We are now the 26th in Uruguay and Christmas has come and gone... I didn't know what to expect, to be honest. Most of the time in Uruguay people celebrate on Christmas eve, so a family supper around 10 at night, the few presents are opened and fireworks (you know, the ones that are illegal in Canada) are set off, some of them continuing on through 4am. This late-night celebration is followed by a rendez-vous with friends, usually finishing around 5 or 6 in the morning. Christmas day is a day of rest and relaxation, possibly with another family meal, but not always.
My experience was much more quiet...since our anticipated day at the beach was rained out, Christmas eve was spent baking brownies and watching movies, midnight to 1am was all about the fireworks (we have some neighbours who know how to put on a show!!) and alas, the stockings were opened... a much anticipated moment that was brought to conclusion after a 38 hour countdown (Silvina's idea, not mine). I really got to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas... how the Lord saw most fit to come as a baby and why He didn't just appear, or why He even came to earth at all, it was very reassuring. He came as a baby to fulfill promises He made a thousand years earlier! He came as a baby to partake of human flesh, as it is written in Genesis! He came to be the only blood offering to save us from our sins! How encouraging!! The Lord is so faithful.
It was raining again on Christmas day, so more baking was in order, as well as a couple of more movies. In the evening Alejandra and I went to a friends house with people from the youth group and successfully watched a movie, after many many obstacles were overcome. First, the tv needed to be changed, then the first dvd player didn't work so we sent a guy to his house to get his, for some reason the movie was in black and white until they finally fixed it, then, the remote control's buttons were all out of whack so the 'up' was 'down' the 'enter' was 'left' etc. then the language option wouldn't work, it kept switching from English to Spanish, even once to French, without anyone touching anything... the tv kept switching off as well... we arrived around 6:30, began the movie at 8:30 and finished it around 11:00... it was eventful to say in the least. haha
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time with friends and family!!
My experience was much more quiet...since our anticipated day at the beach was rained out, Christmas eve was spent baking brownies and watching movies, midnight to 1am was all about the fireworks (we have some neighbours who know how to put on a show!!) and alas, the stockings were opened... a much anticipated moment that was brought to conclusion after a 38 hour countdown (Silvina's idea, not mine). I really got to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas... how the Lord saw most fit to come as a baby and why He didn't just appear, or why He even came to earth at all, it was very reassuring. He came as a baby to fulfill promises He made a thousand years earlier! He came as a baby to partake of human flesh, as it is written in Genesis! He came to be the only blood offering to save us from our sins! How encouraging!! The Lord is so faithful.
It was raining again on Christmas day, so more baking was in order, as well as a couple of more movies. In the evening Alejandra and I went to a friends house with people from the youth group and successfully watched a movie, after many many obstacles were overcome. First, the tv needed to be changed, then the first dvd player didn't work so we sent a guy to his house to get his, for some reason the movie was in black and white until they finally fixed it, then, the remote control's buttons were all out of whack so the 'up' was 'down' the 'enter' was 'left' etc. then the language option wouldn't work, it kept switching from English to Spanish, even once to French, without anyone touching anything... the tv kept switching off as well... we arrived around 6:30, began the movie at 8:30 and finished it around 11:00... it was eventful to say in the least. haha
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas time with friends and family!!
1 comment:
sounds like a very different Christmas celebration from what you are used to at home, but fun anyways. Sometimes having less of the usual 'stuff' around allows more opportunity to reflect on the real reason and idea behind the whole celebration. I know my Easter celebrations were quite different in Ethiopia in comparison to Canada and it was quite positive actually:)
Anyways, Merry Christmas my SIM friend.
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