Holidays!

Before I begin, I would like to give the not-so-long anticipated amendment to my answer regarding Christmas trees in the lowlands of Costa Rica. From what I see, they’re all plastic versions of the “normal” tree we associate with Christmas in the US. See the photo of our family’s Christmas tree below.

As for Christmas and the celebrations following, our family has dealt with the problem of being extremely large by giving everyone a single gift arranged through a “secret santa” type of system. This is nice as it seemed to take the “gimme!” spirit out of the children and got them more focused on giving than getting.

Christmas celebrations here seem to be largely held on Christmas eve as opposed to the familiar Christmas morning depictions often seen in the states. The kids stayed up until midnight and wished each other a Merry Christmas while setting off fireworks and swatting at a piñata that Melana and I purchased for the occasion.

In addition to the holidays, we have also had two birthdays over the course of the past week. (that’s a lot of parties!) Our host mom had her birthday, and the whole family came out to celebrate. Feeling extra creative, Melana baked a cake for the special night. The kids were very excited to help (and to lick the mixers after we were finished).

Inspired by my wife, I went ahead and tried out a bread recipe the next night. It came out something like funnel cake, or other fried dough concoction. The family loved it so much they they decided to forego dinner and fill up on fried dough or, as they liked to call them, pan orejas - bread ears.