Feliz Navidad

to everyone. This is probably the last time I'll blog until after Christmas, so just throwing that out there.

I am finally feeling in the Christmas spirit, something that back home usually starts for me in October. But I'm here in the capital again today (what a site-negligent volunteer I am!) celebrating with some friends. So far it has just involved eating a lot of junk food, buying rum and using the Internet. Thank God for the holidays.

The city is packed, unsurprisingly -- it's the last Saturday before Christmas. The bus to the mall took 45 minutes, the mall was chaos, and I was so happy. In my rural site, Christmas is much more religious than commercial. It was nice to get a taste of commercialism and see Santa Claus and a big Christmas tree in a mall, and every store decorated with sales. I am officially too materialistic for Peace Corps.

We might see a movie here tonight for the first time. I have no idea what movies even exist anymore. My dear friend Emily back home pointed out to me that it's Oscar season. I miss rushing to see all the indie flicks and Best Picture nominees so I can enter Oscar pools. Although Emily always wins them ;-)

The restaurant where I ate breakfast today had the American Saturday morning cartoons. A Christmas Mickey Mouse show and a Christmas Tom & Jerry. I don't even think I had ever seen them in English. But everything is funnier in Spanish. It was funny because the morals of the episodes were that Christmas is about kindness and generosity. But here, Christmas isn't about those things. It's just about Jesus.

So that's my Christmas in the city. In a week or so you'll hear all about my Christmas in the country.

Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea.