Christmas in Chirijox

Right on time, Hendrick knocked on the door at 7 a.m., knowing Nic had arrived the night before. When we opened it, Hendrick shot up his arm with a Spiderman card in his hand. With an attempted look of intimidation; he shouted "hombre aranya!". Yes, the kid is obsessed and was decked out in a Spiderman sweatsuit he got as an early Christmas present. 

A Cheese Ball Christmas: Nic and I with the family Christmas tree. 

It's tradition to eat tamales on Christmas here in Guatemala. Instead of making them, my family bought 82 tamales from a women who lives on the lake. Christmas Eve afternoon we left the cold and foggy mountains and moved towards the sun and warm. The last 20 minutes to the lake we climbed in the back of the truck for the amazing views and some sun in our eyes.  

Waiting for midnight, Henrick and I take some time on the swing set. The next day while killing time, hoping to be offered left-over tamales, Nic and I successfully broke one side of the swing and snapped the rope on the tire. After that, we pushed Hendrick so high he fell backwards out of the swing. Fortunately, I was standing in front of the swing and caught him, mid back-flip, on his way to the ground. We decided not to play so rough after that. Note: the white specks in the picture are no snow flakes as I hoped, but a good layer of fog.  

I was surprised to see the amount of Christmas light that were hung around Chirijox. Around 10, we took a stroll through town. Little 5 year old girls to grown men were lighting off fireworks in the streets. Tire fires were keeping people warm in the chilly fog. People were in good moods, greeting each other on Noche Buena. 

We returned home and kept ourselves warm by the wood stove sipping highly-sugared coffee while Dona Ana nodded off. We exchanged gifts with the family outside by the Christmas tree and at around ten minutes till midnight the show began. Flying and exploding fireworks, rolls of firecrackers, whistling fountains and even the Hen Laying Egg were on display. From the roof of Tia Isabel's house we could see Chriijox and three neighboring communities on the hills around. For about 20 minutes it sounded like a war zone. Both Nic and I agreed that Christmas in Guatemala rivals any fireworks display we'd seen on any 4th of July. Inside, until 1 am we ate tamales and drank fruit punch.