December Letter Home

Esteban, Christina, Suny, Carlos, Georgina, Nelson, and me in my apartment after I showed Christina how to make some "American food" (sauteéd chicken, seasoned with a touch of red wine, fettuchine alfredo, broccoli and cauliflower in a cheese sauce, and a green salad) in return for her lessons in Dominican cooking. As is obvious: it was a feast!

Hello again everyone!

Merry Christmas! It has only been a short while since my last letter (so it feels like, anyway), but as I’m leaving this Friday to be home for Christmas, I wanted to write some thoughts I’ve had over this past 2/3 of a month.

Lately I have been contemplating the cultural manifestations of boredom. In the States, it seems as though most people complain that they are bored because they consider their lives to be monotonous--busy, but monotonous. I have realized that in the DR, in general, people tend to not be “busy.” There is very little to do, and the students whom I have gotten to know well tell me outright that they are extremely bored, looking for anything to do. The adults seem to have the same issue. There are some interesting extensions of that situation with how the Church can be more involved in their lives, but for the purposes of this letter, I ask the questions: what are the greater ramifications of these cultural “boredom” situations, and is one really more “bored” than the other? It is an intriguing life difference.

On a completely different note, there are two (yes, JUST TWO) houses in my neighborhood in the DR with Christmas lights. One of them has lights that also play Christmas music when plugged in, but a fuse has shorted and everything is about ¼ step flat (it sounds like one of the chickens in the street with a serious gland problem). There is mention everywhere of Christmas here, and the stores try to play it up, but it’s still not to the full extent of that in the States, or even much of a glimmer of it.

Because the Charlie Brown Christmas is one of my all-time favorite movies, I expected that this would make the Christmas season all the more meaningful to me, leaving the Hallmark Christmas behind. Somehow, despite my cynicism towards the material Christmas, I have to admit from my experience this year, that there is a lot to be said about the material objects in their sentimental connections to those nonmaterial things that matter most. For my birthday in late November, my parents sent me a small (~15”) Christmas tree that we’ve always had in our house during Christmas. It was like receiving gold. The little tree smelled like our house; it reminded me of trimming the big tree while gorging on Pizza Hut pizza (the really greasy, deep dish style!) and watching Three Stooges or listening to Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music—it even smelled like Christmas, if that’s possible. I’m not sure what all of this means as I am realizing how much the corner stones of one’s culture can mean to an expatriate, and I still agree with Linus’ famous speech, but for the moment, for this Christmas, I know I will revel in the activities that I have for so long taken for granted.

And on that note of looking forward to the holiday, I wish you all a very, very merry Christmas, and that you, too, may look with a renewed sparkle upon the hidden and often over-looked joys of recovering our youth in a time of giving and focusing on family and love, all because of the higher love that has been so graciously given to us in an event that forever changed the world.

Feliz navidad,

Andrés

PS The attached picture is of the family with whom I have started a Bible study here. Please pray for us and the openness of our hearts to this endeavor.