In the days leading up to Christmas, there was a tree and
birth scene set up outside our house for the neighborhood. I thought it would
be just a place for people to come, look, and take pictures. However, that is
not the case. Each night, for nine nights leading up to Christmas, everyone
comes to sing to the child of God. I went a few times, and decided it was not
something I enjoyed very much. It was nice how everyone worked together to do
that, but I just felt out of place, out of religion, everytime I really
LISTENED to what they were saying, so after about 4 nights, I decided to stop
going. They do this up until the 6th of January, which is the day
that is said to be when the 3 kings came to see the baby.
Christmas was a beautiful sight to see. We spent the 24th
preparing everything, from presents to food, to outfits to wear! I opened my
drawer where I was storing my presents for my “secret friend” (Secret Santa),
to find it broken! I rushed to my host mothers’ room, where she saved me by
giving me hoop earrings and bracelets to give instead of the bowl I bought in
the Amazon. It was all okay. I was one of the first ready, as usual, because I
had stayed at home all afternoon to take a nap, then, got ready when I woke up.
I went downstairs for a little while until the family began to arrive. At
midnight—exactly at midnight—we kissed everyone on the cheek and said “Feliz
Navidad” which means “Merry Christmas.” We gave the children their gifts; I
gifted two little toy cars to my nephews and a hair clip that looks like a hat
(it’s so cute!) to my niece. After that, we gifted the gifts to our Secret
Santas. At 2:05AM, we ate dinner. It was turkey, rice, this sweet thing made
with turkey and raisons—I don’t care for it much, and a shrimp salad (I didn’t
eat the shrimp). Nobody was in the mood to dance, so we just listened to music
and talked until 4, when the last people went home, and I went to sleep. The 25th,
we went to the beach in the afternoon. It was amazing to be there with family.
New Years is a different story. Normally, people spend up
until midnight with family, then, the teens go out to party all night. However,
I spent all night in the house, because if my family does not know how to throw
a party, nobody in their right mind does! At around 10:30, I was ready and
sitting with my cousin’s husband (I’m not sure if he is her husband or
boyfriend, but they have a daughter together, so I’m just going with husband),
my other cousin, and my grandma. I was waiting for people to get ready, and
trying to persuade my grandma to come downstairs to the party. By around 11, I
just went downstairs, and two little girls (my cousins) made me dance with them.
The funny thing about that is a cousin from Quito told me I was going to be his
dance partner, but the girls rarely let that happen. At midnight, we said
“Feliz Año” or “Happy Year” and kissed everyone on the cheek. That was about 40
people to kiss, might I add. After that, we burned these paper mache dolls that
were made about kid size. They represent all the things that happened in the
last year, and allow you to start over. That is one thing I really like about
the burning—ashes can’t be put back together the way they were before. We set
off some fireworks, and the little children began crying from the noise. We
went back inside, danced for awhile, ate dinner (yes, after midnight—probably
around 1ish), and my sister sprained her ankle while dancing. We danced the
night away. I went to bed at 5, after I heard a rooster crow a few times. There
was a family sharing my room with me—I had my bed, a cot was set up for the
little boys, and my sister’s bed was occupied by the parents. They started
talking at 8 IN THE MORNING, and of course WOKE ME UP. I was very very very very
very mad. I was able to fall back asleep again at 9, and woke up at noon. I did
sleep a lot for going to bed at 5. We then went to Briseños, which is a beach a
few hours north of us. It is really pretty. We ate lunch around 4, because they
messed up our orders, and they served the tables wrong, but we were with
family, so it was okay. We were finally able to get into the water after
another 5 minute drive, and began to play keep away. There were probably around
ten guys, and four girls, and the guys wouldn’t let us play with them, so we
stole the ball and began to play keep away. This went on for at least an hour
and a half. It was amazing. We went to shower, and left. The two little girls,
ages 3 and 6, fell asleep on me for the 3ish hour drive. After getting home, we
ate dinner, said goodbye to the majority of the family, and I went to shower
and go to bed. While laying in bed, I began to think. This was the first time I
felt free since before I started school. It had to be the best feeling in the
world. How nice it is to just be free…
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