I spent Christmas and New Year’s in my site with a few families. First, I will start with Christmas. Christmas is celebrated here on the 24th of December, and people have a special dinner that usually consists on Chicken, rice, salad, and pop. Some dance and others out with family and friends. There is no gift exchange and on the 25th, most people go to the beach either in the morning or the afternoon. So, I went to the Health Promoter’s house. She lives with her mom, dad, sister, brother, and son. The invited me and a group of kids I’m working with and are learning how to sew. Actually, they have completed the course and have their graduation on Friday! I’m hoping one of them is going to teach me how to embroider, or we can figure it out together. However, back to Christmas … we had dinner and a few people danced. We headed back to our respective houses at about 9:30 because she lives in the town next to mine and this is pretty late for most people, especially the kids who are all about in middle school, to be out. I had a good time, but I certainly missed the cold weather and my family. On the 25th, I went to the beach with my new adopted family. We went to this place where it’s more protected and there aren’t any waves, which was nice and fun. I ate lunch with them and then returned home. This part was really difficult because the 25th is when I’m used to having a celebration or getting sort of ready to go to Rand or going on a hike or something, but I had nothing to do. I made it through though, and I’m so glad I did.
For New Year’s, I went to my adopted family’s house. They invited me and another volunteer who is leaving soon to their house for dinner and a scary movie. We had dinner, which was the same as Christmas dinner and were going to watch a scary movie, but the DVD player didn’t work, so we played games instead. I had a lot of fun and it reminded me of the games we play in Rand! Also, that same day, my land lord came, which is normal here. So, on the first, many people go to the beach and the people I was going to go with, ended up not going. I did a TON of laundry, and then about 15 people showed up and unloaded a bunch of food and started cooking for everyone. I was totally overwhelmed, so I headed to the family’s house again. We ended up going to the beach that afternoon, and I stayed the night there because there were so many people at my house. They were the family of the landlords, but it was still overwhelming and they thought I was either his daughter or his care-taker, which was REALLY weird. I had a great time with them, and I’m so glad that they are here and take such good care of me. I spent the whole next day there, except for a brief moment to get my cat, who was almost stolen, and it was so nice to be with people. I go over there fairly frequently and they are so great. There is a mom, dad, a 16-year-old boy, 14-year-old girl, and a 4-year-old boy that live in the house. They have another sister and a brother, but they live elsewhere. They are great people and a life saver!
Since the New Year, I have worked with the bee women , and we took out honey for the second time. I was stung twice. The first sting hurt for a bit and then went away. The second however, I think hit a nerve or something because it hurts two days later, is swollen, and itches like crazy. I’m a little concerned I’ve developed an allergy, but I’m not sure. However, I love working with bees, and it has inspired me to work with bees in that States! However, I’m not convinced that will happen immediately upon my return. Also, I’ve worked with the women that make jewelry because they have a bunch of supplies and so a bunch of work. However, I haven’t been able to do anything new with them because it was the holiday season. I’ve also had art classes for the 4th and 5th graders who have wanted to continue, which have gotten much better. Lastly, I’m helping with the graduation of the kids who are sewing and trying to plan a dance as a fundraiser so that they can go on an excursion as a reward for finishing their course work. However, this dance is proving more and more difficult because they keep changing the rules, so I don’t think I’ll do this in the future. However, I’m pretty busy, so that’s good! School starts soon, so I’ll being starting some new things! Anyway, that’s all for now! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and was able to spend it with their friends and family!
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