Missing You This Christmas

For the first time in twenty-three years I spent Christmas without my family. Come to think of it, I think this was the first year I've ever even spent it outside of Pacifica. The holidays snuck up on me and I began thinking maybe it wouldn't even feel like I was missing Christmas; maybe it would would feel like I was taking part in a different Peruvian festivity and Christmas was just extra far away this year, like two years far away. It may have been easier on my emotional state if that were the case but in the end, I'm glad it wasn't.

I was able to check my casilla postal [PO box] just in time for the holidays and was elated to find not just one but FOUR packages from home! The first was a KICK ASS Festivus package from my friend, Anamarie. For those of you confused about what Festivus is maybe you need some more Seinfeld in your life. It was filled with Seinfeld treats and my own travel-size Festivus pole. Another was from my Auntie Sharon with a lovely charm bracelet and card that sang Little Drummer Boy in spanish, classic. The last two packages were from my family and they were filled with the most amazing gifts. I now have a 49ers calendar on the wall of my dimly-lit room, a Justin Smith jersey hanging in my closet, an agenda to keep myself organized, a puzzle to keep me busy and a harmonica and notebook to help replace some things that were stolen from me. My mom was also thoughtful enough to send me some See's candies for my family and they loved it [of course!].

Me and the sibs

Here in Perú Christmas is spent by welcoming the birth of Jesus with a midnight dinner. It was so weird  not having to prepare anything before 9 or 10pm. We had wontons, empanadas, tamales, turkey, paneton (kinda like a Peruvian fruit cake, except everyone REALLY loves it) and hot chocolate. My contribution to this grand feast was a sweet potato casserole, even though it's a little more of a Thanksgiving dish. The radio led us in a countdown, New Year's style, as we waited to dig into the meal and at midnight everyone hugged and gave Peruvian cheek kisses and we wished each other a very feliz Navidad. There were tons of left overs and by the time we were done stuffing our bellies with the delicious treats, we were basically falling asleep at the table. 

Some 4200 miles away, my family was gathered at my parents' house finishing up their dinner, too. My sister set up a skype sesh and I was passed around on her iPad between family members and at one point my baby niece got ahold of me and walked me up and down the hallway, chatting away. My emotions have been in a pretty precarious state since arriving in this country but I tried my best to keep it together while chatting with the fam, managing only to tear up a couple times. My Uncle Jimmy, the wisest of the fam, expressed how he enjoyed reading my blog and told me that my grandma, a journalist, would be proud. It was something I had always wondered throughout college and now, through these Peace Corps shenanigans. Of course I never doubted that she would be proud but it felt really good to hear someone say it. Thanks, Unk :)

On top of all my Christmas joy, my sister had one more gift in store for me. For the past thirteen or fourteen years my dad and his best friend have put together an album of songs they've worked on throughout the year. Each album has had a Christmas-themed song and is distributed to family and friends for the holiday. This year my sister wrote and sang the song and to my surprise it happened to be about me. I've listened to that song constantly these past couple days and the first couple times I was basically weeping like a baby [if you'll remember Weepy McWeeperson]. This song truly encompasses what it's like being away from my family but it also reminds me why I'm here and that I have an awesome amount of support from my family back home. I'm so thankful for how many tears my family has been able to wipe away from so far a distance by telling me I can do this instead of encouraging me to come back home. It's not easy on either end but without their support it would be 3,370,412,040,491 times harder.

Marlee will probably hate me for posting this but I can't keep myself from sharing this amazing tune I plan on listening to in those difficult times to remind me why I'm here. She's super talented and I will continue to brag about how awesome she is forever. The drummer's pretty good, too. ENJOY!

Missing You This Christmas

Feliz Navidad, ya'll!