Navidad se acerca

Greetings! Emily, Nicole and I travel by bus through the night to Lima tonight in order to complete the final step (we hope!) in obtaining our Peruvian residency cards, called Carnets. I have a little time in between preparations for the trip and other Christmas related activities here to give a brief update on the last week and a half.
- First, my arm and elbow are feeling very much better. I have regained the flexing and straightening capability and there just remains a bit of tightness at the extremes of each. What I think will be my last appointment with Lina, the physical therapist here, will be Monday morning the 24th. A good Christmas present to be back to normal (as normal as I was before, any).

- Rehearsals with post-Confirmation youth continue for our Christmas play continue nightly this week, as we are presenting it this Saturday as part of a chocolatada that the youth are putting on for the children of Santo Domingo, the poorest sector of our parish. A chocolatada is an event that happens all over during the Christmas season, and the main elements are some sort of show or event, paneton (sweet bread with fruit), and of course hot chocolate. Go into any store and you`ll see people buying cases of evaporated milk and the Cuzco chocolate bars. I attended with Nicole and Emily a chocolatada at the Hospice last Friday afternoon, offered to children related to hospice patients. There was a clown and assistant (pretty girl with red skirt and hat, looking somewhat like a cheerleader) with games and dances, bread and chocolate, and wrapped gifts for everyone. The afternoon was quite pleasant. Anyway, the 7:00 pm rehearsals begin at around 7:30 or 8:00, complicated by the fact that many of the youth have high school or university exams, as this is the end of the school year for them. I designed the script using the story of St. Francis starting the tradition of the Nativity Scenes with the Gospel and prophet elements of the Christmas story, and just last night received the part of Joseph, since the fifteen or so youth we have participating are not enough to fill out the roles. Reminds me of my days at St. Francis in Burney...

- Robberies are definitely a hot topic recently, as another hospice team was robbed on one of their routes and the workers are generally tense about going to certain areas. Others have their own stories of either break-ins or close calls on the street. Needless to say, we are carrying with us only the minimum and try to be very aware of our surroundings.

- I have continued with visiting youth, this week concentrating on a new sector of the parish which will hold a brainstorming meeting this Saturday in conjunction with their Posada. Having a real donkey for Mary to ride -- there are donkeys all over around here -- I`m sure will add to the authenticity of the recreation of Mary and Joseph`s search for a place to stay on the first Christmas Eve. Anyway, we don`t have a good list or addresses for youth, so we are having to be creative. Billy, fifteen-year-old son of one of the parish council members, who lives in the sector, is accompanying me on the visits. We basically ask folks on the streets if they know Catholic youth who live in the neighborhood, and go from there. Billy`s family raises cuy (guinea pigs) in cages on their back patio, and his mom introduced me to the dish since she just happened to have some prepared the evening I was visiting (suerte!). Though it sounds cliche, cuy reminds me of chicken. Obviously smaller, and with a bit more fat. His mom served herself the head, with teeth and all visible, and I commented that I was happy not to have recieved that body part. Cuy is considered a delicacy here, but I didn`t find it that special. And the mental picture of eating a rodent will keep me from seeking out this dish on my own. :)

- The weather is warming up here -- quite hot during the middle of the day. Many people are talking of trips to the beach come January. Still, people ask me if I`m not cold during the comfortably cool evenings. All in what you`re used to, I guess.

- I am feeling more in the `Christmas spirit` these last days. The arrival of some Christmas CD`s from Michi and Christmas sheet music for guitar from my mom have helped. We also had a Christmas theme for our Monday English class, reading and studying `Twas the Night Before Christmas and then singing Christmas carols. We also made frosted sugar cut-out cookies (round, since we are without cutters) to share with the class, which were a big hit and brought back our own Christmas baking memories.

- Financially, I realize more that my $80 per month, though definitely a bit above average in spending money for Chimbote, has to be spent carefully -- especially in a month like December with additional things I find the desire to buy as gifts, etc. Add the trip to Trujillo and I can see why the vast majority of folks here have not travelled far from Chimbote, and certainly have not made the 2+ day trip to see Macchu Picchu. One parent during a visit, hearing that Nicole and Emily were headed there, sighed wistfully and commented that she had only seen it on TV.

- Finally, I think the less-structured perception of time and spontaneity (sometimes could be called a lack of organization) here is actually good for me in a lot of ways. I find myself less concerned about having everything done perfectly, trusting more that I will be able to adapt in the moment -- since this is what happens many times anyway. I think I still would enjoy starting more on time (we start no more than five minutes late for our English class), but in general the environment (and not being in charge) is helping me to go about my tasks and commitments in a more relaxed manner.

Well, I will try to add one more entry before Christmas, which we will spend with the parents and two brothers of Nicole and Emily. They both are staying in Lima one additional night in order to meet their family at the airport, and then coming back up to Chimbote on the 22nd. I wish you a blessed week.