My Christmas actually began with shopping for gifts to give the girls from my hogar on Christmas morning. They receive a new clothing outfit from the NPH organization, but the only other gift they get is that from the volunteers. So, I learned very quickly that buying gifts for 22 teenage girls is very difficult and not cheap. (Thank you mom and dad for donating money to this cause.) When I set out shopping, I had an idea of what I wanted to get and how much I wanted to spend. I headed to a market in the city center where the prices are low and I knew that I could bargain. Once I was sure that they had what I was looking for, I truly enjoyed myself moving from stall to stall haggling with each vendor in search of the lowest price. I figured I had the upper hand since I was going to buy 22 of whatever, so I didn’t settle until I found the rock bottom price. Of course the biggest challenge of the day was dragging everything back to the ranch (2 taxis, one bus and ½ mile walk).
Hondurans primarily celebrate the birth of Christ on the eve of Christmas. We were blessed with beautiful weather and spent the entire afternoon outside playing organized games. The games included volleyball, orange eating contest, the biggest Yogi Bear look-a-like pinata I have ever seen and my personal favorite, chop the dulce, which involved blind folding a small child, who then flails a machete until finally chopping off their reward, a chunk off of a large solid block of brown sugar. In the evening, the kids put on a Christmas show of songs and skits. Then we all gathered on the boys side of the ranch for a traditional dinner of tamales, which were delicious. After dinner, a large bonfire was started and everyone socialized and danced. It was so refreshing to watch this large “family” spending time together and celebrating without a thought of gifts. When the fire died down a little, we roasted marshmallows. Then, they showed a Christmas movie on a screen hung from the side of one of the boys homes. At midnight, the movie was stopped and everyone gathered to share hugs and wish merry Christmas. Before heading back to hogar, we munched on apples and grapes, which is another tradition.
On Christmas morning, I woke up early and placed the gifts on the bed of each of the girls. I think that they enjoyed the gifts, but at their age, it is hard to tell. In the late morning, the girls made a collection of things (clothes, accessories, food, etc.) they no longer needed or wanted and we set out for the neighboring pueblos to gift these thing to people less fortunate. As is typical of teenagers, the girls were not very excited about the long walk in the shining sun to give away their things, but in the end, I think we all had a good time. After dark, we all gathered for a procession through the ranch along a candle lit path to the church for mass. Mass was typical and followed by a normal dinner of beans and plantains. In the evening, we started a soccer tournament that will last until the new year. Of course the volunteer team kicked it off with a big fat loss. None of us were born with that soccer gene that all Latin Americans seem to have.
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