Reflections on our First Guatemalan Christmas

We have enjoyed our Christmas in Guatemala. Some things are very much the same, but we have also made some different observations. Here is some of what we saw.

Decorations--Malls are decorated, and every mall and town has a huge Christmas tree. The decorations are set up about in October. Major streets also have lighted banners across them. These street decorations and the trees on the town plaza usually have a corporate sponsor...the local beer company. A word about the malls--they are everywhere! The stores are nice, but there are no anchor department stores. We often wonder who shops at these nice stores! There appears to be some wealth here, but it is so greatly out-numbered by those who have none!

Store fronts are also decorated. This one has the Spanish version of "Ho-Ho." ("J" makes an "H" sound in Spanish.)

Parties--Every ward or branch needs a Christmas Party, and the branch at San Pedro Ayampuc showed us how it is done! First of all, as we came into the little town, we happened to end up behind the town parade. There was no way around it! We arrived at the party 45 minutes late...but not to worry...everyone had left the party to go see the parade. The program started a few minutes after we arrived, and each organization had a musical number. Here the Primary children are dancing "The Santa Dance...Ho-Ho-Ho" or maybe that is "Jo-Jo-Jo"! And all the rest of the entertainment was just as entertaining! Then we had dinner...chicken, tortillas, and salad. But the finale was the fireworks! Bottle-rockets were shot from the roof-top, and other assorted incendiary devices were ignited in front of the house which serves as the Church building.

Fireworks--Guatemala does Christmas fireworks in a big way! At midnight on Christmas Eve we saw a fireworks show of a lifetime! We were on the roof-top of a 15-story building and had a 360 degree view. Fireworks erupted in every direction. Now these aren't the little ones we buy in Utah...or even Wyoming. These were just like the ones at Disneyland! And they surrounded us. And they were very noisy...especially the long strings of fire-crackers! It was so fun we just had to laugh out loud. We didn't get any photos of the spectacular...but we did see the debris that was left in the morning...inches deep all over the city. Next year I'll try to do a video of the spectacular event!

Santa's Helpers--Christmas morning we got to be Santa's Helpers. Packages and letters that arrive at the office for the missionaries are delivered by the Office Elders to areas in the city, or by bus to areas outside the capital. This pouch run is usually done once a week. After the Elders had done the pouch run last Friday, one more package arrived by FED EX. It was from the family of Elder G. who serves about 30 minutes from here. So Christmas morning we headed out to make a last-minute delivery...which was really fun...and much appreciated! We got a little added entertainment when a chicken got out the open gate and Elders G. and H. had to chase it down! Good show!

Service--We've already shared with you photos of the service projects that we helped the missionaries do. There was one more project. Baby Rosi was born blind and needed surgery to give her sight. Although the doctor was performing the surgery for free, and they were staying at the Ronald McDonald House, there were still some fees for which they needed help. Sister Watts suggested that we donate some of the cash that had been donated by friends and family in the States for use on the service projects. Good news! Rosi had surgery in mid-December and can now see. You can see the look of delight on her mother's face as Rosi tracks the movement of the water bottle with her eyes! Thank you to all who sent gifts or cash                                                                                          that was used for the projects!