Christmas in Belize kicks butt.

Welp, Christmas has passed...my first christmas ever in fact. I saw no movies in the theater, I did not eat at the Chinese restaurant. My holiday was distinctly non Jewish. (which i guess is how most gentiles' christmasesses are. Hmm.. So i belize i mentioned that I was put in charge of the christmas committee and then i found out there wasnt a committee and nothing was going to happen, right? Well this lil factoid changed about three days before the big day. I was given the enviable task of preparing a "bash" or a "bram" for the village. Scramble scramble said jacob. Without getting too detailed, lets just say I spent the next three days racing around like a chicken with my head cut off in order to make this happen. Along with a wonderful group of people I ran around to shops/stores/houses etc asking for donations, gifts etc. I am happy to declare that the party went off without a hitch. Over FIVE HUNDRED people came out to live it up. We had a DJ with a sound system worthy of Madison Square Garden (that loud too). Over 100 lbs of chicken, 80 lbs of rice, gargantuan amounts of beans, juice, butter, salad and the works was served to every person who came out. We had a volleyball tournament with a $100 prize (my team came in 2nd :( Hired a professional fireworks show (this was the big un) And were able to provide a gift to every single child from the village. I truly feel like it was my first Peace Corps success. (we even had the tree lit up!) Melissa and Coy, volunteers in Guinea Grass (about 15 miles away) came to Carmelita to see a Kriol Kristmas. Evidently its rather different from the Mestizo celebracion.
The whole day was just great. As I begin to become more a part of the village I am getting invited over to homes, asked to parties, given help with construction projects (i built my own bed:) and the works. In fact, I had 4 christmas lunches. I couldnt walk down the street without someone insisting on filling me a plate. After I said that I couldnt possibly eat another bite, out came the tinfoil, with a comment like "well, dis di bes cake inah allah Carmelita, mek yu trai dat an tell me ih no chroo!!!" Im still eatin xmas ham!
In other news, I am just two days (deese heah hours be draggin bwai) from seeing Ms. Susannah. We have gotten to talk quite a bit over these past few months, but to actually get some face to face time will be wonderful. She has warned me that she doesnt shower or something like that...but neither do i. Should be fun :) Hopefully she still thinks Im the cats meow. We will be meeting up and spending a few days in sartenejah...a tiny fishing village on the northern coast of belize. Guess I got some making up to do for missing her birthday as well as new years last year!

That seems to be about all folks...Moses and Zipper say hello and happy new year!
jake