Merry Christmas

Welcome to our new blog page. We hope to be able to post updates on here frequently so you can better keep up with us.

We have had a very nice Christmas. Yesterday we invited some American friends over for a Christmas meal at noon. We had last evening and today together as a family.

Last night we sat outside and watched fireworks. The last several years they have been setting off firecrackers for Christmas. This year included some bottle rockets that resulted in a spray of colors. The only problem was that you didn't know where to look or when so we missed seeing many of them. However, the children were delighted to get to see some fireworks. Ever since I mentioned that we have fireworks on 4th of July in the States, they have been longing to see some.

The Dominican custom is to have a large supper (around 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m.) on Christmas Eve. There is also a lot of drinking and partying that goes on for those of the world. Christmas day they do nothing but sleep in and recover from their hangover. They do not open up gifts until January 6 which they call "The day of the Kings." They believe this was when the wise men arrived in Bethlehem and presented their gifts. So today is a rather quiet day here in the city of Santo Domingo.

Merry Christmas!