Ay Mi Taita Linda

This past weekend was such a festive weekend in Tacna. We turned Saturday in Thanksgiving Day and on Sunday was the Dia Familiar, or anniversary celebration at my school.
I celebrated a wonderful Thanksgiving Day along with all of the other Gringos that reside in Tacna. We did a pretty good job at creating the Thanksgiving feel. Despite the fact that we celebrated it on a Saturday and ate chicken instead of turkey, I found it to be a great day, and as all of the years past, found myself thankful for a million and one things.
Sunday was such a fun day. I can sorta remember the Dia Familiar from last year, but since I had only been in Tacna for a couple of days, not many details stuck with me. Basically all the celebration circles around peruvian folk dancing and eating. Each grade level is responsible for a dance as well as the teachers. I had such a blast dancing! Don't get me wrong, I was super nervous and most likely stuck out like a sore thumb with my off beat steps, but still it was the first time in my life.....that I can remember that I have been part of some sort of perfomance. I guess I was in a play in High School and had three lines.....but still this dance has beaten that play in Emmy perfomances. Our dance was called Sarayankay from the department of Apurimac. It was sorta like an interpretive dance of harvesting corn. I danced so hard that my toe started to bleed from a blister! My little kids in Kindergarden and Preschool probably danced so cute that I wanted to throw up! It was past cute, that I wasn't even smiling!!!!!
This past week the new volunteers have also arrived. There are three of them all girls and all great! There is only officially one full week of school left, and then grades. last minute stuff and then.....I am gone, pretty crazy. My little brother Patrick comes on the 10th of December and I bought my ticket for Buenos Aires and will be leaving Peru on the 20th. I am still unsure of the exact date of my arrival home, I would love to travel a little but before returning home. I have been in contact recently with the Calleros in Argentina and it looks like I might be having an Argentine Christmas with people that have my same last name...cool uh!