Four of my best friends from high school came and picked me up from the airport and drove me to my house. My parents were very surprised to see their daughter, who they thought was in Perú, standing in their living room.
Christmas was full of a lot of snow and ice, just like Iowa should be in the winter. I was both very surprised and bummed when Christmas Eve and Christmas Day church services were canceled. Going to church was one of the things I was most excited for. Regardless, we still had a wonderful time hanging out, baking lots of Christmas goodies, watching Christmas movies and other movies, playing games, celebrating Christmas with both sides of the family and hanging out with friends from high school.
I had anticipated I would feel a lot of culture shock going home. I didn’t really. It felt pretty natural to be home. This surprised me. I think it’s because my life I live in Perú and my life I live in the U.S. are very separate. Neither is necessarily better or worse than the other; they are separate and both are reality.
I had a blast at home and enjoyed every moment of being there. I was reminded of how much support I have at home through friends, family, friends from church and teachers and coaches. Thank you! I was also really excited to return to Perú. I missed my fellow volunteers and my life here as well. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to have two entirely different places where I feel comfortable and happy with my surroundings and the people who surround me. Thank you to all of you who make that possible.
Most of the VQ cousins with Grandma VQ.
All the Onken cousins with Grandma O.
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A very white Christmas!
Traditional vQ Christmas dinner
5422281933528267490" />Emily, Peter and I Christmas Eve
2 comments:
¡Feliz navidad y año nuevo FriVQuality! That's tardy, but glad you enjoyed a little time spent in AMERICA over the holidays! Someday my Christmas greetings will find their way to you, if the Pony Express hasn't delivered yet - they could be in MN or Perú. ¿Quién se sabe?
Frieda,
I stumbled across your blog via facebook and have enjoyed reading of your life & seeing it in pictures. We were delighted to open the vQ Christmas card and see that you HAD really surprised your parents! That's just great. We were unable to go to Christmas Eve/Day services here also...that was very different. Best wishes on the rest of your journey...and I hope it is ok if I check your blog periodically to see what's happening! Judy ( your mama's cousin)
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