Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad to all of our friends and family! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. It was a very unique experience to spend Christmas in Lima with our Peruvian family. On Christmas eve, we returned from our trip to Paracas and Ica arouns 7. We showered up and went with Willy and Carlos to purchase some fireworks as well as some Christmas bags to wrap our gifts to the family. Upon returning, we talked with our families via skype and then waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, around 10:30 it was time for dinner. We sat down with 9 other friends and ate turkey, sweet potatoes, rice, fruit salad, pasta salad, apple sauce, and gravy. Because they could not find one turkey that was big enough, they bought two gigantic turkeys. One was about 25 lbs and the other was about 19 lbs. So needless to say, we had PLENTY of turkey to go around. The food was delicious and we shared a toast with each other and the other brother Oscar and his wife who were with us via skype from Canada.
After finishing up with chocolate cake from Amalia's boyfriend Jaime, we rushed to wrap up our presents while Willy unraveled baby Jesus in the nativity set. Ever since we have been here, Jesus was covered up by swaddling clothes but just before midnight, he was revealed. Then it was time for the big show! As we walked outside we could hear bangs and pops everywhere. When we walked out we saw bursts of fireworks all over! We joined in with the fireworks we purchased earlier and from all directions we could see other Peruvians doing the same thing. It was one of the craziest things I've ever experienced but it was so so fun! After about an hour of fireworks we came in and sat around the tree talking for a while. The family all chipped in to buy themselves a TV for Christmas so not too many presents were unwrapped. At about 1:30 when it was finally time for bed, we fell asleep immediately because we were so exhausted!
On Christmas morning we slept in and then went upstairs to a breakfast of bread and Panetone. After talking to our families back home we decided to go back to sleep. This time we woke up about 2:30 and it was time for lunch. We sat down to Christmas lunch which was leftovers from the night before. A new rice dish was made and the turkey was warmed over the stove, not just in the microwave. Really, it was like christmas dinner all over again and we had more wine for toasting to the holiday. After all the turkey for lunch we decided it was time to...take another nap! So back to sleep we went until about 8 when we got up and had a light dinner of Panetone with Amalia, Mami, and Jaime while discussing Christmas traditions from different cultures. We did a little bit on the internet and then went back to sleep. It was so nice to just rest and be with cherished friends. It helped us to get through missing our families back home.
Today we made preparations and packed for our trip to Ayacuccho. We leave tonight at 10:15 by bus. We may not have internet tomorrow but we will make a post once we get settled in Ayacuccho with details. Merry Christmas everyone! We love and miss you all!
Brandon and Rachel
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