¡Felíz Año!

Greetings and happy new year! The days seem to have gone quickly since I last wrote, but in the meantime we have welcomed a new year -- one that I will spend entirely in Peru. As usual, some updates, notes, and random thoughts about the celebration of the new year in Peru:

- The most dramatic is the making and burning of muñecos, which are life-sized dolls roughly sewed together out of old clothes, stuffed animals, rags, etc. and then stuffed with wood shavings, small fireworks, and maybe more old clothes. As midnight approaches, the muñecos (literally ´dolls´) are set on chairs or propped up in the street with sticks and doused with gasoline or kerosene. At midnight, the dolls are lit on fire and additional fireworks are set off. As I looked down the street from the house of friends who had invited me over, I could see a series of dolls in the street burning away, giving off smoke that surely was at least a little toxic. The motivation behind the act is actually sound -- the doll made of worn out clothes symbolizes the negative things of the previous year that are now burned away to make room for what hopefully will be a brighter year to come.

- The parish holds mass at 9:00 pm on new year´s eve, and people were surprised that we didn´t do the same. A joint choir sang, and attendance was quite good. After mass, about 20-25 youth/young adults gathered outside the parish to burn the muñeco that the post-confirmation youth had made, a project which I had helped with (and even contributed a shirt to). One of the guys had his guitar, and we sang in the warm glow of the burning doll, giving off smoke from the synthetic jacket it was wearing. It was another very memorable moment in my experience thus far. A family that I have gotten to know invited me to dinner and a party at their home after the burning, and we ate dinner at about 11:30 pm, interrupted at 12:00 to go out in the street to see the burning dolls, the fireworks, and to greet with ´Felíz Año´ the various neighbors and relatives that lived nearby. At dinner we followed the custom of eating twelve grapes, one for good luck in each of the coming 12 months. Afterward, we danced with the family and a few friends that came by. A difference here from the US is that the parties begin after 12:00, at about 1:30 (I received two invitations to additional parties that began at this time, but left the gathering at 3:30 very tired and ready for bed. Many people return home at 7 or 8 am and just sleep the whole next day.

- One custom that I didn´t participate in was that of wearing yellow underwear (on the 31st I saw piles of it for sale in the local market). The few folks here I asked about it, however, didn´t know the reason or history behind the practice.

- It is becoming very hot here during the days, and trips to the beach are on everyone´s mind. There are a few beaches within a half hour of Chimbote, so I am sure that we will soon be making trips there with friends. At the least, our English class will take an end-of-cycle trip there on January 26.

- As I mentioned a while back, we are gathering involved youth of the parish to attend a youth ministry leadership course in Lima from January 28-February 8. There should be a group of about 10 of us, which should be a great learning experience for all of us and excellent practice for my Spanish. Some of you have already indicated your interested in sponsoring youth ($70 all told for the course, travel, lodging) --you can contact me at tschmidt19@hotmail.com if you want more information. We would have the participants write you afterward to share about the experience.

-- My arm is much better -- I played a fun game of full-court basketball two days ago with no damage. :)

It´s time for me to go -- God bless!