Scribbles in the Sun

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I am sitting here eating some guava that I bought at the grocery store today, and it hit me that the last time I ate guava was in Costa Rica at a farewell party that some friends from the church put on for us. That time that I ate guava, it was pulled right off the tree for me to eat, which was incredible....however I kept wondering in the back of my mind if I was going to get a worm or parasite from it! Thankfully I didn't, but even today I'm still inspecting each bite! This week I tried my first " pan de jamón " (ham bread), which is a Venezuelan tradition at Christmastime. It is bread baked with ham on the inside...it's kind of like a roll. There were also raisins baked inside...but interestingly it was a wonderful combination! Kind of sweet and salty. Part of me misses some foods that I ate in Canada, but part of me is excited to discover all the new foods here! In Costa Rica, the grocery stores were much smaller and limited (although there were some st...

What do you do to get into the "Christmas Spirit"? Last year while I was in Costa Rica, I admit I didn't really do too much to get into the holiday mood. We had loads of Christmas decorations up in my host family's house, and I even put a couple up in my room. We drove around and looked at the Christmas lights downtown. But I never once broke out any of my Christmas albums. I did not drink an eggnog latte. I couldn't go for a walk in the crunchy snow. The sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas can be found in Latin America...but sometimes they look a little different than what I'm used to. Christmas lights are strung up around palm trees. Inflatable lawn decorations are sold on the hot concrete (my favourite is the inflatable snowglobe with fake "snow" blowing around on the inside). Beautiful Spanish and English Christmas carols play in the malls (yesterday at a mall we saw a giant Christmas tree, strung with lights that flashed in time to ...