Hey Culligan Man!
During Christmastime a water pipe broke in the city. This left parts of the city without water. Basically what this means for me is that the process of taking a shower and going to the bathroom, etc. is a bit more difficult. The process of number 2 is already kind of complicated because the plumbing can´t handle toilet paper much so you wrap it up and put it in the trashcan. You never realize how much you need water until you don´t have it. I haven´t taken a shower since last Wednesday and washed my hair this morning with 4 small glasses of bottled water. No joke. It´s a good thing that I naturally smell terrific. However things could be worse. If I wake up early in the morning, say around 4 or so there is enough water to shower with, but it looks like it will be a few more days before this is fixed and water is restored to all parts of the city.
Guat T-Shirts Now Available
There are now t-shirts for the Guat, Guat, Guat blog. Check out the image on the right hand side of the blog to get your t-shirt through cafepress.com. There are two kinds, one for dudes and one for dudettes. Collect the whole set.
Who’s Your Navidaddy?
It’s Christmas time here in Xela. And, yes, I did miss being with my family for the holidays. My family in the states gets together the night before and we sing the twelve days of Christmas. It’s customary that my dad always gets “Five Golden Rings”. And he sings it, Jim Nabors style. After 30 years, it still cracks me up. Then we have to convince him we shouldn’t open our presents before X-mas, but give in and open them all. And of course my mom’s great stuffing and Christmas meal altogether. Instead of the live version of my family, I got this from them instead.
But I had a great time with my foster family down here.
I’ve had a lot of folks interested in their customs here. Their customs tend to be more towards the family being together than presents. In the afternoon of Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) we started to make the traditional Christmas tamales. This consists of taking large leaves (hojas) and wrapping creamed rice, chili sauce, chicken pieces, raisins, and plums in them. Here are some photos of the process…
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Another traditional item that is made is a hot spicy fruity drink. Not sure what it is called. But imagine heating up a can of Del Monte fruit cocktail and adding some spices. It’s a lot like that, but better.
Sergio drove us to Sandra’s parents at around 9:30pm. The festivities were already in full swing. I would say about 30-40 family members were there setting off fireworks and getting ready for midnight.
When midnight struck all of the family members went outside to see fireworks in the air and to hug one another and wish each other a Feliz Navidad and a Prospero Año Nuevo (prosperous new year). They began the present exchange. Everyone waited in the room to hear their name called for presents. Most everyone only received one present and none of them were very flashy. I would venture to say that the gifts were around $5 - $10 dollars.
Then the partying began. They cranked up the music and people started drinking and dancing for most of the night. I think I danced with pretty much every woman in the room (would I have it any other way). Sandra told me the next day that most students she has dance like they are trying to kill cucarachas (cockroaches), but that I was pretty suave, of course.
Oh, here’s a sample of the dancing in the night (Sergio and Sandra)…
We left the grandparents house at about 4 in the morning. Quite a Christmas party. I would liken it more to New Year’s or the Fourth of July, just with presents.
Christmas day was pretty laid back. A lot of the family came over to our house to hang out, eat, and watch movies. But later in the night the karaoke party began. My family had purchased a karaoke-abled stereo and had plenty of songs in both Spanish and English. And just like in the states the folks were a bit timid to sing without much alcohol around…except for me.
I got up and sang twice to get the party going. Feliz Navidad and…..wait for it….wait for it…Black Betty (Ram Jam). Sergio and I were later joking around that the song should be Betty Negra in Spanish. They were all eating it up. I think they were a little disappointed that I didn’t sing a Spanish song for them. But I’m currently in training to do one at our New Year’s party.