well, merry christmas and a happy new year!
the past month has been filled with much activity...december brings a whole host of events and celebrations here in zambrano. the latin american school year begins in february and ends in november, meaning the end of the year is really a time of starting over completely. i find that becuase our school year continues through may, december and the new year is a holiday, but mostly focused on christmas. here, everything is about finishing up a year of work, projects, programs, etc, and starting anew in the new year. it is actually more celebrated (new years, that is) than christmas is.
i did dearly miss christmas this year. in many ways, its almost as if it didn't happen. the church here has no focus on the church calendar, which means no talk of advent and not really even of christmas. much larger focus is put on renewal in the new year. christmas in hot weather is also very different. however, although it may not have been my normal christmas, i had a lovely holiday...after almost a full year i saw my family. i could not ask for more. i met up with my parents, jonna, aunt and family in the cancun airport in mexico (sadly, jordi could not go) and we had an adventerous multiple bus/taxi/walking down mexico highways with luggage travel to the border of belize, where we met up with my cousin and our guide, philip. i was with my family 7 days, which actually felt more like 5 due to long travel days at either end, but even the hours in the van were well used for precious moments of long-awaited and daily-missed conversations.
in belize, we spent three days in the southern tip of the country staying at a place called cotton tree lodge - beautiful. we spent time snorkeling and swimming in a different part of the caribbean than that which i frequent here in colombia, we visited an incredible native farmer and heard his reflections on the earth and the divine, which was incredibly inspiring, we spent hours around a table of delicious, organic and locally grown food, we played games, kayaked, walked in the junglish nature that surrounded us, AND i wore long sleeves. :) we returned on christmas eve to belize city to spend twoish days in my aunt/uncle's house. christmas day was relaxing. lots of wonderful food and my favorite part of the day, an afternoon spent reciting luke 2 and singing christmas hymns.
saying goodbye to my family was not an easy task, as i knew it would be. in many ways, seeing people makes us feel closer, but it also makes homesickness feel stronger at moments. also brings an odd sensation of two-ness, feeling torn between two places. wanting to be in two places at once, and feeling the strong dichotomies between the two.
in mexico, my parents went on to the airport in cancun, and i stayed in a bordering town called playa del carmen with a good college friend, natalie schmucker, who is participating in the SALT program through mcc this year, living outside of mexico city. playa del carmen, was quite a bit more touristy than expected, which we were both overly disgusted with, but spent most of our days sitting for hours at small, authentic mexican restaurants after leaving the main strips of starbucks, burger kings, and all kinds of luxurious-looking, vacation-type restaurants. both the conversation and the food (delicious...spicy...authentic mexican...YUM) was enough to keep me satisfied all three days.
so it all passed way too quickly, but i returned to zambrano mid morning on the 31st of december, just in time to bring int he new year with my community here. the church had a service till midnight and then we ate and spent some time with close friends from the church. it was a good celebration.
these first days of january have been relaxing as it is still vacation time here. we've had some meetings planning the work in this year, and i'm looking forward to what is ahead. my work load is growing and growing, but will hopefully be working a lot with some community programs that ricardo esquivia is working on for me, and i'm THRILLED about what that all holds for me.
so that is really where i am right now...still in the planning stages of what 2010 will bring for me. norvy (pastor's daughter), who is clearly my closest friend and ally here has decided to move inland for the year and accepted a job offer with a private christian school as a teacher (graduated this year with teaching license...24yrs old) so will be leaving this coming week. i'm thrilled for her and the opportunity, although im having a really hard time imagining how i'll make it here without here. she has been my survival kit since i arrived. so in these last days, i've been spending a lot of time with her. ...and its not the end of the world...she'll be home for vacations and such. i leave home to go to other countries...i can't ask them to stay in zambrano when they, too, are itching for travel and new experiences, right? i actually advised her to go, and when she decided to, i wondered why i had urged her. haha. but all will be well.
i'll end by quoting an aunt of mine, if she'll let me... i just received the annual update from my aunt miriam, who lives in belize but is at the moment at home with my parents while her husband recieves chemo treatments at the goshen cancer center. she wrote the following:
God is good. we have so much we can loose...
her wisdom speaks truth to me. loving much means loosing much at some point. seeing family and saying goodbye again, i am reminded of how difficult it is to be away. yet when i leave this place, it will also leave a hole in my heart. i take the loss with the joy. the more one misses, the more one looses, the more one has loved, i believe, and i am daily grateful for the love i receive from and am able to give to my community, located all over the globe. sometimes i am overwhelmed by the love my life is blessed with. what else could i possibly want?
happy new year and much love to all of you...