Xmas in Ica (Day 3/4)

Xmas in Ica (Day 3)

Sunday, December 24, 2017

After our late birthday celebration we were all a little late to start the next day. However, eventually we all got around and started with our day. We ended up going to lunch at my Aunt’s house, where all of the family soon gathered to eat and talk. To every exchange student that has ever come to my family, I now understand you. Having countless members introduce themselves one after the other was definitely a bit overwhelming. Before too long, we all got into our cousin’s car to go enjoy the next part of our day, visiting the cemetery.

We first went to Mamita’s deceased husband’s grave. I had visited this cemetery before when we had a funeral in Ica. We decorated the grave before we moved on and went to a different cemetery. This cemetery was closer to an American cemetery, with the gravestones in the ground instead of above ground. We once again decorated the graves, and happened to run into Jeanne (France) and her family in the cemetery. We talked a bit with them before we returned back to our house with Mamita. We all then rested for the rest of day in the house, with having random friends and family in and out of the house all day. 

The part of the night that got exciting was of course midnight. We all gathered around the giant nativity scene that we had assembled and at midnight, we all put in the missing Jesuses in the various scenes. After that, I gave my host family their gifts (which they all thoroughly loved). After this, we called my host sister on Skype and talked to her and gave little speeches talking about how we felt about one another. We then watched all the fireworks rain across Ica. A little while later, we walked back to my aunt’s house to have another celebration. We only stayed a little while however, as we were all exhausted and Naty didn’t feel that well. 

Monday, December 25, 2017

The next morning, we all woke up a bit earlier so that we could go around to the remaining family members and give out some presents and say some farewells. We ended up going to some people I had yet to meet’s houses and having some refreshments, before we went to a small famous (in Ica that is) sweet/food shop. My host family bought some sweets for me to indulge in (all of which I didn’t find very impressive).  We then sat and relaxed for a little bit, before we quickly returned to the house so that we could finish packing. While I was done packing, my host family was not and so I ended up chilling with my host cousin while we waited on my family to get done. We ended up being very very very late (typical Perú). Mamita and I were both ready, so we both ended up going to the car to wait for the rest of our family. Not too long after, they ended up scurrying down the staircase and into the car. We then booked it to my aunt’s house and quickly said some goodbyes. After then we broke the speed limit, barely caught our bus, and got back to Lima.