the toilets don’t have seats. When I asked why, I was told they were stolen. How the heck to you steal a toilet seat without anyone knowing? I know that desperation causes people to do lots of things but stealing toilet seats???????????????

4)      Speaking of public bathrooms if they have toilet paper, many of them have dispensers near the sinks, that’s not to dry your hands, that’s your toilet paper. Grab some before you do your business or your S#*t out of luck. Excuse the pun.

5)      When going out always carry some tissues with you in case there is no toilet paper wherever you visit. Or again, you might be, see the pun in #4

6)      Before going to stores learn the phrase “Solo mirando”, it means only looking. Down here as soon as you enter a store a clerk is going to ask you what you want or do you need help. A quick Solo mirando, gracias, does the trick.

7)      When people stop at your house to say hello or when they see you outside and come over to say hello. You immediately get out your plastic chairs and offer them a seat, a drink and something to eat. It’s rude if you don’t.

8)      When you ask, how are you, como estas usted (don’t forget the usted) down here, unlike in the U.S., you actually mean it and be prepared to listen to peoples sickness or bad day. We care down here and we share are problems.

9)      If you come to visit during the right time of year in El Maizal, we have black moths that are huge and you’d swear they are bats, please don’t freak out. By the way, we have bats too, try not to freak out when they come around.

10)   The big red ants are creepy looking but don’t bite, it’s the darn tiny ones that bite the heck out of you. Don’t freak out

11)   We have Geckos like you read about. They are totally harmless and eat tons of bugs but they can startle you running up and down the walls. Don’t freak out

12)   If you’ve followed our facebook pages you’ll know we have Alacrans too (scorpions). Just move away before you “Freak Out”.

13)   If you’re on the bus and see someone holding something that looks like a bunch of crabs and they’re selling them. That’s what it is.

14)   When waiting in line for the bus, when the bus pulls up you find out you weren’t in a line at all, it’s every man, woman and child for themselves. You’ll be pushed to the pavement by that Grandmotherly woman behind you before you can say excuse me.

15)   At the sign of peace get ready to shake everybody’s hand. At large services, it’s a workout.

16)   You think we talk fast in Espanol. Wait till you pray with us. By the end of the Credo Niceno, you’ll be trying to catch your breath.

17)   In some showers and sinks there are 2 faucets, the one on the left is Cold and the one on the right is, wait for it>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cold. We call it refreshing.

18)   When you’re on the bus and it looks like you literally most climb over people to get on and off. Well, yes that’s what we all do and nobody gets mad. You can’t either.

19)   We found out where all the old school buses in the United States went to die. You have 3 guesses the 1^st 2 don’t count.

20)   Here’s the main driving tip for down here. You must drive very aggressively but always in a careful way.

21)   Once they found out I was an accountant, all the guys have assumed I don’t know anything about manual labor. It’s funny at first but gets tiring fast. I do know how to shovel and rake without instructions by the way.

22)    Everybody loves us and wants to help us but sometimes you do feel like saying “Leave me alone”.

23)   The metric system is in full use here. Gas is by the liter, soda is by the liter, we travel kilometers and the land is measured in Hectares. But, go buy some Chicken, beef, rice or beans, it’s by the pound?????? Go figure.

24)   You know the dollar coins that we refuse to embrace and use in the U.S.? That’s all we use here, I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a dollar bill.

25)   Since we’re on money. Even though many things can be bought with change, pennies just don’t get used much.

26)   Buying margarine that doesn’t require refrigeration take some getting used to. The yellow dye and the fact it only melts at very high temps is also very different.

27)   I’ve never so many varieties of Tang in all my life. It’s not just orange. You can get it in Cinnamon, passion fruit and tropical flavors we’ve never heard of. There’s even a milky sweet one.

28)    I think I’ve died and gone to heaven because in the Campos, hot dogs seem to be one of the staples and they are individually wrapped. If you haven’t figured it out, I love Hot Dogs

29)   If anyone ever offers you Pacaya, just say NO. Don’t think, Hmmm that sounds exotic, Hmmm maybe just a taste. We’re telling you right now, say NO.

30)   Our personal record for passengers inside our 4 door pickup is 10.  Four in the front six in the back. It was pouring so no one was in the bed.

31)   Sometimes I’m so filthy and sweaty from working in the fields, I empty my pockets, take off my belt, glasses and shoes and walk directly into the show to rinse the filth off the clothes and then off me. That’s just the rinse cycle, Dianne must still wash them to get them clean.

32)   If you ladies want to get rid of or avoid getting bat wings, start doing laundry by hand. Diannes arms are getting ripped.

33)   When I first starting using a corbo (Machete)and was pruning trees, on a missed swing, I must have flung it 20 feet. It might explain #21

34)   If we knew then what we know now, 5 years ago we would have come here and opened up a tienda selling only Hair Gel (Boys and men) and dark eyeliner pencils and hair ties for the women. We’d be retired right now eating Papusas and sipping Pilsners by the playa.

35)   You don’t like cold showers, then don’t shower in the morning after the water in the storage tank has cooled off. You shower in the late afternoon when that tanks been sitting in the sun all day.

 

To be continued………………………………………………….

Salu

Tom y Dianna