I think Christmas is a busy time of the year no matter what part of the world you are in. In Peru the busyness tends to be compounded with end of the year school activities (the school year here runs from March-December). Over the years we have learned the schedule and try to do our end of the year parties before the schools let out. So, on December 8th we had a fun time celebrating with the young adults from our church. December 9th we had our adolescent group over to the house and celebrated with them. On the 14th the ladies of the church had their monthly ladies meeting where they celebrated by giving gifts and revealing themselves to their “Secret Sisters”. This past Saturday (December 16th) we ended the year celebrating with the kids from our children’s ministry. These Christmas parties in Peru are called “chocalatadas” because we celebrate with hot chocolate and a type of fruitcake called “Panetone”. By the way, there are all kinds of panetone, not just fruitcake kind (our family likes the chocolate chip kind). We had a great time with all three groups, but it is nice to have these activities done with.
