Ho Ho Ho

There have been moments when it felt like Christmas. When we stood in long lines at the grocery store yesterday, when we sang Christmas carols (in English) at the Union Church last night, when we started to open our stockings this morning, then it felt like the holiday we know. But there are still moments of “where am I?”

A few days ago, James and I went to Hyper Paiz to buy some last minute gifts. Hyper Paiz has been purchased by Walmart. Just this month they started stocking “Equate” brand items that are so familiar in the Walmarts at home. They’ve removed the selection of native candy from the check-out line; that made me sad. Now it’s all Snickers and Hershey bars. But the lines were moving quickly and the music was blaring when we were there, so I couldn’t really complain. I looked over at a Salvadoran Santa in a red suit playing a game with some children across from the checkout counters. Then I noticed they were tossing around a giant stuffed ham - never did figure out what that was all about.

Last night was Christmas Eve. We went to church, then over to the Magana’s for Christmas Eve dinner. Maggie and Will had gone on ahead of us. By the time we got there, Maggie could name all the different fireworks in Spanish that they had already shot off. The loudest one translated as “mortar.” Based on the noise it made, thought that was a pretty descriptive name. Dinner was a turkey cooked in some delicious red sauce that I’d never had before. Julio Magana is a master chef, and that was without a doubt the best turkey I’d ever had.

We got home early enough and waited for midnight. And boy did it come. I marvel at a city where everyone waits for midnight and then simultaneously shoots off fireworks - young, old, rich, poor - they all shoot off whatever they can that makes noise. Maggie’s room faces one direction and ours another and we both watched the sky light up for almost an hour. Fireworks may not seem “Christmasy,” but boy do Salvadorans know how to celebrate. It was a magical moment.

We sauteed shrimp tonight instead of the traditional roast beef and a range of casseroles. But the shrimp was fresh from the pier and really good. Getting a sunburn on Christmas Eve did not seem like a typical holiday tradition, but it was nice to get out in the sun yesterday. We’ve taken our family to the beach for seafood, and of course to almost every mall in the city. Tomorrow we’re going to go up to the top of the volcano and look in the big crater. That was on my list of things to do in 2006 - I’ll just get it checked off.

We had a potluck dinner on the 23rd - sort of an “everyone who didn’t go home” party. It was nice to have a house full of people. Now things have settled back down around the complejo. At some point I’ve got to start planning the Dunlap’s Second Annual Grits party that we’ll have the day before school starts back. We want to see how many people this house can really hold. If you can get here, you’re invited. Merry Christmas to all!!!

It's exam time

If I have a big pile of mid-term exams to grade, then for some reason I become inspired to update the blog. I was technically waiting for James to write this story, because he and Maggie had the last adventure. But it's old news now, so I'll just have to tell their story for them.

Maggie has been working hard on the Varsity Knowledge Bowl team at Escuela Americana. Her sponsor, Carmen, swears that Knowledge Bowl is not the "nerd club." The team practiced for weeks to prepare for the trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for the Central American championship. This is the part of the story where we earn the title of "really bad parents." In our defense, we all had a lot going on that week. Every time we thought Maggie had all the paperwork necessary to leave the country, some other technicality cropped up. This trip took place the day after the school's 60th birthday celebration, in which Maggie gave tours all day and then played the clarinet with the band during the all-school assembly. So in our defense, we were all tired the next morning when we had to get Maggie up at 3:15 a.m. James dropped her off around 4:30, and the call came at 4:55 from the bus station. Maggie had everything she needed except her passport, and they would not let Mags on the bus.

A little after 5:00, a friend dropped Mags back off at the complejo. James grabbed his daughter and her passport, convinced that he could catch up with the bus and they'd let her on. His parting words were, "I am not driving to Honduras." Turns out that buses will not stop en route, not even for the $20 James offered the driver. So he did indeed drive to the Honduran border, waited for them to let Maggie on, and then he drove back through crazy morning traffic to get home. It's much harder to get back into the city around 8:00 than it is to get out at 5:00. He only missed one class that morning, but he did come home and take a three hour nap that afternoon. The good news is that the team also won the Central American championship, and Mags was proud of the questions she answered. I don't think we'll be forgetting a passport again any time soon.

The Marine Ball was lovely. James cajoled the ambassador into a photograph with the two of us. Even though I'm not posting it, he also had his picture taken with the waiter from our table. We met a Marine from Columbia, SC. I think we frightened him when we introduced ourselves, but still it was nice to see someone from home. We had nine people for Thanksgiving dinner (ok, ok, including us!). One couple we invited have a daughter, Jennifer, who teaches here at the school. Her parents are from Tennessee, and that was the sweetest sounding accent I have heard in a long time. They were delightful Thanksgiving company for us.

I have an article coming out in the Spartanburg Herald Journal in a week. It is about Christmas in El Salvador. My students were a big help in putting it together. Technically we have not experienced a Salvadoran Christmas, so this will be our first. It will also be the first time in my life I will not be in SC for the holidays. I'm homesick already.

Off to grade. Happy Holidays! Feliz Navidad!