it was christmas didn't you know?

and now its mid-January. Christmas passed by very very quickly for me. I suppose it had something to do with the fact that the weather in Trujillo was getting ready for summer... so we were starting to visit the beach the week before everyone went back to the states, instead of putting on layers of clothes to shield ourselves from massive bursts of cold wind and snow. yep, that had something to do with it. I regret that while I was at home for Christmas, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked to. This may have been because I forgot the charger for the battery to my camera back in Trujillo. 

My Christmas season started sometime near Thanksgiving when we started to notice all the fake snow filled decorations when it's probably pretty safe to say it has never snowed in Trujillo... and people starting to drink hot chocolate even though the weather was getting warmer and warmer. In December, before the interns and some of the missionaries started their trips to various places in the states for Christmas we had a huge (and when i say huge i mean we occupied the entire restaurant) dinner for everyone that works with the mission. It was a fun time,  especially to see how many different parts of the mission were represented there. Peru Mission has many many different ministries, which I am still learning about. I don't want to try to list them because I don't want to leave any out, they are each as equally important as the other. It was also quite fun just to see everyone cleaned up even if just for one night. 

With time nearing to Christmas, of course time was also coming to a close for our December classes in SALI as well. Usually toward the end of a cycle of classes, students want to go somewhere or do something outside of the classroom with their teacher. It's always fun and usually involves food. In December one of my classes was a basic conversation group. I was a little bit nervous to begin the class, because although coming along (ever so slowly) my spanish is still very weak. And I have mostly been teaching advanced classes at SALI.  Well what I was nervous about to begin with actually turned into more fun than I could have expected. The dynamics of that class were awesome. Many times in conversation class the students may not be taking other classes at SALI, but want to practice their English. My group varied from the quiet 16 year old Diego finishing up high school to the 23 year old Lyn, a tourism graduate that was my only girl to help level out the class of guys, to Victor and Alejandro both in their 50s, one works at the port here in Trujillo and the other an engineer, and each as unique as they could possibly be. Each day with this class was a new surprise. Many times we ended up in the kitchen drinking tea or... sampling food like peanut butter on banana. The last night we walked a few blocks and went to a cafe together: 

The trip back to the states for Christmas took me first from the Trujillo airport to Lima with Gillian where we spent the day... from the airport in Lima to the airport in Miami... then to the airport in Atlanta finally where while I was waiting on my suitcases to show up on the magic conveyor belt I realized I was back in the United States when I realized I could understand all of the conversations going on around me. That was a little weird. The incredibly awesome Rachel picked Gillian and I up in Atlanta and drove us to Anderson where we spent a few days and began the visit with much needed showers. It's weird to me how dirty you can get just traveling. I got to spend time with Karrie...whose shower's water pressure nearly melted my skin off. Literally. It was obscene. I got to see a lot of friends while in Anderson, but at the same time not everyone. But that was a theme of the trip. It's hard to fit in everything you want to see and do when you only have a limited amount of time to do it. After South Carolina, I moved along to Tennessee and after on to West Virginia. It was really good to see family and get to sleep in and wear layers of clothes and buy socks because I don't really own any. I wish I had pictures to share with you of family, but they are probably relieved I couldnt use my camera. When I take pictures, there is usually someone somewhere saying... don't put that on your blog... I ate as much vegetable soup as I possibly could (because my Grandmother makes the best, hands down. without meat juice... I never understood the whole adding meat to vegetable soup concept anyway) actually I ate so many leftovers that I am pretty sure my Peruvian friends would shudder repeatedly if they knew the depth of it. (Getting our friends here to eat Spaghetti on a Sunday that we had made on Friday night was a serious struggle) 

After spending time in West Virginia my mom and dad made the trip with me driving back to Atlanta... where Gillian and I spent a day or so with Heather's family before we each took our flights out from Atlanta. The trip back was long... spending the night having a staring contest with a wall in the airport is not on the top of my list of favorite things to do. I was so tired that I tried to watch a movie on my laptop but quit after 15 minutes when I realized that as much as I was comprehending from the movie was about as much as I had been comprehending from staring into the wall. The next day I had my very first bus trip which went through the dessert from Lima to Trujillo... but I vaguely remember it (which could be for the best?) as I slept nearly the entire day of the trip. I do remember waking up at one point and feeling like I was in the middle of one of those sand filled picture frameish things that kids have which I cannot remember the name of. Kind of like an ant farm but without the ants, and prettier. 

Well, all that to say.... Christmas was here and gone now... (was if you didn't know that..) and we are in the middle of our January cycle of classes at SALI and I am oh so happy to be back. I enjoyed seeing family and friends and I miss everyone (and probably you too reading this, include yourself) but I am happy to be back teaching and struggling with Spanish and eating a lot of rice and walking everywhere and laughing with students. Trujillo, I missed you.