The past weeks have gone by so fast! Semester 1 is finished for highschool, except for exams this week, and primary, intermediate, and middle school are finishing by this Thursday as well. And then...Christmas break.....
The Semester 1 highschool choir class; a great bunch of kids.
Grade 4 Music
.... Strange in a way. Advent and Christmas in such a different world. No cold wind and rain. No dark days. No frost and snow. But, you do see Santa Claus and Christmas trees displayed everywhere, you hear "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" being played in the stores, and at La Sirena, the big grocery store, they have already had a synthetic ice skating rink set up over the past four weeks. They have a soap bubble machine going so it looks similar to snow flakes floating through the night air. At school we practiced the Christmas carols for our Christmas program for the past two months, with 30 degree temperatures, last Thursday afternoon and evening we had our Christmas concerts at the school in the open air gymnasium, and yesterday we had our staff Christmas banquet. We sang "Silent Night" in Spanish (Noche de Paz). But if you really come to think of it, Christmas is about Jesus coming into the world to save sinners, and not about all the extras that we associate with Christmas. That's what struck us. Jesus was born in Israel, and most likely there was not a snowflake to be seen when he was born. It might have been warm even...
We were all very excited when Steph and Chad Hampson came as our first official 'visitors from abroad' on November 29. With them they brought a treasure load of boerenkool, Mennonite farmers' sausage, droppies, Brinta, cheddar cheese, cookies, maternity clothes, and gifts, which they, and Opa, Oma, Grandpa, Grandma, and Oma Krul had all sent along to spoil us with. Wow, it was like 'Sinterklaas' in the large scale! The Hampson's suitcases were literally bulging with goodies! Thanks again everyone! Mattais and Kaelie were very excited with their presents, Sherilyn revived after seeing the droppies, and I had nearly forgotten how tasty 'gevulde speculaas' is.
We had a wonderful time with Steph and Chad, just being able to chat like we have done so often, and they really enjoyed their time visiting the school for one morning and lending a helping hand at the New Hope Girls' School in La Vega (see one of our previous blog entries to read more about the New Hope Girls' School). Thanks for the great time, Steph and Chad!
With the Hampsons at "El Rinconcito". Great burgers!
This new LEGO is fun!
This really is my favority meal: BOERENKOOL met WORST. Thanks Oma Krul!
Saturday, December 3: A Daytrip to Constanza.
We had this in the planning for a long time already. Jose, the school watchee (guard), and I had talked about it for weeks already: when are we going to Constanza? Constanza is about two and a half hours south-east from here. Situated in a high valley between the mountains, Constanza is really a unique place with an altogether different climate than here in Santiago. Very few palm trees, but many pine trees. It even freezes up there at times. Can you imagine frost in the DR? Besides coffee and tobacco, many varieties of fruits and vegetables are grown there which cannot be grown in the Cibao valley in which we live; strawberries, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, corn, etc. So, we had to see this place, especially the cool 'aguas blancas' in the mountains. And besides, Jose told us that we had to meet his family members, many of whom live in Constanza and nearby Jarabacoa. So there we went, at six in the morning. Wow, what a trip! It's an amazing world out there!
Looking a little like the Fraser Valley?
Gorgeous views at 1200 mts
These "aguas blancas" are cold! I took a dive in the waterfall pool, and was surprised at how cold the water was.
Back at home....
We miss our garden a little, so why not start a patio garden up on the fourth floor? And, besides, back in Canada you simply wouldn't try growing tomatoes and strawberries during the winter months. We started tomato plants from seed about a month ago. They are nearly ready to flower. They are the healthiest tomato plants ever seen; healthy green, and thankfully no whitefly (yet) Worth a picture...
Strawberry plants from Constanza
SCS Primary and Intermediate Christmas Programs
Our Christmas music programs took a lot of planning and practicing, but the results were very good. Sherilyn did a wonderful program for the pre-school children this past Tuesday, and the attendance was very good. Kaelie was allowed to wear her fancy white dress and her white 'little lady shoes' as she calls them.
For the K-6 programs I had chosen two musicals based on well-known Christmas carols and Bible texts, with as a setting 'Israel during the New Testament times'. The kids all dressed in shepherd, merchant, Roman soldier, Egyptian, servant girl, or king and queen costumes, to create a 'real' Bible times feeling. Prior to the program I did a short introduction and devotional about 'the Light has Come', and the true meaning of Christmas. It was a great opportunity to share the gospel, since a lot of the parents are either nominal Catholics or non-Christian. (Thankfully we are hearing from time to time that some of these parents have started attending a local Christian church and others that have been saved.) The students all sang and narrated very well, so much to be thankful for.
Mattais the shepherd boy.
"O Come, Let Us Adore Him"
A very full stage and gymnasium!
Kaelie showing her work and Christmas card
Singing "Immanuel, God is With Us"
We wish you all a happy and blessed Christmas and New Year!
