PERÚ it may concern

Bajada de Reyes is a celebration of the day the three kings arrived in Bethlehem to see baby Jesus. In Perú, it's celebrated on January 6th and represents the end of Christmas festivities when you start to take all the decorations down. That afternoon my site mate, Amanda, texted me to let me know that we had a meeting with one of our counterparts in the evening. When I asked her what the meeting was about, she replied, "Can't even explain. It involves wearing a costume..." Needless to say, I was a little worried. When we arrived in the plaza that night we were given sombreros, vests and tambourines and for the next few hours we followed an adorable group of singing children in shiny, red and golden robes. We went into houses, restaurants and tiendas with large and intricate nativity scenes and sang [super catchy] Christmas songs complete with coordinated hand motions.  Amanda, me and an elaborate nativity scene Each time, the baby Jesus was brought around ...

When I was younger, New Year's meant having my best friend over, feasting on sweet treats and a ton of sparkling apple cider and staying up waaay past midnight. One year I was lucky enough to be put on the guest list of a swanky party at the very top of the Bank of America building in the city to watch my dad's band play the event. Then it became more of watching movies with my fam and toasting to the new year at midnight (I mean there were a few wild years during the college times, but nothing to worry the 'rents about). Last year, my mom, sister and I were so consumed with the movie we were watching - NO, I think we were actually reading! We were so consumed with the books we were reading (to be fair, I was reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ) that when I glanced at the clock and 2012 was less than a minute away and we hadn't even popped the apple cider! So, of course, we paused the TV so we wouldn't miss the ball dropping, poured ourselves some apple cider i...