December and all the festivities that come with it!

As a child December would be spent counting down the days until Christmas and wishing time would time go by faster. In my more recent rears December had been a time of finishing classes, final papers cramming for exams, and just looking forward to dancing through campus with the ”I’m free” grin every student knows!

This December however, was different in nearly every way. I had never experienced a warm Christmas, but different things signify “tis the season” in El Salvador rather then a nip in the air.  Like for example, the sound of firecrackers.  Firecrackers were lite almost every night. The first one ALWAYS startled me but no one else seemed to flinch. I guess they know to expect it.

Our beautiful Christmas set-up! 

Over the holidays I was asked if I missed my family being so far from home. Of course the answer was “yes I do”. But the feelings I was having over the holidays were not those I expected.  

I assumed Christmas would be the most difficult time for me here in El Salvador. I am a bit of a Christmas nut and have a tendency to make it too big of a deal. But December had flown by and I was happy to be in Perquín for Christmas. That being said… there were several things that made the passing of this holiday a little easier for me.

1:FAMILIA! As previously mentioned, my dad and Lizzy came to visit. It was SUCH a joy to have my family here to share a little piece of my life in EL Salvador. We were able to see a lot of the more touristic areas in El Salvador. Lizzy and I were able to try surfing at one of the… in Surfer lingo - “rad beaches” that El Salvador is famous for. Other highlights include zip lining through the mountains in Apanaca, swimming through waterfalls in Juaya and admiring the mural covered towns along the “Ruta De Las Flores”. And naturally I couldn’t let my fam leave El Salvador without visiting my favorite pueblito, Perquín. 

Lizzy and her surfing instructor. At one point was trying to point out a sea turtle to Lizzy but was trying to make it very clear it was not a shark since she expressed a little fear.

My dad walking the La Libertad beach

Towns in El Salvador are covered with art. Usually the mural shares a little bit of the cultures heritage or struggles. 

It was the cherry on top of the sundae when my El Salvadoran family met my Dad and Lizzy. They all took note of how tall my dad is…now they understand where my height comes from. They mentioned how Lizzy looks a lot like a cousin who lives down the hill from us. Something I hadn’t noticed. Margarita made sure to tell my dad how many times I had locked my key into my bedroom. To which after translating my dad shared a few of my more forgetful moments in Canada. I learned that it’s kind of awkward translating stories about yourself.

Michel, Lizzy and my dad, in front of one of Perquíns beautiful Murals

Lizzy and I in-front of the church in Perquiín

Michelle, my 7-year-old host sister, is still talking about how Lizzy distinctly pointed out that Michel was holding her hand and not mine. Michel thought that was pretty funny. Margaritta and Hildo have mentioned several times now how nice it was to hear that my dad thinks I am in good hands. And I was thrilled able to show my family around Perquín! The daycare I work at, the church, the park, and the tortillarilla that my host family runs. The places I have been spending the bulk of my time this year.

I feel so lucky to be in Perquín, and I am glad I could share a little bit of its charm with my family.

My Dad and Lizy were only here from the 3^rd to the 9^th. So, what else kept me busy this holiday season?

2. PARTIDOS!

I didn’t really realize I was signing up for a TOURNAMENT when I put my name on the page. I thought it was just a team that was playing for fun. But to my surprise I found myself participating in a legit “football” tournament. Thankfully my team is more on the having fun side of things then the let’s win this tournament side. Don’t get me wrong… I am a big fan of winning things. Ask anyone. But at this point in my life I don’t need the pressure.

Now these are not the standard football games I was previously participating in. The tournament is actually held at the “ganchito” in town. It’s essentially a basketball court used for 4 on 4 soccer games. It’s almost like hockey since you can use the fence wall to bounce the ball off of.

The great thing about the tournament is a lot of the town comes out to watch. It’s not so great when I am playing and half the town sees me take a rough fall. But it has been a super awesome way to meet more of the locals, and actually have something to talk about. For example, “did you see me take that big fall” “yeah that looked pretty painful”, or “did your team win” “no we lost 14 – 0”. Legit, one time we lost 14 – 0. We didn’t have our awesome “portadora” that game... it was a pretty sad.

What else has made time fly….well…

3. YO SOY UNA ACTRESA!

I was asked to bring Michel to the church where she had a practice for the Christmas pageant. Since I didn’t have a whole lot to do during the days of December I decided to sit in and watch the kids rehearse.

Too much fun! 

The Christmas Pageant is a pretty big deal here so the kids needed a lot of practice. I ended up getting more involved then I thought I would and actually landed a role as an innkeeper, the bad one who sends Mary and Joseph away.  When opening night came (the 24^th) I said my lines with a clear strong voice so everyone in the very full church could hear. There may have been a slight outbreak of laughter but I nailed it.

Adorable… enough said!

Participating in the pageant filled some of my spare time and allowed me to get to know more kids. I love the kids or Perquín. Must be the water or something…cause they are all super awesome!

 

No sé si earn reyes no sé si earn tres
lo mas importante es que eran de Belen

4. CLASSE DE INGLES

Everyday at three o’oclock I had a small group of students for “classe de ingles”. We started of by learning how to introduce yourself and ask some basic questions. We learned the alphabet and how to count to twenty. With the help of some songs and the game Simon says we now have many of the human body parts down pat.

My highlight of teaching the class was the game I made to help the kids learn to count. Basically it was snakes and ladders but with a twist. I made the game for my English class but have found that I can’t leave the house without it. Especially if I plan on spending any time at the park, the kids love it. I just wish there was some way I could have had it laminated…. it’s been pretty well used.

Since I am back at work “classes de ingles” have been less frequent. But I intend to start them again in the near future when I get back into the swing of the working routine and learn what times and days work best.

So there you have it. The things that kept me from painstakingly missing home this holiday season. Or in other words, the things I was very grateful for.

Celebrating Christmas on the 24^th!

Christmas was beautiful here in EL Salvador. Michel and I spent the morning playing, eating and watching Christmas special cartoons. In the afternoon we went to a soccer game, which not even national holidays can keep from happing here in El Salvador. Later that evening we attended the Christmas service, after which Michel and I had our debut in the Christmas pageant. She made the 

cutest little shepherd ever!

Honestly, have you ever seen a shepherd this cute? 

After church we all returned to the house to enjoy a Christmas feast including rice, chicken, tamales, vegetable salad, nachos and hot chocolate.  I could not help but buy very small gifts for each of my host family members even though it’s not a costume to give presents for Christmas. The present is the presence of family and food. But Michel was all too happy to document this Western tradition. So was also pretty happy to enjoy many of the chocolates from my advent calendar.

Our christmas feast! And we actually sat around a table to enjoy it which only happens for special occasions.! Usually we disperse ourselves among the multiple chairs in the kitchen. 

 

Michel's documentation of the gift giving. :)

What I considered Christmas day was quiet. All the festivities happen on the 24^th. In fact everything is closed on the 25^th…not because it is Christmas but because everyone is recuperating from what was Christmas.

Can't celebrate Christmas without fireworks! Apparently a spark hit Michel's face during while posing for this photo. She complained about that for days.  

I suppose Christmas on the 24^th in the grand scheme of things its just another number. It just doesn’t sound right.

New years eve and in bed by 11.

New Years eve brought more food, and more firecrackers! On New Years Eve Day the whole family…and, well, most of Perquín went to “El Campo” where the very last two games of the football tournament were being played. It was the big tournament for the FOURTEEN teams the small town of Perquín has. There was certainly a different energy at this soccer game. You could tell the players were a lot more intense. The Mayor of Perquín was even there to give awards to the top three teams.

Later that day we left for a family friends house to have a new years feast. Turkey, rice, bread, potato’s, and salad. I enjoyed being amongst laughter, fun and love even if there were no bored games or giant ball being dropped on the television screen.

New years brings more fireworks! Fun for everyone! 

The family had a gift for Michel, a small guitar perfect for her tiny hands. She legitimately thinks she can play it. We’ve had a lot of fun with it. She strums away moving her fingers up and down the neck of the guitar while I sing some of the songs I have learned from church choir.

We got back around 10 and everyone was tired. It seemed odd to me that there was no “happy new year” and throw your hat sort of celebration at 12. I explained the Canadian tradition in which they responded with “oh…well here we sleep”. I think that is mainly just my host family since I could here firecrackers going off though the majority of the night.

So that was my December… missing this and that I am sure but I think this was more then enough to read.  Props to you if you didn’t just start skimming.

And shamless plug for mail… I have an impressive collection of letters and drawings on my bedroom wall. Want to see YOUR impressive penmanship, or art on my wall? Yeahh you do….

There’s a piece of tape with YOUR name on it!  

My Address is…... 

Bekah DeJong

Km 205, Carretera a Perquïn

Perquín, Morazán, El Salvador 

Centro América

One of those "I am so in awe of my creator" sort of days.

This blog post is not so much a summary of an entire month like normal. It’s based exclusively on one day, a very special day with revolutions and resolutions that have had a great impact on my time here in Perquín and my spiritual journey.

I was incredibly blessed to have seen my dad and little sister at the beginning of December. It was a short but enjoyable week (more updates on that latter).  I was upset to see them go and even shed a few tears as we walked in opposite directions. It could have been a VERY depressing six-hour bus ride back to Perquín with a lot of negative thoughts and self-pity, but God had a different plan for me.

I knew I would end up taking at least five busses on my journey from the airport to Perquin. So I mentally prepared myself for the journey. As I sat at the bus stop I started making some small chat with a girl also waiting for a bus. I was about to leave when she said, “no you want the next bus”.  Thanks to God she was there because I did not have the time or energy to be getting lost that day.

I made it to the city and got of the bus. I was in the center of the San Salvador where the Palace, and Great Cathedral are. I decided to sit for a bit and enjoy the atmosphere. That was until it started to get a little warm out.

I saw a #-31 bus driving doing the street and knew from previous travelling that it was the bus I wanted.  As a side note, there is NO running for busses here. The driver wants you on his bus and will wait or stop for you at any point. If only the Waterloo busses could have a little bit of that leniency.  Ugh hum…. Rachel Dyck, Hannah Johnson.

I sat directly behind the bus driver, which was a really good thing because it is the safest spot to sit and I kept falling asleep. Falling asleep on a bus in the city is a bad idea but I was exhausted and couldn’t help it.  Due to my falling asleep I missed my stop and by the time I woke up I had no idea were I was. The bus that was almost full when I got on was now practically empty. I got off at the first familiar sight I saw. It was a bus terminal… not the destination I wanted but I knew it would be pretty easy to get on another bus from there. I got off, gathered my wits, paid 25 cents to use a bathroom and got on another #31 bus. This time I was NOT going to let myself fall asleep.

Then again…

Sometimes you just can’t fight sleep. Now normally I have a system when I travel which I believe I have mentioned on my blog before. I wear a specific pair of pants with lots of pockets. I spread my valuables in every pocket and then button or tie each pocket up. It’s a smart system. It’s the system I used travelling to the airport to meet my dad and sister. But one I failed to put in motion on the way back.

Instead I was wearing a pair of jeans with no pockets and was carrying my change purse in my hand the entire time. My thought was that if my backpack got stolen I would still have my money. If I were REALLY thinking I would have divided my money between my backpack and wallet. Good thing I have a very caring God on my side who is always making up for my stupidity.

All credit to the Lord, I woke up JUST in time to see a man walking of the bus with my change purse. It had ALL of my money in it. I grabbed his wrist and said “Eso es mio”, “that is mine”. I honestly think that through God’s grace he decided to give it back because if he had of said “no it’s mine”, pulled his arm from mine and got off the bus there wouldn’t be much I could do to stop him. Things could have gone much differently without a very caring God. 

I know what I would have done if he had of gotten away with my money. I have a cellphone with San Salvador contacts for these sorts of situations. It certainly would not have been the ideal finish to the vacation I was already upset to see end. And it definitely would have feed in to the negative thoughts and self-pity I was already experiencing. Thankfully the Lord had different plans for me.

After the incident a guy roughly my age sitting in front of me asked if I was all right to which I responded “yes but it was a close call”. Turns out we were both headed in the same direction so we had lots of time to talk. We talked about the differences between Latin America and Canada, education, school, food, work, ect. Eventually our conversations lead us to talking about God and religion and some differences and similarities between what we believed.

It wasn’t the deepest most profound conversation I have ever had in my life. It couldn’t be since we were working around a language barrier. But it was exactly what I needed. It was encouragement; it was further proof that God is working in people’s lives. It was someone to talk to after a bit of an emotional roller-coaster.

I got off that bus with a new feeling of motivation and determination. I thought about Gods role in my day, how he new what I needed and when I needed it. I thought about how impeccable His timing is.

I had two more busses before I would arrive in Perquìn. I got the last empty seat on my next bus, which is always nice in any country. The man beside me gave me a small smirk and I smiled back which seemed to open a space for some friendly dialogue. In English he asked where I was from. I get this quite often either from people who want to practice their English or people who just want to use the one phrase they know. I said I was from Canada. Most of the time conversations end there but this one didn’t.

He mentioned having lived in the States for six years. He said how he had a great opportunity there and was even able to go to school. Then he told me about how he got involved in gangs and drugs and ended up getting kicked out of the States. He talked about how even though he took advantage of an opportunity sent by God, God was still there for him and helped him turn his life around.  Now he shares his story with as many people as he can in attempt to show Gods love. As he got off the bus he said “you know some people like to say goodbye at the end of a conversation, I don’t like that so much. I prefer God bless, so Good bless you”.

Seeing how God is working in the lives of others is an incredible blessing. From every different story you can take away something different. I kept thinking about this mans lost opportunity. Being here in Perquín is an opportunity for me. It is where God lead me. What am I doing right, what am I doing wrong. How am I making the most of this opportunity for God. It was something I needed to think about, especially after some of the more negative thoughts that had crept into my head that morning.  Again, how impeccable is God’s timing?

Finally I made it back to Perquín. Still a little in awe of the day I had and how God had been SO present every step of the way. And I swear I am not making this up when I say He was not finished with me yet.

 At supper my host family and I were talking about going to church. Who in the family had regular attendance, who didn’t and why. The conversation blossomed into everyone sharing times where God had been with them during a trial. I could have shared my entire day but just went with the wallet story. For the fourth time in one day I felt incredibly blessed and encouraged.

Some days when I am understanding so little of what is going on around me, when I am tired of tying to communicate in Spanish, when the Internet is not working and I can’t Skype family or friends I can feel very alone. But one thing among many I learned on my journey back to Perquín is that God IS here with me. When He wants to He CAN make His presence known. And when he doesn’t who am I to doubt Him?

I was sad to be walking in the opposite direction of my little sister and dad. Besides my two days of sickness in Guatamala I don’t think I have every felt more alone then I did just after saying goodbye to my family. But I am not alone here, and on the day I felt the most alone of all God proved that to me.

I am in a great little town, surrounded by tons of loving people, and I have an amazing support system at home. I shouldn’t have needed a crazy God filled day to prove I have a very loving God with me at all times. I guess that was just an extra He threw in because He knew I needed it.

My hope is this bog post might bring you encouragement or maybe a little warmth this during the cold Canadian winter. Remember you have a God who cared enough about you to send His son. And he didn’t stop caring for you after that.  He cares for your smallest worries and your biggest problems.

Because of some computer difficulties I failed to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy new year. But better late then never! So, Feliz Navidad y un próspero año nuevo para mi familia y amigos! I hope you all have great and relaxing holidays!

P.S. Sorry for a lack of photos, I know they make things more visually appealing. Please don’t “picks or it didn’t happen” me. Cough David Devries,  cough cough.

But here’s a photo of our Christmas display this year!

All the deets on how the holiday season is spent in El Salvador coming soon to a blog near you!